Research Scientist

Center for Neural Informatics, Structures, and Plasticity (CN3)Research ScientistThe George Mason University Center for Neural Informatics, Structures, and Plasticity (CN3), within the College of Engineering and Computing, seeks a proactive, organized, and self-reliant Research Scientist. George Mason University has a strong institutional commitment to the achievement of excellence and diversity among its faculty and staff, and strongly encourages candidates to apply who will enrich Mason's academic and culturally inclusive environment. About the Center:The Center for Neural Informatics, Structures, and Plasticity (CN3) strengthens the research performance at George Mason University by focusing and supporting the existing and growing area of emphasis in neuroinformatics. CN3 has 4 tenure-line faculty, 2 research-track faculty, 3 post-doctoral associates, and over 10 doctoral students from multiple academic units (College of Engineering, College of Science, College of Humanities and Social Science) and graduate programs (Bioengineering, Neuroscience, Mathematics, Psychology, Bioinformatics). CN3 members share wide-ranging research interests and strong scientific productivity in neuroinformatics, behavioral and computational neuroscience, data-driven modeling, physiological recordings, and quantitative analytics, with a particular focus on the hippocampal circuit, axonal and dendritic morphology, neuronal and glial classification, network connectivity, and the cognitive functions of declarative learning and memory. The principal investigators of CN3 have been continuously funded by multiple federal agencies since the Center inception and its trainees regularly publish in well-respected venues such as Nature, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Nature Methods, Neuron, PLoS Biology, Trends in Neuroscience, eLife, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, and Journal of Neuroscience.About the Position:The Research Scientist will serve as the main technical support staff to assist in publicly sharing high-quality, cellular-level neuroanatomical data with the neuroengineering community. The successful candidate will assist the CN3 Director in ensuring continuous maintenance and further development of the information technology infrastructure of NeuroMorpho.Org.Responsibilities:Responsible for maintaining extant and forthcoming database content and software designed to search, request, editing, annotate, visualize, ingest, and release digital reconstruction of neural cell morphology; Assist the Principal Investigator in occasionally analyzing server logs and tracking the source of incorrect data; andRegularly interact with CN3 postdocs and graduate students and participate in all aspects of the Center's mission:Actively attend group meetings and weekly seminars; Prepare and deliver interactive demos for visitors and external stakeholders; and Coauthor abstracts for conference presentations when deemed appropriate by the Principal Investigator.Required Qualifications:Bachelor's degree in bioengineering or computer science, or a combination of equivalent education and experience; Demonstrated potential for excellence and productivity in research; Commitment to data sharing and open access science; Ability to interact effectively with peers and trainees; andRelevant hands-on experience in relational databases, Unix servers, Python, Java, Javascript, and application programming Interfaces. Preferred Qualifications:Master's Degree in a related field; Expertise in Natural Language Processing (e.g., semantic classification and machine translation), ideally corroborated by relevant conference publications; Additional programming background in R and C, as well as in machine learning technologies (e.g. Pytorch and Scikit-learn); Effective lay-person communication, as demonstrated through undergraduate teaching assistantship or tutoring; andPractical experience with neuroscience databases.Mason Engineering: The Future of Engineering is HereThe College of Engineering and Computing at George Mason University is comprised of the Volgenau School of Engineering and the School of Computing. The College is a fast-growing force for innovation in research and education. Ranked nationally in the top 100 in both undergraduate and graduate education, the College boasts 10,000 students in 37 undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degree programs, including several first-in-the-nation offerings. Of the 302 full-time faculty who comprise the College, 93 are tenured, 75 are tenure-track, 82 are instructional faculty, and 52 are research faculty. As part of a nationally ranked research university, its research teams expended more than $70 million in sponsored research awards last year and has projects with over $400 million in current and anticipated awards. Located in the heart of Northern Virginia's technology corridor, Mason Engineering stands out for its research in many leading areas including artificial intelligence, data analytics engineering, cybersecurity engineering, biomedical imaging and devices, autonomous systems, 5G communications, systems architectures, computational biomedicine, community-based healthcare, advanced materials and manufacturing, sustainable infrastructure, and more. The College highly encourages multidisciplinary research and provides faculty with opportunities to work with other disciplines.George Mason University is the largest and most diverse public research university in Virginia, with an enrollment of 40,000 students studying in over 200 degree programs. Mason is an innovative, entrepreneurial institution with national distinction in a range of academic fields. It was classified as an R1 research institution in 2016 by the Carnegie Classifications of Institutes of Higher Education. Mason is located in the city of Fairfax in Northern Virginia at the doorstep of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, with unmatched geographical access to a number of federal agencies and national laboratories. Northern Virginia is also home to one of the largest concentrations of high-tech firms in the nation, providing excellent opportunities for interaction with industry. Fairfax is consistently rated as being among the best places to live in the country, and has an outstanding local public school system.In conjunction with Amazon's decision to establish a second headquarters in Northern Virginia, the Commonwealth of Virginia announced a multi-year plan to invest in the growth of degree programs in computing. George Mason University has committed to accelerate its plans to increase its capacity in engineering and computing. Some of the university's exciting plans are the launch of the Institute for Digital InnovAtion, a university think tank and incubator to serve the digital economy, and the expansion of its Arlington Campus with a 360,000 square foot building¬-Fuse at Mason Square. Fuse will become the nexus of Mason's transdisciplinary research, entrepreneurship, and academic program efforts in digital innovation, and will unite the public and private sectors in a collaborative alliance to address the world's grand challenges.

For full consideration, applicants must complete the online application at https://jobs.gmu.edu/ for position number F888AZ; and attach a cover letter, resume, and a list of three professional references with contact information. Full consideration will apply to applicants who submit their completed application by May 31, 2023; however, review of applications will continue until the position is filled.

"Great Careers Begin at Mason! George Mason University is an innovative, entrepreneurial institution with national distinction in both academics and research. Mason holds a top U.S. News and World Report "Up and Coming" spot for national universities and is recognized for its global appeal and excellence in higher education.Mason is currently the largest and most diverse university in Virginia with students and faculty from all 50 states and over 135 countries studying in over 200 degree programs at campuses in Arlington, Fairfax and Prince William, as well as at learning locations across the commonwealth. Rooted in Mason's diversity is a campus culture that is both rewarding and exciting, work that is meaningful, and opportunities to both collaborate and create.If you are interested in joining the Mason family take a look at our current opportunities and catch some Mason spirit at jobs.gmu.edu/!George Mason University, Where Innovation is Tradition."