Connectionists: Postdoctoral Positions Available for Big Data Analytics

[Jun (Luke) Huan]

Multiple Postdoctoral Associate positions are available in the Department of
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Kansas. 

With the fast evolving technology for data collection, data transmission,
and data analysis, we observe that the scientific research community is
undergoing a profound transformation where discoveries and innovations
increasingly rely on massive amounts of data. New prediction techniques,
including novel statistical, mathematical, and computational techniques are
enabling a paradigm shift in scientific investigation. Deep analysis of
large data sets has become a critical endeavor of science by offering
complementary insights in addition to theory, experiment, and computer
simulation.

We seek highly motivated Postdoctoral Associates to join our efforts to
advance machine learning and data mining for better modeling of large
amounts of data from scientific domains. Our hypothesis is that much more
information is embedded in big data than what can be processed by a few
domain experts. We further argue that big data are often linked, and
exploring the relationships among data sets enables us to build much better
models for understanding structure in data. 

We are working on a number of highly interdisciplinary projects to test our
hypothesis. Sample projects include: 
* Prediction of the role of small molecules in biological systems using
chemical structure and biological activity information
* Identification of drugs for new therapeutic strategies
* Delineation of genetic relationships from high-throughput sequencing data

Successful candidates should possess the following qualifications: (i) a
Ph.D. degree in computer science, statistics, bioinformatics, or
cheminformatics. (ii) familiarity with machine learning theory and
algorithms (supervised learning, parametric and nonparametric approaches,
MLE and/or Bayesian, model selection and model evaluation), (iii) strong
communication skills, (iv) excellent programming skills. Knowledge of
biological or pharmaceutical data is a plus but not required. Knowledge of
computer systems (high performance computing and cloud computing) is a big
plus but not required. The initial appointment is for one year, and the
position may be renewed based on satisfactory progress.  

The University of Kansas is a major educational and research institution
with about 30,000 students on five campuses, 2,600 faculty members, and
service centers throughout the state. EECS is the largest department in the
KU School of Engineering, with 36 faculty and annual research expenditures
of over $10 million. The main campus of KU is in Lawrence, a vibrant,
thriving community of more than 90,000 residents that is just 40 miles west
of Greater Kansas City and 20 miles from the state capital. The University
of Kansas is an EO/AA employer. 

To apply, please send your CV, including a list of publications, past and
current research experience, and contact information for three references,
to Dr. Jun (Luke) Huan.

--
Jun (Luke) Huan,  Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
Director, the Bioinformatics and Computational Life Sciences Laboratory
University of Kansas 
Lawrence, KS, 66047-7621, USA   
Office: 2034 Eaton Hall, Tel: 1 (785) 864-5072   
http://people.eecs.ku.edu/~jhuan, Email: jhuan at ittc.ku.edu