Research Job Opportunities

Position Overview

The postdoctoral fellow will assist the ARI in analyzing “omics” scale datasets, including microbiome, genome, epigenome and transcriptome data. They will participate in research initiatives focused on computer vision and machine learning implementations. They will collaborate on research projects and contribute to funding proposals related to fish physiology, nutrition, genetics and water quality.

The initial appointment for this position is two years, with the possibility of an extension, contingent of successful funding acquisition. The position is in the Aquaculture Research Institute at University of Idaho’s Hagerman Fish Culture Experiment Station, located in Hagerman, ID.

Job Duties

Contribute to the overall success of the Aquaculture Research Institute by (Estimated effort: 100%):

• Assist in analyzing “omics” scale datasets, including microbiome, genome, epigenome and transcriptome data
• Participate in research initiatives focused on computer vision and machine learning implementations
• Collaborate on research projects and contribute to funding proposals related to fish physiology, nutrition, genetics and water quality

Requirements

Education

• Doctoral degree (PhD) in Aquaculture, Fisheries Science, Animal Science, Bioinformatics, Molecular Biology or a related field

Experience

• Three years of research experience related to aquaculture, bioinformatics or a similar field
• Experience with bioinformatics tools and programming languages such as R, Python or Bash
• Experience analyzing omics scale data analysis (microbiome, genomic, transcriptomic, epigenomic)
• Familiarity with aquaculture systems and species
• Strong scientific writing skills with a track record of publications

Physical Requirements and Working Conditions

• None

Preferred Qualifications

• Three years of research experience related to aquaculture, bioinformatics or a similar field
• Experience with bioinformatics tools and programming languages such as R, Python or Bash
• Experience analyzing omics scale data analysis (microbiome, genomic, transcriptomic, epigenomic)
• Familiarity with aquaculture systems and species
• Strong scientific writing skills with a track record of publications

Additional information

• Apply through the University of Idaho Careers page
• In your application, please address all the minimum requirements in the Letter of Qualification. Preferential review of applicants to begin Friday, Oct. 18, 2024

Position Overview

The Office of Research and Faculty Development is seeking one Research Development Specialist I position or one Research Development Specialist II position. These positions work within a team-based environment to support the university’s strategic initiatives to grow research, scholarship and creative activities across all disciplines. They positions will perform proposal development and faculty development activities that facilitate both individual faculty members and research teams to become more competitive in securing external funding, including detailed proposal development assistance throughout all stages of proposal conceptual development and refinement. Successful applicant will be hired at the level for which they are qualified.

Research Development Specialist I

This position works collaboratively with faculty members, internal stakeholders and external funding agencies to grow the university’s research capacity and research competitiveness, leading to a growth in the university’s research funding portfolio. This position provides a 360-degree approach to provide grant-seeking faculty members with the services, resources and partnership to catalyze their success in securing extramural funding. This position plays a critical intellectual role in advancing the university’s strategic initiatives to grow research, scholarship and creative activities across all disciplines.

Duties may include:

• Provide direct support to faculty members in the development and review of high-quality, competitive grant proposals
• Provide detailed, constructive feedback on proposal documents, ensuring that documents are clear, concise and tailored to the specific requirements of the funding opportunity
• Serve as a liaison between faculty members and funding agencies during the proposal development process
• Develop the knowledge and expertise to deliver faculty development/training workshops and seminars to share best practices for developing competitive proposals
• Identify potential funding opportunities by researching various databases, government agencies and communications
• Assist with proposal editing and formatting to enhance clarity, style and competitiveness
• Disseminate funding opportunity announcements to appropriate faculty members and departments
• Other duties as assigned

Research Development Specialist II

This position works collaboratively with faculty members, internal stakeholders and external funding agencies to grow the university’s research capacity and research competitiveness, leading to a growth in the university’s research funding portfolio. This position provides a 360-degree approach to provide grant-seeking faculty members with the services, resources and partnership to catalyze their success in securing extramural funding. This position will focus on strategically identifying and aiding in the development of large-scale (>$1MM), multidisciplinary and/or multi-investigator proposals. This position plays a critical intellectual role in advancing the university’s strategic initiatives to grow research, scholarship and creative activities across all disciplines.

Duties may include:

• Work directly with faculty and research teams to guide the development and review of high-quality, competitive grant proposals
• Provide detailed, constructive feedback on proposal documents, ensuring that documents are clear, concise and tailored to the specific requirements of the funding opportunity
• Serve as a liaison between faculty members and funding agencies during the proposal development process
• Develop the knowledge and expertise to deliver faculty development/training workshops and seminars to share best practices for developing competitive proposals, especially for large, complex proposals
• Research and identify new funding opportunities aligned with the university’s research priorities
• Disseminate targeted funding opportunities to faculty and research teams and support them in strategizing proposal submissions to optimize success rates
• Other duties as assigned

Job Duties

Build university capacity for securing large and/or complex research grant proposals (>$1MM) and promote interdisciplinary research activities by:

• Using one’s discretion and informed judgment to provide detailed proposal development assistance and project management for large, complex federally funded research projects through all stages of proposal conceptual development and refinement, and staying current on these funding opportunities and policies (e.g., National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Department of Energy, Department of Defense)
• Researching U of I research strengths and capabilities to foster collaborations with faculty members and facilitate the development of research teams to formulate approaches for large and complex proposals
• Advising research teams about strategic proposal preparation strategy and timelines and monitor progress
• Being a liaison with external funders, including federal Program Officers and attend relevant webinars to learn how to enhance the competitiveness of grant proposals to these agencies.
• Developing and maintaining information about institutional research resources and capabilities for use in proposals
• Researching, monitoring and disseminating relevant research funding announcements from multiple sources
• Researching agency policies on strategic programs and developing relationships with funding agency program officials
• Developing and conducting proposal writing and other workshops, webinars and web materials for faculty looking to submit large proposals
• Advising faculty members on how to best engage with external funding agency program officers
• Researching and promoting awareness of large, complex, multidisciplinary federal funding opportunities across all disciplines
• Research Development Specialist I (5%)
• Research Development Specialist II (45%)

Build the university capacity for and improve the competitiveness of research grant proposals by:

• Using one’s discretion and informed judgement to advise and facilitate faculty members’ efforts to craft highly competitive grant proposals for extramural funding by providing expert advice, strategic consultation, project management and comprehensive review and editing of proposals
• Leading proposal planning and development to ensure alignment with funding objectives and maximize funding potential
• Conducting rigorous review and editing of proposal narratives, offering substantive content revisions, precise editing and thorough proofreading
• Ensuring exceptional clarity, organization, accuracy and adherence to funding agency guidelines, while elevating the overall quality of proposal content
• Advising faculty members about strategic proposal preparation strategy and timelines and monitor progress
• Being a liaison with external funders, including federal Program Officers and attending relevant webinars to learn how to enhance the competitiveness of grant proposals to these agencies.
• Developing and maintaining information about institutional research resources and capabilities for use in proposals
• Researching, monitoring and disseminating relevant research funding announcements from multiple sources
• Researching agency policies on strategic programs and developing relationships with funding agency program officials
• Research Development Specialist I (60%)
• Research Development Specialist II (20%)

Enhance the university’s research culture and cultivate faculty members’ grantsmanship skills by (Estimated effort 30%):

• Researching research development industry best practices and developing deep expertise to develop and deliver workshops, seminars and cohort programming for faculty and staff to enhance their proposal writing skills and strategies
• Developing and delivering high-quality faculty developing programming to best position faculty members to develop competitive grant proposals for funding opportunities of importance to the university mission and strategy to grow the university’s research funding portfolio
• Developing and implementing faculty cohort-based programming to enhance the competitiveness of grant proposals that align with university research portfolio growth strategy and goals
• Advising faculty members, especially early career faculty, to develop strategic plans for the submission of competitive research proposals
• Researching funding opportunities and disseminating these to appropriate groups across campus and advising on competitive proposal development strategies
• Consulting with faculty members to promote awareness of funding opportunities and strategies for competitive proposal development across all disciplines
• Advising faculty members on how to best engage external funding agency program officers

Contributes to the overall success of the ORED team by (Estimated effort: 5%):

• Attending federal funding agency and professional organization conferences/meetings to stay up-to-date on funding priorities and best practices in competitive proposal development
• Coordinating ORED efforts with other proposal support staff across centers, colleges and departments as needed

Contributes to the overall benefit of the University of Idaho by (Estimated effort: 5%):

• Serving on university committees as appropriate
• Attending educational and professional development workshops and classes to improve knowledge and skills
• Performing other duties as assigned

Requirements

Education

• Bachelor’s Degree; four additional years of experience (for a total of seven or nine years) may substitute for a Bachelor’s Degree

Experience

Research Development Specialist I

• Three years in research development, proposal writing or development, research, research administration, communications or professional editing
• Editing and writing business correspondence using proper grammar and punctuation as demonstrated in application materials
• Handling a variety of projects simultaneously that require a high degree of attention to administrative details
• Using computer software and applications for word processing, email, internet searches and data organization

Research Development Specialist II

• Five years in research development, proposal writing or development, research, research administration, communications or professional editing
• Editing and writing business correspondence using proper grammar and punctuation as demonstrated in application materials
• Handling a variety of projects simultaneously that require a high degree of attention to administrative details
• Using computer software and applications for word processing, email, internet searches and data organization

Required Other

• Must be able to travel for professional development opportunities as required

Preferred Qualifications

Research Development Specialist I

• Bachelor’s Degree in English, Communications, Public Administration, Social Sciences, Humanities or a STEM field
• Master’s Degree or Doctoral Degree
• Strong knowledge of proposal processes and programs for government, foundation and corporate funders
• Familiarity with funding databases (e.g., Grants.gov, Foundation Directory Online)
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to work collaboratively with multiple stakeholders
• Experience working in higher education or a research-intensive environment
• Ability to analyze and interpret complex funding guidelines and requirements
• Exceptional writing, editing and proofreading skills
• Group facilitation experience
• Project management experience

Research Development Specialist II

• Bachelor’s Degree in English, Communications, Public Administration, Social Sciences, Humanities or a STEM field
• Master’s Degree or Doctoral Degree
• Strong knowledge of proposal processes and programs for government, foundation and corporate funders
• Familiarity with funding databases (e.g., Grants.gov, Foundation Directory Online)
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to work collaboratively with multiple stakeholders
• Experience working in higher education or a research-intensive environment
• Ability to analyze and interpret complex funding guidelines and requirements
• Exceptional writing, editing and proofreading skills

Additional Information

• Apply through the University of Idaho Careers page
• In your application, please address all the minimum requirements in the Letter of Qualification. Preferential review of applicants to begin Monday, Jan. 13, 2025

Position Overview

University of Idaho is seeking two Data Scientists to participate in an innovative National Science Foundation-funded project: “Crossing the Innovation Valley of Death: Democratizing Data and Artificial Intelligence for Research Administration.” The project offers the opportunity to pioneer the development of open-source AI solutions that will reshape how universities manage operations, while leading the democratization of data access and analysis across the research administration landscape. The goal is to drive institutional change by bridging the gap between cutting-edge technology and administrative efficiency. The candidates will help architect and implement AI-powered solutions to streamline workflows, design data integration strategies across multiple university systems and departments and create scalable, open-source tools that can be adopted by research administration units nationwide. One position will have a focus on technical development and implementation, while the other will combine technical expertise with training and knowledge dissemination responsibilities.

This posting will hire two applicants to meet the needs of this project.

Job Duties

Facilitate data engineering and integration efforts by (Estimated effort: 55%):

• Proactively identify, evaluate, organize and access existing data sources relevant to the GRANTED project mission and goals.
• Develop and nurture strong relationships with project partners internal and external to U of I.
• Work with Office of Sponsored Programs, IIDS, ORED, OIT, Institutional Research and others to periodically assess technical requirements of integrating project software into institutional workflows.
• Liaise with U of I offices, faculty, staff and leadership to acquire, document and ingest data into secure and approved repositories for archival, analysis and dissemination.
• Develop workflows compliant with relevant information security standards such as FERPA, NIST 800 171 and CMMC. Minimize use of sensitive personal information (SPI) where possible and participate in training and certification on handling sensitive data.
• Ensure interoperability with existing internal data repositories (e.g. VERAS, Banner, etc.) and external data networks (Web of Science, ORCID, PubMed, DataCite, Google Scholar, SciENcv, etc.)
• Deploy enterprise and open-source large language models to improve interoperability and process efficiency for research administration workflows.
• Benchmark and evaluate large language models for tasks related to process efficiency, automation and strategic analysis of institutional and external data.
• Fine tune, train and/or otherwise apply enterprise and open-source large language models for research administration use cases.
• Contribute to the design, maintenance, documentation and monitoring of processes and workflows related to research administration. These include data acquisition, preprocessing and maintenance, data integrity, data documentation (metadata) and data processing to enable automation, reproducibility and scalability.
• Design, implement and maintain databases in collaboration with technical staff within OSP, IIDS, OIT, ORED and other constituencies.
• Manage data through acquisition (database queries, web scraping), organization, cleaning and normalization and documenting data and processing steps with metadata.
• Develop and maintain modular software systems and related technologies to support interactive data management, visualization and dissemination.
• Build, customize and adapt AI applications, software and databases as needed to meet evolving partner and user-community requirements.

Lead development of innovative research data management and artificial intelligence solutions by (Estimated effort: 25%):

• Design and implement creative technical and logistical solutions to complex data management problems that pertain to U of I sponsored funding activity and impact.
• Leverage artificial intelligence, including large language models and multimodal LLMs to improve data quality and efficiency of data intensive workflows.
• Collaborate with GRANTED team, U of I staff and faculty and leadership to identify needs, customize solutions and train users and consumers.
• Train U of I staff on best practices for research data acquisition and data sharing, including how to use available AI applications, data sharing platforms and data management tools (e.g., searchable data catalog, data visualization and online collaboration systems and tools) and the importance of data security, data privacy and compliance with state and federal regulations.
• Develop and implement training materials necessary for the success of planned GRANTED tools and modules.
• Regularly engage with OSP and IIDS leadership to continually assess needs for additional training and communication.
• Participate in meetings, summits, conferences and other related events pertaining to the project objectives and activities.

Participate in partnership activities and events to build and maintain a community of practice by (Estimated effort: 15%):

• Travel to and host GRANTED partners at U of I to develop a robust community of practice for the GRANTED program.
• Attend relevant Research Administration meetings and conferences, such as NCURA Region VII annual meeting, NCURA National meeting, IMURA, etc.) to engage with partners, generate interest and partnerships for GRANTED and learn more about research administration needs.
• Present materials, tools and training at Research Administration events.

Continue professional development (Estimated effort: 5%):

• Travel to and host GRANTED partners at the U of I to develop a robust community of practice for the GRANTED program.
• Attend relevant Research Administration meetings and conferences, such as NCURA Region VII annual meeting, NCURA National meeting, IMURA, etc.) to engage with partners, generate interest and partnerships for GRANTED and learn more about research administration needs.
• Present materials, tools and training at Research Administration events.

Requirements

Education

• Bachelor’s Degree

Experience

• Two years in a data scientist or data engineering type position
• Programming in one or more computer languages commonly used in data science (e.g., Python, R, Julia, MATLAB)
• Designing and using relational databases, including demonstrated experience with writing SQL queries
• Collecting, organizing and managing large data sets
• Using APIs and web scraping tools to develop and connect large interoperable databases
• Implementing best practices for rigorous data security
• Working both independently and within a team managing multiple projects with competing deadlines

Preferred Qualifications

• A Masters or PhD in data science, data engineering, data analytics, computer science, business analytics, management information systems (MIS), statistics, mathematics, software engineering, informatics or related field
• Experience in a Research Administration setting, preferably at an Institution of Higher Education
• Developing and presenting data visualizations in static and interactive formats to communicate analyses, methods and results
• Experience providing training and giving presentations to groups of people
• Experience with retrieval augmented generation using large language models
• Proven ability to effectively communicate with peers and coworkers on complex research and technology issues in both group and individual settings
• Understanding of and experience with institutional research data
• Experience with the following technologies:
  • Web Development with HTML, CSS, Javascript as well as PHP or Python
  • Understanding of common metadata standards and practices
  • Web service Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)
  • JSON, XML, XSLT and related tools
  • Linux operating systems
  • Software configuration and versioning tools such as: Git/GitHub, Subversion, etc
  • AI integration using Langchain or other pipelines
• Experience with the use, training and fine-tuning of artificial intelligence and large language models
• Knowledge and understanding of computer security and compliance frameworks such as CMMC and NIST
• Experience writing IT programming specifications
• Experience in handling confidential information
• Experience with using high performance computing environments
• Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills as demonstrated in application materials
• Self-motivated, team-oriented attitude as demonstrated in application materials

Additional information

• Apply through the University of Idaho Careers page.
• In your application, please address all the minimum requirements in the Letter of Qualification. Preferential review of applicants to begin Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.

Laboratory Coordinator/Manager, IAMP

Position Overview

This position is available through the Innovative Agriculture and Marketing Partnership (IAMP) project at the University of Idaho. The IAMP project offers per acre incentive payments for producers to adopt climate-smart conservation practices within their cropping systems. Implementing partners including Idaho soil & water conservation districts, The Nature Conservancy, Desert Mountain Grassfed Beef, Nez Perce Tribe, and Coeur d’Alene Tribe work directly with enrolling producers in the program. Potential funded conservation practices include various nutrient management strategies such as reduced synthetic fertilizers or the replacement of synthetic fertilizers with organic (e.g. compost) sources, 4R strategies, reduced and no-tillage practices, conservation crop rotation strategies which incorporate more legume crops into a crop rotation or through inter-cropping strategies, cover cropping, grazing, and biochar addition. Producers enter a multi-year contract to implement a cropping plan that includes one or more of these practices. The project requires soil and crop sampling to document impacts of the management practice on crop productivity, nutrient and water use-efficiency, soil carbon, and greenhouse gas emissions. Annual crop performance assessments are conducted with each producer to evaluate the success and compliance issues with the contract. Producers are encouraged to engage in novel marketing opportunities that recognize and promote climate-smart attributes associated with the commodities grown in the program.

Provides functional supervision of day-to-day activities of a laboratory or field research enterprise, including directing the activities of graduate and undergraduate students, staff researchers and research support staff. Develops guidelines and protocols for lab operations. Assures quality control; maintains budget; and operates, tests, and repairs electronic and/or scientific test equipment used. Assists with the construction and modification of new and prototype scientific devices.

Duties may include:

• Providing consulting services to department management, public and private sector entities
• Providing final review of policies and procedures; recommending changes based on prevailing scientific evidence
• Supervising scientific/technical staff
• Directing and/or planning and implementing a component of the scientific program
• Directing and/or developing and monitoring research projects in conjunction with other agencies
• Directing and/or preparing reports assessing use, distribution, fate, exposure, and probability of adverse effects of chemicals and/or radiological constituents or other hazardous substances in specific use situations
• Directing and/or developing and /or providing final detailed review of risk assessments and making recommendations for improvement where risk level is unacceptable
• Establishing work priorities and performance standards; may be involved in hiring, training, evaluating staff, assigning and reviewing work
• Making managerial decisions that directly affect the efficiency, cost, reputation and service quality of the laboratory
• Developing budgets, distributing budgeted funds, and exercising the primary control over a relatively small budget
• Other duties as assigned

Job Duties

Contribute to the overall success of the Innovative Agriculture and Marketing Partnership (IAMP) project by (Estimated effort: 100%):

• Assisting implementing partners and/or work directly with producers on developing nutrient, tillage, and cropping strategies which implement conservation practices on specific agricultural fields
• Assisting planners through a two-phased application process that includes compliance documentation as required by the USDA to ensure producers do not receive duplicate payments from multiple USDA programs for the same practice on the same field
• Performing advanced compliance modeling to ensure unintended environmental impacts are not occurring within an enrolled field including soil erosion modeling (RUSLE, WEPS) and nutrient losses (INTRA)
• Training and supervising technicians in required soil and crop sampling along with implementing partners and producers in the project
• Training, assisting, and/or be directly involved with end of the year meetings with producers that evaluate the impact of implemented practices on crop performance, profitability, soil carbon, and greenhouse gas emissions
• Participating on a Review Advisory Committee that provides advice and evaluation on potential contracts and any compliance issues that are associated with grower contracts and agreements
• Participating in meetings with IAMP project management and implementing partner meetings associated with technical issues of the grant
• Attending and working with UI Extension on providing materials and information for field days.
• Assisting in the communication and engagement with producers on marketing opportunities for the commodities grown through the IAMP project

Requirements

Education

• Bachelor’s Degree in soil science, agronomy, crop science, agroecology, biological systems engineering, or closely related field relevant to the project

Experience

• Two years of post-Bachelor’s research work to include technical/administrative experience in research operations

Other requirements

• Driver’s License
• Willingness to travel

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated knowledge and experience with the historic and innovative cropping systems of the region
• Ability to complete research independently and to work well as part of a team
• Ability to work on a large integrated project with diverse stakeholders
• Demonstrated written and oral English communication skills for both scientific and general audiences
• Knowledge and experience using RUSLE, WEPS, and INTRA tools
• Experience as a cropping consultant or technical service provider
• Knowledge and experience with NRCS and NRCS programs (e.g. EQIP)
• Strong analytical skills
• Experience with remote sensing and geospatial mapping and analysis products
• Experience in soil and crop sampling
• Background and interest in Extension, outreach, and/or the application of scientific information in practice

Physical Requirements

• Ability to lift 30 lbs

Additional information

• Apply through the University of Idaho Careers page.
• In your application, please address all the minimum requirements in the Letter of Qualification. Preferential review of applicants to begin Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025.