Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Cell Science – Artificial Intelligence (AI) analysis of

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is committed to creating an environment that affirms diversity across a variety of dimensions, including ability, class, ethnicity/race, gender identity and expression. We particularly welcome applicants who can contribute to such an environment through their scholarship, teaching, mentoring, and professional service. We strongly encourage historically underrepresented groups to apply.

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Duties and Responsibilities

Are you an expert in analyzing images and/or related data using artificial intelligence? Do you have experience and/or interest in applying AI-based image analysis to biological data, including images of organisms, cells or molecules?

The Department of Microbiology and Cell Science at University of Florida (UF) is hiring a tenure-track assistant professor in the area of AI image analysis. We are looking for a creative, talented and innovative scientist capable of exploiting one of the most advanced AI-focused supercomputers on the planet to identify and solve cutting-edge problems in biological image analysis, including but not limited to problems related to the analysis of image data from microorganisms, cell populations or single cells, sub-cellular organelles and/or biological molecules.

The successful candidate will contribute to an ambitious academic-industry partnership aimed at integrating AI into the fabric of how the university conducts research, education and extension. Not only will you have access to advanced AI-focused computing resources and extensive computational support from UF Research Computing and NVIDIA; you will have opportunities to work with other creative researchers addressing challenging interdisciplinary problems across all biology-related disciplines within a university culture that strongly supports fundamental and applied AI-related research and education. UF has extensive R01-level research programs in biology, biomedical sciences, biochemistry, earh- sea- and space-science, and agricultural sciences. We are looking for someone who can contribute to these efforts by providing a strong vision for their individual research program, the ability to work collaboratively with others, and the capacity to share their knowledge and experience with postdoctoral scientists, graduate students and undergraduates.

The successful candidate will be expected to be fully engaged in all activities and duties associated with a tenure-track academic faculty position, including research (75% appointment), teaching and mentoring (25%) and extension. Typical duties include securing competitive extramural funding, conducting research and publishing research findings; supervising and supporting postdocs and graduate students; contributing to university service and governance; contributing to education by developing and teaching undergraduate and graduate courses and helping to develop academic curricula in their primary research area; supporting community outreach and extension activities. Because of the IFAS land-grant mission, all faculty are expected to be supportive of and engaged in all three mission areas—research, teaching and extension—regardless of the assignment split associated with the position.

This is a 9-month tenure-accruing position in the Department of Microbiology and Cell Science.

Background Information:

This tenure-track faculty position is part of University of Florida’s AI initiative ( https://ai.ufl.edu/ ), an ambitious university-wide effort anchored by a recent $70M gift from Chris Malakowsky and NVIDIA corporation. This initiative is aimed at reformulating UF’s research, teaching and extension missions by tightly integrating AI into all aspects of the university.

Research computing capacity at the University of Florida is managed by UF Research Computing ( https://www.rc.ufl.edu/ ) and includes HiPerGator3, a cluster of 66,000 CPU cores, 544 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080Ti GPUs and 48 NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 GPUs. UF’s AI-focused supercomputer, HiPerGatorAI is currently the largest AI computing infrastructure of any university in the country. HiPerGatorAI includes 140 NVIDIA DGX A100 SuperPod nodes (1120 Ampere A100 GPUs and 35,840 AMD CPU cores) system is now available to all UF faculty.

AI@UF

Required:

A doctorate (PhD or foreign equivalent) in a biology-related or computational-science field.

Demonstrated skills in verbal and written scientific communication.

Strong research vision and ability to collaborate with biological and/or computational scientists.

Ability to secure competitive extramural funding.

Commitment to the land-grant university mission, which includes research, teaching and extension. Commitment to IFAS core values of excellence, diversity, global involvement and accountability.

2+ years postdoctoral experience in academic, government and/or industry research.

Evidence of academic productivity through publication.

For full consideration, candidates should apply and submit additional materials by Oct 15, 2021. The position will remain open until a viable applicant pool is determined.

Nominations

Nominations are welcome. Nominations should include the complete name and address of the nominee and may be sent to:

Email: bryank@ufl.edu

Requisition # 00014328

Associate Professor Bryan Kolaczkowski

Chair, AI Image Analysis Search and Screen Committee

University of Florida

Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

Microbiology and Cell Science Department

1355 Museum Dr., PO Box 110700

Gainesville, FL 32611-0700

Application Information

• Individuals wishing to apply should do so online at http://apply.interfolio.com/93165 . Please submit:
  • 1-page cover letter highlighting the applicant’s interests and qualifications
  • 2-page statement of research vision, interests and experience
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Contact information (including email addresses) for three individuals willing to write letters of recommendation

Selected candidate will be required to provide an official transcript to the hiring department upon hire. A transcript will not be considered “official” if a designation of “Issued to Student” is visible. Degrees earned from an education institution outside of the United States are required to be evaluated by a professional credentialing service provider approved by National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) .

Hiring is contingent upon eligibility to work in the US. The University of Florida is a public institution and subject to all requirements under Florida Sunshine and Public Record laws.

The University of Florida is an Equal Opportunity Institution dedicated to building a broadly diverse and inclusive faculty and staff. The University and greater Gainesville community enjoy a diversity of cultural events, restaurants, year-round outdoor recreational activities, and social opportunities.

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AI@UF

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