美国堪萨斯大学博士后职位招聘–生物学、数学、统计学、计算、物理学或与计划工作相关的其他领域

Position Overview

The postdoc is hired into a lab that spans the University of Kansas Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) and the Center for Ecological Research (CER; also known as the Kansas Biological Survey, KBS). This postdoc will carry out quantitative and mathematical analysis of ecological data and models to improve our understanding of how climatic variability influences species geographic ranges, and how demography and climatic variability can be incorporated into species distribution models.

Analyses will require Bayesian statistical approaches, construction and use of stochastic demographic models, data collation and organization and pre-processing, and extensive software development supporting new statistical paradigms and computational-statistical tools. Methods and model development are part of the duties of the postdoc. Results will be published in scientific journals and communicated to scientific audiences.

Work is principally located at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, but extensive interactions and communications with other project staff, including students, locally, domestically, and internationally, will be required, both through online communication and via occasional travel. The position will be entirely supported by an NSF Division of Environmental Biology grant which has been recommended for funding; the budget contains funds for at least three years of postdoc salary.

The University of Kansas (KU) is an R1 research university with special strength in ecology and evolutionary biology. The EEB department has ~40 permanent faculty working in a wide variety of theoretical and empirical areas, with National Research Council and Chronicle of Higher Education rankings in the top 10 in the USA.

The EEB Department is part of a trio of ecology and evolution units on campus, including the Center for Ecological Research and the Biodiversity Institute (BI), which are widely known and recognized for ecological and evolutionary research – the BI and CER provide additional resources supporting the planned work beyond those already available through EEB.

The EEB Department, the CER, and the BI are located on the main KU campus amidst the rolling hills of Lawrence, Kansas, about 30 miles from Kansas City. KU is the flagship university of the state of Kansas. Lawrence is a progressive and cosmopolitan university town with vibrant art, music, and sports scenes that has been ranked among the top ten college towns in the country for livability.

Job Description

80%

• Perform and disseminate research.
• Formulate models and develop statistical strategies, write software, apply software to large datasets to develop novel scientific results.
• Publish results in high-quality scientific journals.
• Disseminate results at domestic and international scientific conferences and through direct communications with other scientists.
• Travel occasionally on research visits for collaboration and dissemination.

10%

• Mentor junior colleagues involved in the project.
• Mentor junior colleagues in the use of software to be developed.
• Collaborate with, instruct, mentor, and support junior colleagues working on the same overall project. 

10%

• Service to discipline as appropriate. (E.g., review papers and proposals, service to professional societies, etc.)

Position Requirements

1. The position is located at Higuchi Hall, Lawrence Campus, KU.

Required QualificationsPhD in biology, mathematics, statistics, computing, physics or other area relevant to the planned workHistory of quantitative research in ecology and related mathematical areas, as demonstrated by previous work experience and/or publicationsExcellent communication skills, as evidenced by application materials and past research outputs

NOTE:

To be appointed at the Postdoctoral Researcher title, it is necessary to have the PhD in hand. Appointments made without a diploma or certified transcript indicating an earned doctorate are conditional hires and are appointed on an acting basis not to exceed 6 months.

Preferred Qualifications

Previous experience working as a member of a quantitative ecological research team, as evidenced in application materialsExperience in analyses on large spatial scales using a high-performance computing cluster, as demonstrated by previous work experienceExperience with the creation of R software for scientific analyses, as demonstrated by previous work experienceExperience with the scientific publication process, as evidenced in application materialsExperience with Bayesian statistics applied in a biological area, as demonstrated by previous work experienceExperience using the Stan programming language, as demonstrated by previous work experienceExperience with niche modelling and species distribution models, as evidence by application materials

Contact Information to Applicants

Dan Reuman, reuman@ku.edu

Additional Candidate Instruction

A complete online application will include:

• Cover letter describing how you meet the required and preferred qualifications.
• Resume
• List of three (3) professional references

Only complete applications will be considered.