RESEARCH PROFESSIONAL

Since our founding in 1785, the University of Georgia has operated as Georgia's oldest, most comprehensive, and most diversified institution of higher education (https://www.uga.edu/). The proof is in our more than 235 years of academic and professional achievements and our continual commitment to higher education. UGA is currently ranked among the top 20 public universities in U.S. News & World Report. The University's main campus is located in Athens, approximately 65 miles northeast of Atlanta, with extended campuses in Atlanta, Griffin, Gwinnett, and Tifton. UGA employs approximately 3,000 faculty and more than 7,700 full-time staff. The University's enrollment exceeds 40,000 students including over 30,000 undergraduates and over 10,000 graduate and professional students. Academic programs reside in 18 schools and colleges, as well as a medical partnership with Augusta University housed on the UGA Health Sciences Campus in Athens.

M-F, 8a-5p

The University of Georgia is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, genetic information, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation or protected veteran status. Persons needing accommodations or assistance with the accessibility of materials related to this search are encouraged to contact Central HR (hrweb@uga.edu).

The University System of Georgia is comprised of our 26 institutions of higher education and learning, as well as the System Office. Our USG Statement of Core Values are Integrity, Excellence, Accountability, and Respect. These values serve as the foundation for all that we do as an organization, and each USG community member is responsible for demonstrating and upholding these standards. More details on the USG Statement of Core Values and Code of Conduct are available in USG Board Policy 8.2.18.1.2 and can be found online at https://www.usg.edu/policymanual/section8/C224/#p8.2.18_personnel_conduct.

Additionally, USG supports Freedom of Expression as stated in Board Policy 6.5 Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom found online at https://www.usg.edu/policymanual/section6/C2653.

The employee in this position will conduct independent research and support other researchers in the UGA Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases in the performance of technical projects, design of research studies, development of research methods, analysis and interpretation of data, presentation of research results, software development and proposal preparation. The employee will regularly serve as project lead, or key contributer, on projects developed out of CEID working groups as well as projects developed out of collaborations featuring CEID faculty. The employee will liaise and maintain relationships with external partners and collaborators, requiring strong technical and communication skills in order to effectively represent CEID. The employee will provide onboarding assistance to researchers joining projects, including students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. The employee will develop visualizaitions of their data, assist with scientific communication, and contribute to external funding proposals.

Scientific programming in R, reproducible report writing via paradigm of statistically literate programming, creation of R packages, proficient technical writing, statistical analysis and modeling (e.g. regression analysis, time series analysis, computational statistics). Strong communication skills are needed to lead collaborative projects.

Involves working at a computer screen for extended periods.

Be advised a credit check will be required for all positions with financial responsibilities. For additional information about the credit check criteria, visit the UGA Credit Background Check website.

Offers of employment are contingent upon completion of a background investigation including, a criminal background check demonstrating your eligibility for employment with the University of Georgia; confirmation of the credentials and employment history reflected in your application materials (including reference checks) as they relate to the job-based requirements of the position applied for; and, if applicable, a satisfactory credit check. You may also be subject to a pre-employment drug test for positions with high-risk responsibilities, if applicable. Please visit the UGA Background Check website.

Participate in both task-driven and independent projects involving scientific programming, modeling, and statistical data analysis related to disease forecasting, disease spillover, and disease mapping. The employee will support faculty and students associated with the research center in their projects, as well as serve as team lead for statistical projects initiated within Center working groups. The later will involve serving as team lead/point person, providing coaching and training to student researchers assigned to projects under employee's leadership. Projects in which the employee is team lead will be highly independent, with the employee consulting with research faculty for review at their discretion. Employee will need to balance their efforts across roughly 7-10 projects at a time, and maintain a sense of deadlines/priorities.

The employee will attend and participate in project and administrative meetings, often as the leader of a particular project. In meetings with external collaborators (i.e. CDC, other academic institutions), the employee will often serve as the point person for the Center and will be responsible for maintaining these relationships. The employee is expected to maintain strong knowledge of the statistical methods to be used in these collaborations, as this will be key to demonstrating Center research capabilities to partners. The employee will often need to organize and lead meetings with partners, and will be responsible for implementing plans to accomplish collaborative goals.

Prepare reports of work completed and in-progress to share with fellow researchers at regular project meetings. Broad, brief, reports are expected weekly at CEID staff meetings, and can be verbal updates or visual demonstrations of work completed, depending on project needs. More detailed project specific reports will be delivered on the time frame relevant to specific projects, generally monthly. This will occasionally include more formal presentations to Center researchers and the broader scientific community when a project has significant results/findings to disseminate.

Assist with the acquisition and maintenance of data relevant to project needs. This includes training students and other researchers engaged in data acquisition projects. The employee will support roughly 10 undergraduate students annually with hands-on coaching, orientation to projects and relevant research methods, and supervision of their work.

Develop visualizations that communicate the relationship of data, as appropriate for the audience being communicated to (data visualization). These will often be in the form of disease risk maps, or forecasts of spatial disease spread. Several projects will require weekly updates to these visualizations based on changing disease trends found in acquired data.

Employee will provide assistance with the technical portions of external funding proposals. This will include reviewing funding announcements identified by the CEID Director, CEID Administrative Specialist, or interested collaborators, and critically thinking about research projects the Center could undertake that may be responsive to the funding opportunity. The employee will contribute to the writing of proposals, and may additionally provide visuals that demonstrate prior work, depending on funding call requirements. The employee will contribute to 2-4 proposals annually.