Research engineer Generative Artificial Intelligence for Biomedical Research

Job Reference
775_24_LS_MLBR_RE2
Position
Research engineer Generative Artificial Intelligence for Biomedical Research (RE2) - AI4S
Closing Date
Friday, 15 November, 2024
Reference: 775_24_LS_MLBR_RE2
Job title: Research engineer Generative Artificial Intelligence for Biomedical Research (RE2) - AI4S
About BSC
The Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) is the leading supercomputing center in Spain. It houses Mare Nostrum, one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe, was a founding and hosting member of the former European HPC infrastructure PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe), and is now hosting entity for Euro HPC JU, the Joint Undertaking that leads large-scale investments and HPC provision in Europe. The mission of BSC is to research, develop and manage information technologies in order to facilitate scientific progress. BSC combines HPC service provision and R&D into both computer and computational science (life, earth and engineering sciences) under one roof, and currently has over 1000 staff from 60 countries.
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We are particularly interested for this role in the strengths and lived experiences of women and underrepresented groups to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights in science and IT research. In instances of equal merit, the incorporation of the under-represented sex will be favoured.
We promote Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, fostering an environment where each and every one of us is appreciated for who we are, regardless of our differences.
If you consider that you do not meet all the requirements, we encourage you to continue applying for the job offer. We value diversity of experiences and skills, and you could bring unique perspectives to our team.
Context And Mission
The Machine Learning for Biomedical Research unit at the BSC, led by Dr. Davide Cirillo, is currently offering a research engineer position. This position focuses on facilitating the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in biomedical research, with special emphasis on generative AI.
This position places a strong emphasis on both the developmental and infrastructural aspects of AI models used in biomedicine. The Research Engineer will not only contribute to the development and implementation of state-of-the-art AI techniques—working with diverse data types such as images, genomic sequences, time series, and texts—but will also lead efforts in optimizing and deploying these systems within our sophisticated HPC environment. The goal is to enhance computational robustness and efficiency, which are crucial for handling the complex workloads of biomedical research and advancing technological progress in Life Sciences at BSC.
The successful candidate will join the Machine Learning for Biomedical Research unit, a dynamic research group within the Life Sciences department.
The Department includes multiple expert scientists that work on various aspects of computational biology, including bioinformatics for genomics, proteomics and transcriptomics data analysis, to computational biochemistry, natural language processing and network science. The Researcher will work in a highly sophisticated HPC environment, have access to the multiple computational infrastructures available at BSC, and establish collaborations with experts in multiple areas.
The funding for these actions/fellowships and contracts comes from the European Union Recovery and Resilience Facility - Next Generation, within the framework of the General Invitation by the public business entity Red.es to participate in the talent attraction and retention programs within Investment 4 of Component 19 of the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan.
For more information, please check: financiación de estas actuaciones/becas y contratos, procede del Mecanismo de Recuperación y Resiliencia de la Unión Europea-Next Generation, en el marco de la Invitación General de la entidad pública empresarial Red.es para participar en los programas de atracción y retención del talento dentro de la Inversión 4 del Componente 19 del Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia.
Para más información: Duties
- Design and implementation of robust AI systems with special emphasis on generative AI, such as Large Language Models (LLMs), Diffusion Models,Variational Autoencoders.
- Optimization of AI models for high-performance computing environments, enhancing scalability and processing efficiency.
- Interact efficiently with the HPC environment of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center.
- Collaborate closely with interdisciplinary teams within the BSC, as well as with international and local experts from both public and private sectors.
- Contribute to research projects funded by EU programs and national schemes.
Requirements
- Education
- BSc in Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics or related.
- MSc in data science, machine learning or similar or computational biology.
- Essential Knowledge and Professional Experience
- Understanding of various biomedical data types and their applications in AI.
- Experience in deep learning and other machine learning methodologies.
- Experience in MLOps, particularly related to deploying and managing AI models in HPC settings.
- Demonstrable skills in software development and system architecture, with a focus on AI-driven technologies.
- Additional Knowledge and Professional Experience
- Fluency in English is essential. Proficiency in Spanish and other European languages would be advantageous.
- Competences
- Good communication and presentation skills
- Ability to work both independently, within a team and in a multi-cultural environment.
Conditions
- The position will be located at BSC within the Life Sciences Department
- We offer a full-time contract (37.5h/week), a good working environment, a highly stimulating environment with state-of-the-art infrastructure, flexible working hours, extensive training plan, restaurant tickets, private health insurance
- Duration: 4 years
- Holidays: 23 paid vacation days plus 24th and 31st of December per our collective agreement
- Salary: 42.000,00 €
- Additional Expenses Grant: Each fellowship will be associated with a grant for additional expenses, such as IT equipment, travel, training, stays, etc.
- Starting date: asap - the incorporation for this vacancy must be before the 16th of December 2024
Applications procedure and process
All applications must be submitted via the BSC website and contain:
- A full CV in English, including contact details.
- A cover/motivation letter with a statement of interest in English, clearly specifying for which specific area and topics the applicant wishes to be considered. Additionally, two references for further contacts must be included. Applications without this document will not be considered.
Development of the recruitment process
The selection will be carried out through a competitive examination system ("Concurso-Oposición"). The recruitment process consists of two phases:
- Curriculum Analysis: Evaluation of previous experience and/or scientific history, degree, training, and other professional information relevant to the position. - 40 points
- Interview phase: The highest-rated candidates at the curriculum level will be invited to the interview phase, conducted by the corresponding department and Human Resources. In this phase, technical competencies, knowledge, skills, and professional experience related to the position, as well as the required personal competencies, will be evaluated. - 60 points. A minimum of 30 points out of 60 must be obtained to be eligible for the position.
The recruitment panel will be composed of at least three people, ensuring at least 25% representation of women.
In accordance with OTM-R principles, a gender-balanced recruitment panel is formed for each vacancy at the beginning of the process. After reviewing the content of the applications, the panel will begin the interviews, with at least one technical and one administrative interview. At a minimum, a personality questionnaire as well as a technical exercise will be conducted during the process.
The panel will make a final decision, and all individuals who participated in the interview phase will receive feedback with details on the acceptance or rejection of their profile.
At BSC, we seek continuous improvement in our recruitment processes. For any suggestions or comments/complaints about our recruitment processes, please contact recruitment (at) bsc (dot) es.
For more information, please follow this link.
Deadline
The vacancy will remain open until a suitable candidate has been hired. Applications will be regularly reviewed and potential candidates will be contacted.
OTM-R principles for selection processes
BSC-CNS is committed to the principles of the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers of the European Commission and the Open, Transparent and Merit-based Recruitment principles (OTM-R). This is applied for any potential candidate in all our processes, for example by creating gender-balanced recruitment panels and recognizing career breaks etc. BSC-CNS is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. We are pleased to consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or any other basis protected by applicable state or local law. For more information follow this link This position is reserved for candidates who meet the requirements and have the legal status of disabled persons with a degree of disability equal to or greater than 33%. In case there are no applicants with disabilities that meet the requirements, the rest of the candidates without declared disability will be evaluated.

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