"Data Analyst Graduate Assistant (Neuroscience and Behavior)"

Job: Data Analyst Graduate Assistant (Neuroscience and Behavior)

Reporting to Dr. Gabrielle Gutierrez, the data analyst will assist in research tasks in the Barnard Neural Computation Lab such as analyzing connectome data, writing code scripts for analysis, documenting findings, presenting research, and training student researchers.

Job Description:

The Barnard Neural Computation lab headed by Dr. Gabrielle Gutierrez seeks a part-time data analyst to assist in the development of network and statistical analyses of Drosophila connectome data. The connectome is an exciting data set that reconstructs the full brain of a single fruit fly specimen. Data Analyst will perform analyses relevant to the Drosophila connectome research project(s) underway in our lab.

The data analyst must be proficient in Python and statistical data analysis. In addition to helping develop new analysis pipelines for the lab, the data analyst will consolidate, organize and optimize our existing analysis codes. In particular, we are interested in implementing methods for quantifying and comparing spatial distributions of synaptic sites (k-nearest neighbor algorithm, centroid models, distribution models, etc). We are also expanding on our previous work applying community detection methods, such as modularity maximization and stochastic block model, to connectome data. The Gutierrez lab must have complete access to analysis codes and they must be made publicly available following publication of our studies that use them. Data Analyst may be invited to co-author a publication in a scientific journal if they make a significant contribution to our study.

The part-time position pays $30/hour and involves a flexible commitment of up to 10 hours per week for the remainder of the academic year. The data analyst may work remotely while communicating with Dr. Gutierrez over Basecamp, remotely on zoom, and/or in person. They will use their own computer and internet service to complete their work. Additional computing resources needed to complete computationally intensive work in a reasonable manner, such as time on the HPC at Columbia or cloud computing, may be paid for by the lab if requested.

A list of tasks include, but are not limited to the following:

• Perform statistical and network analyses on connectome data
• Implement spatial analysis methods (k-nearest neighbor, centroid models, distribution models)
• Apply community detection algorithms (modularity maximization, stochastic block models)
• Document all processes to meet reproducible research standards
• Consult with the PI and students on analyses and coding solutions

Skills, Qualifications & Requirements:

Pay Rate: $30.00/hour

To be eligible, applicants must be currently authorized to work in the US. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training. The above hiring range represents the College's good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.