"Postdoctoral Research Associate for modeling/AI"

Position Title: Postdoctoral Research Associate for modeling/AI

Location: University of Oklahoma, Norman Campus

Department: Biological Sciences

Position Type: Other

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

1. Ph.D. in ecosystem ecology, Earth system science, computer science, or other relevant disciplines is required.
2. Strong background in ecosystem modeling, global land carbon modeling, machine learning, and/or statistics is required.
3. Demonstrated ability to code in Python or Fortran is required.
4. Excellent quantitative, writing, and presentation skills.
5. Experience publishing peer-reviewed publications.

Preferred Qualifications:

1. Experience in developing software/packages/pipelines.
2. Demonstrated ability to direct and run independent research project(s).
3. Multidisciplinary knowledge and research experience in large language models, computer science, mathematics, statistics, ecology, microbiology, engineering, bioinformatics, data mining, parallel programming, supercomputing, or cloud computing.

About the Job

We are seeking multiple (2~3) highly motivated and collaborative postdocs with demonstrated skills in ecosystem modeling and/or AI (machine learning, large language model) and its applications in ecosystem and microbial ecology. The positions' responsibilities include one or both of the following: (1) a DOE-sponsored project about experimental-data-informed, machine-learning-enabled benchmarking and development of land carbon cycle in earth system models, (2) development and application of AI-enabled tools/pipelines for ecosystem ecology or microbial ecology research. The postdocs are also encouraged to participate in diverse research projects at the Institute for Environmental Genomics (IEG, http://ieg.ou.edu/), e.g., our long-term climate change studies, if they are interested.

The postdocs will be employed in the Institute for Environmental Genomics (IEG) and the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Oklahoma and supervised by Jizhong Zhou, Zheng Shi, or Daliang Ning. The successful candidates will receive cross-training in professional and personal development, research collaboration, presentation and publication of results, proposal development, outreach, and mentoring. The positions include a competitive salary and health insurance. Review of applications will begin January 15, 2026, and will continue until the positions are filled. A near-term start date is desired.

About the Institute

The Institute for Environmental Genomics (http://ieg.ou.edu/), led by Dr. Jizhong Zhou, has state-of-the-art facilities for the study of microbial functional genomics, microbial ecology, metagenomics, mathematical modeling, and biotechnology development to address fundamental scientific questions. Our current projects include examining the impact of climate change on microbial communities and the global carbon cycle, understanding the global water microbiome, examining the response of microbial communities to contaminants (U, nitrate, pH, Cr) important to the U.S. DOE, designing bioinformatics tools for 'big data' analysis, developing and expanding high-throughput metagenomic tools and techniques such as microarrays, sequencing, and single-cell genomics to examine microbial communities, and developing gene manipulation tools using the CRISPR-Cas9 system, etc.

Application Instructions

Interested individuals should send their curriculum vita, a description of research interests and accomplishments (e.g., publications), and the names and telephone numbers of at least three references to Dr. Jizhong Zhou (jzhou@ou.edu), Zheng Shi (zheng.shi@ou.edu), and Daliang Ning (ningdaliang@ou.edu). Salary will be commensurate with experience, expertise and skills. Further information can be found on the IEG web site: http://ieg.ou.edu/.