University of California-Los Angeles (Data Curation)

*Note: This position has been filled. UCLA is offering a Postdoctoral Fellow position that will be a part of the new UCLA Library eScience team led by the AUL for Sciences and AUL for Digital Initiatives (eScience is defined as computational and data intensive scientific research). The UCLA Library seeks applications from postdoctoral candidates in the life and physical sciences for a two-year position working with faculty, graduate students, researchers, and Library staff in the collaborative process of implementing the Library’s eScience strategy. As the Library works to position itself to support the emerging data needs of researchers, the Fellow will play a key role in developing the Library’s data services by serving as a representative of and a liaison to the scientific community. The ideal candidate will have expertise in conducting data-driven science and a desire to further scientific knowledge by helping scientists to re-envision the ways they conduct research. The UCLA/CLIR Fellowship provides an exciting opportunity to contribute to new programs at one of the nation’s highest-ranked research universities, as well as to gain skills and knowledge related to the developing areas of eScience and data-driven research.

Responsibilities:

• The UCLA Library is working aggressively with the campus to define, identify, and flesh out the roles for the UCLA Library in these areas and how to transform these services going forward. As part of the team, the Fellow will be expected to take leadership but also be part of a team that more fully describes and defines this role.
• Develop a deeper understanding of the flow of data in scientific research and how they interface with UCLA Library eScience services, and inform and influence the UCLA Library’s development of eScience services
• Collaborate with UCLA Library staff and campus partners to articulate and execute the Library’s eScience strategy and coordinating participation in eScience initiatives across a wide range of campus departments and groups
• Design sustainable services for data management, curation, and preservation that will be scalable and applicable across a wide variety of scientific disciplines
• Engage faculty and researchers to gather information to advance the UCLA Library’s eScience strategy, create new partnerships, and promote the use of the Library’s eScience and data services
• Educate UCLA data users by providing training in data curation and management, guidance in the creation of digital resources from data sets, and advice on data sharing, both in group and one-on-one settings
• Partner with UCLA Library’s collection management staff to facilitate access to available collections by creating a data catalog and developing related metadata for data sets
• Create and deliver training for UCLA Library staff related to the management and curation of research data

Requirements:

• Ph.D. in physical or life sciences, information science, or closely related fields. Applicants must have received a Ph.D. in a discipline no more than five years before applying; if a Ph.D. has not yet been received, all work toward the degree (including the dissertation defense and final dissertation editing) must be completed before starting the fellowship.
• Knowledge of and experience with resources such as genomic and proteomic databases, 3-D macromolecular structure data, data mining and analysis tools, and relevant biomedical literature databases.
• Excellent skills in project management, teaching and outreach, communication and collaborating with faculty members; and experience coordinating and promoting programs and/or services.
• Demonstrated deep understanding of the research process and lifecycle.
• Familiarity with user assessment techniques and demonstrated experience working with academic communities and technology staff to build and express use cases and functional requirements.
• Demonstrated willingness to embrace and advocate for new and emerging technologies.
• Entrepreneurial attitude to developing services for researchers; self-motivated, with the ability to set and attain goals effectively and the flexibility to adapt to change.
• Demonstrated ability to engage with people in new settings as well as excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

Preferences:

The ideal candidate will be a highly motivated team player with a Ph.D. in physical or life sciences or related discipline and a demonstrated understanding of the scientific research process, particularly as related to data-driven science and research. The ability to effectively communicate with faculty and researchers across a variety of scientific disciplines is essential, and some teaching or training experience is preferred. Knowledge of one or more scientific metadata standards and experience with scientific data repositories are also beneficial. The candidate should demonstrate an ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced, changing environment and approach his or her work with flexibility, creativity, and innovation.

About the UCLA Library:

The UCLA Library is well positioned in broad campus initiatives in data curation and planning, is building its own extensive platform for storage and curation, and is partnering with larger UCLA initiatives to support campus goals and initiatives.  The University Librarian, the AUL for Digital Initiatives, and the AUL for the Sciences all have significant roles in these activities and will mentor the Postdoctoral Fellow in his or her work building new skill sets into their portfolio over the two-year project.