The Department of Biology is a large, unified department with strong undergraduate degrees, nationally ranked graduate programs, and world-class research spanning the breadth of biological questions and experimental systems — from ecosystems to microbiology and developmental biology, from evolution to cell biology, from molecular biology to systems biology, bioinformatics, and genomics. It is always an exciting time for Biology — enormous advances in global genome analysis coupled with unprecedented developments in interdisciplinary research have made the 21st century the “Century of Biology”. For more information about the department, you can find it here: About: Department of Biology: Indiana University Bloomington.

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The Department of Biology at Indiana University Bloomington invites applications for Visiting Research Associate position under the supervision of Dr. Chris Smith (Home | Chris Smith). Our new lab in Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior investigates machine learning approaches for population genetics. Our research integrates custom neural architecture design, simulations, and publicly available genomic datasets to develop new inference methods. The Research Associate will serve as a scientific programmer, creating or testing deep learning models for genomics, exploring new techniques related to spatial simulations, or other topics discussed with the PI.

Core job duties: (1) Implement computational analyses for developing and testing neural networks, and (2) build pipelines for conducting simulation experiments and analyze genomic sequencing data.
Education and experience: Bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field. Formal coursework in programming and machine learning. Research experience in computational biology or genomics is a plus but not required.

Working conditions/demands: The role requires the ability to move about within an office environment

To apply: Please submit (1) a resume, and (2) a cover letter describing your background, career goals, why you are interested in the position, and the date you are available to start. This can be submitted at the following link:https://indiana.peopleadmin.com/postings/31682. For questions about the position contact Chris Smith: chriscs@iu.edu.

Timing and compensation: Review of applicants will begin on a rolling basis and continue until the position is filled. The starting date can be adjusted to suit the candidate, ideally no later than February 1, 2026. The best consideration date is 1/21/26. The initial appointment is for four months, with the possibility of reappointment upon satisfactory performance and funding availability. The position is full-time and in-person at $80,080 per year.