Academic

We solicit applications for a postdoctoral fellow or research associate position in the area of machine learning and statistical methods, in the new Institute for Computational Sustainability, Faculty of Computing and Information Science, at Cornell University. The Institute for Computational Sustainability is funded by the NSF Expeditions in Computing program. Candidates affiliated with the Institute for Computational Sustainability at Cornell will have the opportunity to collaborate with faculty at the Oregon State University School of EECS, a partner institution in the NSF Expeditions in Computing grant.

Applicants should have finished a PhD in Computer Science or a related field. Applicants should have extensive experience in the development and application of machine learning methods including Bayesian networks (probabilistic graphical models), ensemble techniques, kernel methods, and probabilistic reasoning algorithms (e.g., belief propagation, MCMC, and variational techniques). Additional desirable background includes time series and spatial data analysis, simulation models of biological processes, and models of dynamical systems.

The successful applicant will be joining interdisciplinary research projects in the new area of Computational Sustainability which involve a range of novel machine learning problems concerning e.g., species distributions, migrations, and biodiversity. In particular, the interdisciplinary research projects involve the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, also a partner of the Expeditions in Computational Sustainability program. The Lab of Ornithology, through the Avian Knowledge Network, has assembled an immense collection of data relevant to bird distribution, reproductive success, and migration.

The period and salary of the appointment will depend on the experience and research interests of the candidate.

_Contact_:
Applicants should email a cover letter and curriculum vitae to comp_sust@cs.cornell.edu. Applicants should also arrange for three letters of recommendation to be sent directly to the same email address with the subject line: Reference letter for [applicant's name].

Completed applications received by March 15, 2009 will receive full consideration. (After March 15, please inquire first if the position is still available.)

Organization:

Institute for Computational Sustainability, Faculty of Computing and Information Science, Cornell University

The newly founded Institute for Computational Sustainability at Cornell is funded by the National Science Foundation program, Expeditions in Computing. The establishment of the Institute for Computational Sustainability is based on the premise that balancing environmental, economic, and societal needs for a sustainable future encompasses problems of unprecedented size and complexity. The mission of the Institute for Computational Sustainability is to establish and nurture a new field of study, Computational Sustainability, driven by a wide range of hard computational problems and critical challenges in the area of sustainability. The Institute for Computational Sustainability will foster new research synergies that cross boundaries and merge ideas from combinatorial optimization, dynamical systems, machine learning and constraint reasoning, while pursuing interdisciplinary research across three computational sustainability themes: conservation and biodiversity; balancing socio-economic demands and the environment; and renewable energy.

Cornell University, located in Ithaca, New York, is an inclusive, dynamic, and innovative Ivy League university and New York's land-grant institution. Its staff, faculty, and students impart an uncommon sense of larger purpose and contribute creative ideas and best practices to further the university's mission of teaching, research, and outreach.

Cornell University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action educator and employer.