Postdoctoral Fellow; PREP

PREP Research Associate

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Professional Research Experience (PREP) program. NIST recognizes that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers at academic institutions on specific projects of mutual interest, thus requires that such institutions must be the recipient of a PREP award. The PREP program requires staff from a wide range of backgrounds to work on scientific research in many areas.

Employees in this position will perform technical work that underpins the scientific research of the collaboration.
U.S. Citizen Preferred.

AI Researcher:
Engineering Biology

Plan and conduct research to advance measurement capabilities to aid in the predictive engineering of biological systems, such as proteins, as part of the NIST Engineering Biology Program. Develop artificial intelligence and machine learning analysis pipelines to support automation and protocol development for wet‑lab procedures, as well as platforms for new quantitative measurements and validated methods for evaluating the functional performance of engineered biological parts and systems.

Develop automation workflows for bottleneck processes in biosecurity screening and synthetic biology. Support NIST’s mission through service as a subject‑matter expert in the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning to measurement innovation in synthetic biology. Engage stakeholders and identify opportunities for standards development.

• Perform measurement analysis using artificial intelligence and/or machine learning
• Generate and maintain analysis software, along with documentation
• Conduct analysis and assist staff in conducting analysis
• Maintain and administer hardware solutions for project and group compute tasks
• Advise Division and NIST management as a subject matter expert
• Organize, conduct, and attend relevant meetings, and provide written summaries or other documentation to NIST management and stakeholders
• Obtain and provide relevant information to inform NIST management and stakeholders
• Maintain deep technical knowledge of advances in the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning to measurement challenges in synthetic biology, such as those relevant to biosafety and biosecurity
• Demonstrate attention to detail
• Execute novel technical research
• Support sequence‑to‑function research for protein engineering
• Develop and apply infrastructure for data analysis
• Establish and document standard operating procedures for analysis pipelines

• A Ph.D. in Computer Science, Engineering, Manufacturing, or a related field
• 2 years of relevant experience
• Familiarity with Dev Ops and CICD pipelines
• Ability to work with real‑time event data at scale
• Familiarity with multiple scripting languages
• Ability to develop prototypes of tools needed to analyze data
• Strong oral and written communication skills

This organization is committed to providing qualified individuals access to all academic and employment programs, benefits, and activities on the basis of demonstrated ability, performance, and merit without regard to personal factors or demographic characteristics that are irrelevant to the program involved. We do not discriminate on the basis of sex, gender, marital status, pregnancy, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics.