The computational neuroscience unit (De Schutter unit) at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology has an opening for a programmer / technician on a neuroinformatics project. Initial duration is one year with an option to extend. Project description: Neuronal morphologies are usually studied in isolation. However, this is in contrast to reality were neurons develop in a dense substrate and actively interact with each other and their environment. Therefore, our group recently developed a computational framework -NeuroMaC- to study how interactions between developing neurons themselves and the environment shape dendrite and axon morphologies. A fully functional prototype of NeuroMaC was implemented in Python. NeuroMaC is designed as a parallel software and implemented using the ZeroMQ messaging library for concurrency. More information about the design and future roadmap of NeuroMac can be found here: http://b-torbennielsen.home.oist.jp/neuromac/neuromac.html#design-requiremen... Job description: We seek for a programmer / technician to implement a new version of NeuroMaC using state-of-the-art parallel environments to improve on scalability, execution speed and flexibility. The candidate will be working in the lab headed by Prof. Erik De Schutter and under daily supervision of Dr. Ben Torben-Nielsen. The candidate will help in the final design of the framework and has to be flexible in incorporating additional features as research continues and new requirements are identified. Qualifications: The ideal candidate has extensive experience with parallel programming. We are particularly looking for candidates with experience of (dynamic) load-balancing. Experience with meshing software is a great plus and previous experience with neuroscience is appreciated (but not necessary). * Required: - Extensive experience in developing in Linux environments - Extensive experience in parallel programming (MPI, ZMQ) - Excellent communication skills in English and communication with multi-disciplinary teams - M.Sc. in computer science / physics / computational neuroscience or similar experience * Beneficial: - Familiarity with meshing software (TetGen, gmsh, Cubit, VTK) - Experience in an academic environment - Interest in neuroscience Benefits / Offer: A competitive salary and relocation package are offered. This an ideal position to gain experience in a prominent computational neuroscience lab. Academic contributions by technicians are honoured by authorship on relevant publications. Please contact Prof. Erik De Schutter (erik@oist.jp) or Dr. Ben Torben-Nielsen (b.torbennielsen@gmail.com) for inquiries. About the workplace: The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) will become a model for change in education and research with the best international graduate students, working side by side with world-class faculty in modern well-equipped laboratories. Beautifully situated on the island of Okinawa, OIST relies on a cross-disciplinary approach, with an emphasis on creativity and exchange, to offer unique, individualized graduate training. OIST is a university with no departments, eliminating artificial barriers between people working in different fields, but many nationalities, with students and faculty being attracted from all over the world. Concentrating initially on Neuroscience, Molecular Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Environmental and Ecological Sciences and Physical Sciences, OIST is bringing some of the best brains in the world to Okinawa to transform the way science and education is done in the global academic world. -- Dr. Ben Torben-Nielsen Computational Neuroscience Unit Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology