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Inside Higher Ed

BDC Post-Doc Research Associate

Inside Higher Ed, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, 27517

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Overview A global higher education leader in innovative teaching, research and public service, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill consistently ranks as one of the nation’s top public universities. The Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) at UNC Chapel Hill is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate to contribute to innovative projects within the NIH BioData Catalyst (BDC) ecosystem, a cloud-based platform that provides secure access to biomedical data, analytic tools, and collaborative workspaces.

The position offers the opportunity to work on cutting-edge initiatives aimed at improving how researchers interact with complex data and analysis workflows. Potential project areas include developing semantic search capabilities, designing natural language interfaces for the BDC environment, creating BDC-specific foundation models, enabling large language models (LLMs) and machine learning workflows, and advancing data interoperability across the ecosystem.

Position Details Department:

Renaissance Computing Institute - 637100

Position Type:

Postdoctoral Scholar

Position Title:

BDC Post-Doc Research Associate

Vacancy ID:

PDS004619

Full-time/Part-time:

Full-Time Temporary

Hours Per Week:

40

FTE:

1.0

Work Location:

Chapel Hill, NC

Position Location:

North Carolina, US

Posting Open Date:

08/05/2025

Open Until Filled:

Yes

Proposed Start Date:

09/01/2025

Estimated Duration Of Appointment:

12 Months

Primary Purpose Of Organizational Unit At the Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI), we use data, creativity, and inclusive teaming to revitalize how science is done. Fostering data science expertise and creating cyberinfrastructure isn’t just about solving known problems – it’s about expanding human potential by unlocking data. We need innovators, builders, strategists, technologists, architects, and creative thinkers across all domains to drive this work forward.

Spend your time solving the interesting and unique problems of research and development.

Shape your future through experimentation and unfettered access to premier education and research.

Make connections to people and projects that ignite your passion.

We know that diversity of people and ideas is a cornerstone of innovation, and we work to ensure our culture reflects that knowledge. We provide the tools you need to do your job effectively; we offer flexibility so you can be the most productive version of you; and we encourage thoughtful and challenging discourse. Join our research institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill today and help us spark a scientific renaissance across the Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and beyond.

Position Summary The Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) at UNC Chapel Hill is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate to contribute to innovative projects within the NIH BioData Catalyst (BDC) ecosystem, a cloud-based platform that provides secure access to biomedical data, analytic tools, and collaborative workspaces. This position offers the opportunity to work on cutting-edge initiatives aimed at improving how researchers interact with complex data and analysis workflows. Potential project areas include developing semantic search capabilities to help users efficiently locate relevant datasets, designing natural language interfaces for more intuitive navigation of the BDC environment, creating BDC-specific foundation models, and enabling LLMs and machine learning-based workflows within the platform. The role may also involve advancing harmonization techniques to improve data interoperability and usability across the ecosystem. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to high-impact, translational research infrastructure at the intersection of biomedical informatics, cloud computing, and AI.

Minimum Education And Experience Requirements Ph.D. in Bioinformatics, Biomedical Informatics, Computer Science, or a related field.

Required Qualifications, Competencies, And Experience

Experience deploying and working with LLMs

Agentic workflows and retrieval augmented generation (RAG)

Prompt engineering experience

Developing, training, and testing machine learning (ML) models

Software engineering expertise

Preferred Qualifications, Competencies, And Experience

Experience with biomedical data, including clinical, EHR, omics, and imaging

Knowledge graphs (KGs), and integrating LLMs with KGs

Multimodal LLMs

Special Instructions For information on UNC Postdoctoral Benefits and Services, click here.

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