Post Doctoral Scholar

Unleash Your Potential With Us

As a next-generation public research institution, we are an inclusive community of thinkers, doers, creators, innovators, healers, and leaders striving to shape the future and solve the world's most challenging problems. No matter what your role is, when you join Knight Nation, you become an integral part of our mission to become a university for the future. You'll be met with opportunities to connect and collaborate with uniquely talented faculty, staff, and students across 13 colleges and multiple campuses and regional locations. That means greater challenges to tackle, more meaningful opportunities to grow, and rewarding experiences that go beyond a paycheck.

The Opportunity

The College of Engineering and Computer Science has an immediate opening for a 2-year, full-time, postdoctoral fellow position in the laboratory of Dr. Ivan Garibay. The University of Central Florida provides an outstanding research environment, and we are seeking highly motivated and independent postdoctoral fellows with training and expertise in agent-based modeling, neural networks, social network analysis, machine learning, data analytics, computational economics, or computational social science. This position will be part of the "ART: From Research to Impact, Building the Translational Capacity of UCF's Innovation Ecosystem" project, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for 4-years to better understand innovation clusters and how to accelerate the quantity and quality of innovation output and their economic and social impact. This team will conduct research as part of the NSF's "Accelerating Research Translation (ART)" program, a network of NSF-funded teams across the USA. This project seeks to create state-of-the-art agent-based computational economics models of human behavior, considering emotional, social, and rational agent architectures with a particular focus on computational simulations of the spread and evolution of innovations and their impact on innovation-driven economic growth. These simulations will allow for a deeper, more quantitative understanding of our global innovation environment, including a better understanding of phenomena such as strategies to accelerate innovation clusters, global technological competitiveness, green economic growth, and cleaner production. The ART team will collect data on emerging innovation ecosystems to help guide the models. The ART team comprises interdisciplinary faculty and entrepreneurship practitioners from various US institutions, including the University of Central Florida, the University of Florida, and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Training and mentorship from senior faculty will provide multiple opportunities to co-author high-quality publications in an interdisciplinary research environment. Mentorship and training will also be provided for grant writing, with numerous opportunities to serve as co-principal investigator on federal grant proposals. If desired, teaching opportunities could also be made available via the Master of Science in Data Analytics program directed by Dr. Garibay. Also, there will be collaborative projects with other experts in deep learning, data analytics, and innovation modeling at the University of Central Florida and partner institutions.

Minimum Qualifications

PhD in Computer Science, Computational Social Science, Innovation Modeling or related.

Preferred Qualifications

-A Ph.D. in computer science, statistics, computer engineering, artificial intelligence, machine learning, complex adaptive systems, agent-based modeling, agent-based computation economics, data science, computational social science, or a closely related field is required.

-Candidates with solid knowledge and experience in agent-based modeling (NetLogo), machine learning methods (Python), deep neural networks, or social science simulations and excellent writing skills, as evidenced by multiple peer-reviewed publications, are preferred.

-Curiosity and passion for computer-driven problem solving and an ability to work independently and as a member of an interdisciplinary team is highly desirable.

Additional Application Materials Required:

UCF requires all applications and supporting documents be submitted electronically through the Human Resources employment opportunities website, . In addition to the online application, candidates should upload a current curriculum vitae, and a list with contact information for three (3) professional references.

The selected candidate will be required to submit official transcripts (and, as applicable, U.S. degree equivalency evaluations) documenting the conferral of their qualifying academic credentials.

NOTE: Please have all documents ready when applying so they can be attached at that time. Once the online submission process is finalized, the system does not allow applicants to submit additional documents later.

Are Benefits Important to You?

Working at UCF has its perks! In addition to helping drive change and having a positive impact by supporting our students, staff, and faculty, UCF offers:

• Benefit packages including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, healthcare flexible spending accounts, and an Employee Assistance Program.
• Paid time off, including annual and sick leave and paid holidays.
• Retirement savings options.
• Employee discounts, including tickets to many Orlando area attractions.
• Education assistance.
• Flexible work environment.

And more...For more benefits information, go to 'Prospective Employees' on the UCF Human Resources website ()

Who Are We?

Founded in 1963 to fuel the region's talent pipeline and support the growing U.S. space program, UCF is built to make a better future for our students and society. It's one of the reasons U.S. News & World Report ranks UCF among the nation's top 20 most innovative colleges, while Forbes, Kiplinger, and The Princeton Review rank us a best-value university. UCF is one of 14 universities nationwide designated as both a Hispanic-Serving Institution and a Research 1 university. With 13 colleges, including a fully accredited College of Medicine, UCF offers more than 220-degree programs between its main campus, downtown campus, hospitality campus, academic health sciences campus, and 11 UCF Connect centers located throughout the region. In addition, UCF extends its reach to communities in and beyond Central Florida by offering complete online programs leading to bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, Ph.D.'s., certificates, and more.

The University of Central Florida is proud to be a smoke-free campus and an E-Verify employer. Unless explicitly stated on the job posting, it is UCF's expectation that an employee of UCF will reside in Florida as of the date the employment begins.

Additional Requirements related to Research Positions

Pursuant to Florida State Statute 1010.35, prior to offering employment to certain individuals in research-related positions, UCF is required to conduct additional screening. Applicants subject to additional screening include any citizen of a foreign country who is not a permanent resident of the U.S., or who is a citizen or permanent resident but is affiliated with or has had at least 1 year of higher education, employment, or training in China, Cuba, Iran, Russia, North Korea, Syria, or Venezuela.

The additional screening requirements only apply to employment in research-related positions, including, but not limited to faculty positions (including employed visiting positions), graduate positions, individuals compensated by research grants or contract funds, postdoctoral scholar positions, and undergraduate positions.

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Equal Employment Opportunity Statement:

The University of Central Florida is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer including Disabled/Vets. Click on to view the President's Statement.

The UCF affirmative action plans for qualified individuals with disabilities and protected Veterans are available for inspection in the Office of Institutional Equity, Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., upon request.

As a Florida public university, UCF makes all application materials and selection procedures available to the public upon request.

The University of Central Florida is proud to be a smoke-free campus and an E-Verify employer.