Research Assistant

California Institute of Technology
vision insurance, parental leave, paid time off, sick time, tuition reimbursement
United States, California, Pasadena
Dec 13, 2024
Caltech is a world-renowned science and engineering institute that marshals some of the world's brightest minds and most innovative tools to address fundamental scientific questions. We thrive on finding and cultivating talented people who are passionate about what they do. Join us and be a part of the diverse Caltech community. Job Summary The Research Assistant in Scientific Computing will work at the AI+Science Lab led by Prof. Anima Anandkumar at Caltech, a mission-driven multi-disciplinary environment creating cutting-edge AI methods and applying them to a wide range of scientific domains ranging from weather/climate modeling, material design and manufacturing, protein design, and autonomous drone flights. The Research Assistant is responsible for gathering accurate, credible information on a subject and summarizing their findings to support senior research staff in scientific and academic fields. Their duties include browsing archives for information, completing literature reviews, and conducting research interviews. The successful candidate will perform a variety of duties to help with the publication of work. Essential Job Duties Maintaining quality controls standards to preserve the integrity of data and findings. Scheduling and conducting interviews. Selecting a place to conduct interviews and getting permission from all participants. Analyzing data using various statistical methods. Writing reports to summarize data and the implications of the results. Researching information. Gathering accurate, credible information on a subject. Summarizing findings to support senior research staff. Browsing archives for information. Completing literature reviews. Preparing scientific equipment or setting up experiments to test hypotheses. Recording data or collecting samples in order to track the progress of experiments over time. Creating graphs, charts, tables, and other visual representations of data. Planning research projects. Writing proposals and grant applications. Developing statistical models. Analyzing data. Producing reports. Presenting research findings. Basic Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, AI, Applied Math, or a related field. 2 years of relevant scientific research experience. Strong mathematical fundamentals and algorithms skills or experience. Excellent programming, debugging, performance analysis, and test design skills. Ability to work independently. Excellent communication and documentation habits. Preferred Qualifications Master's in Computer Science, AI, Applied Math, or a related field. Moderate research project experience doing performance analysis and tuning. Moderate research project experience training large-scale foundation models, especially pipeline/model parallelism. Track record of creating HPC software for numerical methods. Domain expertise in areas like computational fluid dynamics, material deformation, wave propagation, etc. Familiarity with containers, numeric libraries, and modular software design. Experience doing performance analysis and tuning. Excellent C/C++ and Python programming skills. GPU programming would be welcome (CUDA). Required Documents Resume Hiring Range $23.50 to $30.25 per hour The salary of the finalist(s) selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to, internal equity, experience, education, specialty and training. As one of the largest employers in Pasadena, CA, Caltech is committed to providing comprehensive benefits to eligible employees and their eligible dependents. Our benefits package includes competitive compensation, health, dental, and vision insurance, retirement savings plans, generous paid time off (vacation, holidays, sick time, parental leave, bereavement, etc.), tuition reimbursement, and more. Non-benefit eligible employees will have access to some benefits such as onsite counseling and sick time. Learn more about our benefits and staff perks. EEO Statement We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Caltech is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor. To read more Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) go to eeoc_self_print_poster.pdf. Disability Accommodations If you would like to request an accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to Caltech Recruiting at employment@caltech.edu.