Become a research assistant in Food Science and Technology lab

Food Science and Technology
Food Science and Technology

Dr. Yanbin Yin is a new bioinformatics faculty member in the Food Science and Technology Department. He is seeking one or two computer science undergraduate research assistants (RAs) to join his lab to conduct summer research (which may also extend to the fall semester).

The starting date is flexible, but could begin as early as May. Research assistants would be expected to work for approximately 10-20 hours a week and get paid for $12 per hour (can be increased pending performance). 
 
The lab has a long tradition to work with highly talented computer science undergraduate students who have interests in gaining experience in software engineering and web-based tool development (http://bcb.unl.edu/people.php). Most of them have obtained jobs in the industry (e.g., Discover Bank) or academia (e.g., Argonne National Lab) immediately after graduation. 
 
Duties: The student will primarily work on the command line terminal of Linux computer and the Holland Computing Center computing cluster to: 1) assist in collecting and downloading genome data from major bioinformatics websites using BASH; 2) assist in running different bioinformatics tools to analyze the downloaded genomes; 3) develop bioinformatics data analysis programs/software with the following languages: Python, Perl, C/C++, R; 4) install and configure the MySQL database management tool and the PHP web programming tool; 5) build online databases/websites with PHP + JavaScript. In addition, the student will: 1) present and discuss the progress with the PI and other lab members in the weekly lab meeting; and 2) assist in collecting data for research paper writing and external grant proposal writing.
 
Required qualifications include at least a 3.2 GPA, and an "A" in CSCE 310 and 361. Exceptional sophomores and freshmen who haven't taken these courses but have an "A" in CSCE 251 will also be considered. Experience in assembling desktop PCs are preferred.

To apply, contact Dr. Yanbin Yin at yyin@unl.edu, or his office at FIC 253 (472-4303).