Job Description

[pausz]

PROGRAMMER FOR SCIENTIFIC SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT IN BRAIN DYNAMICS

Complex Systems Group

ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function

Casual staff, up to 20h a week for 6 months. Remuneration package: Level 5, Step 1 HEO according to the university pay scale for casual staff. Further offers available subject to progress and funding.

The successful applicant will work in the Brain Dynamics Group of Professor Peter Robinson in collaboration with Dr Paula Sanz-Leon to work on the development and further advancement of a scientific software to simulate the electrical activity of neural tissue. The numerical simulations of neural fields allow for the study of multiscale, emergent, nonlinear, and critical phenomena in the brain when theoretical analysis become intractable. The current code is already mature piece of software. However, it still needs refinement, exhaustive testing and detailed technical documentation. New features also need to be incorporated in the future.

Essential criteria include:

• an undergraduate major in computer science, physics, applied mathematics, engineering, or allied field; with experience in (biological) physical modelling.
• at least 2 years of demonstrated practical experience with C++ for scientific software development;
• good understanding of Object Oriented Programming;
• proved coding ability and evidence of self-motivation and independence;
• proficiency in numerical methods for solving PDEs;
• evidence of working with git or another version control system;
• good English skills;
• good team player, motivated to learn and propose new technologies and assist with challenging algorithms;

Desirable criteria include:

• experience in computational physics (preferably modelling physical or biological systems)
• motivation to interact with users and help them learning how to use the software
• knowing about benchmarking and profiling;
• an ability to start work by 15th September 2016

Tasks and Expected results (non-exhaustive list):

• Documenting the code
• Improving the users manual
• Writing unit tests
• Benchmarking
• Adding new models of noise generation
• Adding new functionality
• Write a general interface for Matlab

If you learned to write excellent code for scientific research and love being challenged, we'd be happy to hear about you.

The job offer will remain open until filled

Contact:

Interested applicants please send a cover letter and a CV to cindy.guy@sydney.edu.au