Data Scientist

UK Research and Innovation is a new entitythat brings together nine partnersto create an independent organisation with a strong voice for research and innovation, more information can be found at www.ukri.org

The recruiting partner is NERC - the Natural Environment Research Council - is the UK’s leading public funder of environmental science. The Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) is part of NERC and is the UK's Centre of Excellence for integrated research in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems and their interaction with the atmosphere. Working in partnership with the research community, policy makers, industry and society, CEH undertakes cutting edge research to deliver world class solutions to the most complex environmental challenges facing humankind.

About the role

This is an exciting opportunity to work with researchers in CEH  in collaboration with the Lancaster Data Science Institute to investigate new technologies and provide solutions across a number of data driven research challenges such as the EPSRC project “Data Science of the Natural Environment” https://www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-media/news/new-project-data-science-natural-environment.

The post will sit within the Environmental Data Science group at CEH Lancaster, which works on a range of projects mainly within the CEH Environmental Informatics area. The group has strong skills in developing tools and techniques for data management, integration and analysis to support environmental science and lead operation of the NERC Environmental Information Data Centre.

You will have access to CEH’s learning and development programme and close links to the newly created Lancaster Data Science Institute at the Lancaster University campus (www.lancaster.ac.uk/dsi/).

Key purpose of role:

• to support the CEH Science Strategy through developing new data science capabilities for analysis and interpretation of data
• to design and implement systems to enable integrated storage, processing and exploitation of CEH scientific data resources.

This post will contribute to development of new data science capabilities to understand environmental change and underlying processes through implementation of new data intensive techniques. This research and development will take place within multidisciplinary research teams across CEH and with the Lancaster Data Science Institute

Main duties of role:

• to research and develop data science tools and techniques especially for data interoperability and integrated analysis e.g. for heterogeneous data from integrated environmental monitoring activities
• to develop informatics capabilities to support CEH Science e.g. using big data analytics
• to collaborate with other NERC data centres and other groups on data infrastructures, standards, techniques, methods and tools
• to collaborate with researchers within data intensive projects to produce new and innovative methods and tools for environmental science.
  

About you

You will be educated to degree level in a computational and/or numerical science and either a PhD or MSc and/or post-degree experience in automated data systems development or equivalent.

It’s essential that you have the ability to work effectively within an informatics team and communicate technical concepts to environmental scientists.  You must be able to initiate new ideas and collaborations with scientists to address environmental data science requirements as well as having the ability to process and transform data using scripting languages such as R/Python.

It’s desirable that you have knowledge of sematic techniques and linked data formats for manipulation of data within triple stores (e.g. using SPARQL).

Please visit www.ceh.ac.uk  for a full description and skills specification.

What we offer

We take care of our employees by offering many benefits such as a public sector pension scheme, 30 days’ annual leave and 10½ days’ public and privilege holidays per annum.

We have an equal opportunities policy and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. People with disabilities and those from ethnic minorities are currently under represented and their applications are particularly welcomed. Guaranteed interview scheme for applicants with disabilities

How to Apply

If you would like to know more about the role and team, please contact John Watkins on 01524 595827 or jww@ceh.ac.uk

Applications are handled by UK SBS; to apply please click here.

Please ensure that you complete an application form as CVs will not be accepted as a standalone. The form should be uploaded via the "My Account" menu option on the "Jobs Home" page Applicants who are unable to apply online should contact us by telephone on +44 (0)1793 867000 quoting reference number IRC245547.

Closing date: 8^th July 2018

Interview date: 23^rd July 2018