Digital Humanities Computing Consultant

Description

Digital Humanities Computing Consultant
Office of VP for Research & National Laboratories
University of Chicago

The Research Computing Center (RCC) is seeking a highly motivated Digital Humanities Computing Research Consultant to work closely with faculty and researchers. The person in this position will serve as a point person to work closely with faculty and researchers in the Humanities Division (HD). The Consultant will serve as a technical domain expert in supporting and advising faculty and postdoctoral fellows on research that involves computational analysis (text mining, network analysis, GIS), information visualization, and/or data intensive research. The successful candidate will join a team of consultants who are playing a key role in the creation of subject matter experts support group at the University of Chicago.

Essential functions and responsibilities

• Work closely with humanities faculty to identify, develop, and implement useful computational methods and resources that support or advance their research.
• Assist in the implementation, development, and improvement of software and methods that can be utilized in analyzing and interpreting humanities data. This will include software and methods related to text mining, visualization, mapping, and other approaches currently being used in the field of digital humanities.
• Assist with the compiling, debugging, optimizing, profiling and porting of codes on RCC compute and storage resources.
• Design tutorials, hands-on workshops, and documentation for researchers and students in the Humanities Division with the help and coordination of other RCC staff.
• Assist with HD faculty grant proposals by incorporating aspects related to computation, data analysis, and data management.
• Organize seminars and meet-ups to expand and help bring together the emerging community of computational researchers in the Humanities.
• Keep abreast of new developments in digital humanities and be pro-active in introducing them to the faculty.
• Dedicate a portion of time on digital research projects or activities for professional development, as approved.

Required competencies:

• Proficiency in one or more scripting languages (such as Python, Perl, Bash, etc.)
• Must be able to understand and translate researchers' project goals into computational requirements.
• Must be able to function as part of an interactive team while demonstrating self-initiative to achieve project's goals and research computing center's mission.
• Must have strong analytical skills and problem solving ability.
• Minimum of three years experience in a UNIX-based programming environment.
• Excellent oral and written English communication and inter-personal skills.
• Ability to work well with faculty and researchers

Desired competencies:

• Programming and development experience.
• Proficiency in one or more programming languages.
• Experience writing or contributing to grant proposals.

About the unit

The University of Chicago Research Computing Center (RCC), a unit in the Office of the Vice President for Research and for National Laboratories (OVPRNL), provides high-end research computing resources to researchers at the University of Chicago. It is dedicated to enabling research by providing access to centrally managed High Performance Computing (HPC), storage and visualization resources. These resources include hardware, software, high-level scientific and technical user support, education and training required to help researchers make full use of modern HPC technology and local and national supercomputing resources.

The Office of the Vice President for Research and for National Laboratories oversees the conduct of sponsored research, technology transfer, research program development, multi-institutional research institutes, and national laboratory board and contract management functions. OVPRNL helps to develop and coordinate research-related communications and educational programs at The University of Chicago. OVPRNL oversees the management of two Department of Energy contracts for Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. When combined with the Lab R&D budgets, the office oversees approximately $1.4 billion in sponsored research. OVPRNL works closely with individual scholars, departments, and divisions to encourage, seed, and coalesce research across the University, Argonne, and Fermilab campuses. This includes joint-faculty and -staff appointments that cross-divisional and institutional boundaries.