Scientific Data Curator

Position: Scientific Data Curator: Networking Research Resources Across America
Organization: CTSC, Harvard Medical School
Location: Boston, MA

Duties and Responsibilities:
On May 1, 2009, the National Institutes of Health issued a request for proposal, inviting applications designed to develop, enhance, or extend infrastructure for connecting resources to facilitate national discovery of scientific resources by scientists and students to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration and scientific exchange. This project is directed by Principal Investigator Lee M. Nadler, MD, Harvard Medical School Dean for Clinical and Translational Research. The team, named Networking Research Resources Across America, includes Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Jackson State University, Morehouse School of Medicine, Montana State University, Oregon Health & Science University, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Hawaii Manoa, and University of Puerto Rico. Harvard Catalyst | CTSC will lead eight institutions of different sizes, geographical location, and culture to build and implement a federated national informatics network that will allow any investigator across America to discover research resources that are presently invisible. Postdoctoral research associates, known as Resource Navigators, will collect and inventory the research resources at the nine participating institutions by visiting laboratories, core facilities, shared resource centers, and central offices in person and through online searches to generate the raw data needed to create a comprehensive research resource inventory. The information collected by the Resource Navigators will fill a new, comprehensive data query system that will permit investigators at the participating sites to search for research resources at any of the federated sites. The Scientific Data Curator serves on the Data Curation Team for the Networking Research Resources Across America project. Under the supervision of the Lead Data Curator, s/he will work with the Data Entry Technologists at all sites and the Central Project Team to structure and annotate resource metadata, review data submissions, contribute to the development of ontologies and data standards, and engage in standard annotation tasks. The person in this role must be pro-active and identify new opportunities for improving quality and the efficiency of our overall development process. This position is a grant-funded position through September, 2011.

Basic Qualifications:
A Bachelors Degree in Library Science or Bachelors Degree in Computer science, 5 years of database experience and knowledge of relational databases.

Additional Qualifications:
Three years of research experience (research experience concurrent with academic study is acceptable) as well as strong verbal, written, and interpersonal skills; broad knowledge of medical/scientific terminology; and technical capabilities including excellent computer skills with the ability to perform detailed work requiring sustained attention in a proficient manner are required. Familiarity with Harvard processes and procedures a plus. Candidates with experience in the principles and practice of biomedical informatics will be highly regarded. Candidates with the ability to prioritize and handle a wide range of tasks simultaneously, and possess good judgment, sense of initiative and a detail focus are preferred.

To apply, visit Harvard's Job Postings page at http://jobs.harvard.edu/jobs/search_req and search requisition # 37885.