Research Scientist at University of Texas at Austin in Austin, TX

Research Scientist
Location: UT MAIN CAMPUS
Job Posting Title:
Research Scientist
----
Hiring Department:
Department of Psychology
----
Position Open To:
All Applicants
----
Weekly Scheduled Hours:
40
----
FLSA Status:
Exempt from FLSA
----
Earliest Start Date:
Aug 31, 2026
----
Position Duration:
Expected to Continue Until Aug 30, 2027
----
Location:
UT MAIN CAMPUS
----
Job Details:
General Notes
The Research Scientist will lead and contribute to interdisciplinary research programs in neuroimaging, tractography, neuroinformatics, scientific data standards, artificial intelligence, and research cyberinfrastructure. The position requires scientific independence, technical leadership, effective project execution, and sustained contributions to peer-reviewed research, externally funded programs, open-source software, data standards, and collaborative scientific initiatives. The Research Scientist will be responsible for completing assigned projects in accordance with established scientific objectives, milestones, deliverables, and timelines. Performance will be evaluated based on the quality, timeliness, completeness, reproducibility, and scientific impact of the individual’s work. The position offers opportunities to develop an independent scientific profile, contribute to cutting-edge computational and data-intensive research, collaborate with multidisciplinary national and international teams, and gain experience in scientific leadership, open science, sponsored research, research governance, and the development of shared scientific infrastructure.
This is a one year fixed-term position.
Purpose
The role provides advanced scientific and technical expertise required to lead complex research projects, develop and maintain research software and data infrastructure, manage compliance and data governance activities, coordinate multi-institutional collaborations, and contribute to grant-funded research programs.
Responsibilities
Research and Scholarly Productivity
Research Software, Data, and Cyberinfrastructure
Data Governance, Compliance, and Laboratory Operations
Sponsored Research and Collaborative Program Management
Community Engagement, Mentoring, and Professional Development
Required Qualifications
Ph.D. in neuroscience, psychology, computer science, biomedical engineering, data science, artificial intelligence, or a closely related field.
A minimum of five years of postdoctoral or equivalent research experience.
Demonstrated record of independently completing research projects and producing peer-reviewed publications.
Demonstrated experience managing multidisciplinary, multi-institutional, or international scientific collaborations.
Demonstrated experience contributing substantively to competitive grant proposals and externally funded research programs.
Experience preparing Data Use Agreements, data-access applications, Institutional Review Board submissions, or comparable research-compliance materials.
Demonstrated experience organizing scientific workshops, hackathons, training programs, or comparable collaborative activities.
Demonstrated experience mentoring undergraduate students, graduate students, research staff, or postdoctoral scholars.
Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.
Preferred Qualifications
Demonstrated expertise in tractography, diffusion MRI, neuroinformatics, computational neuroscience, brain connectivity, or large-scale neuroimaging analysis.
Experience developing, maintaining, or contributing to scientific software, cloud-based research platforms, research cyberinfrastructure, or other shared scientific resources.
Demonstrated knowledge of FAIR data principles, scientific data and metadata standards, provenance models, interoperability, and data harmonization.
Experience working with large public or controlled-access scientific repositories and managing data under institutional, sponsor, and regulatory requirements.
Experience with high-performance computing, cloud computing, containerized workflows, workflow-management systems, version control, continuous integration and deployment, software testing, and modern scientific software-engineering practices.
Experience developing or applying artificial intelligence, machine learning, large language models, knowledge graphs, semantic technologies, or intelligent software agents to scientific discovery, scientific data management, scientific workflows, or research cyberinfrastructure.
Experience designing interoperable data systems, application programming interfaces, metadata services, or computational tools that connect scientific repositories, analysis environments, and research platforms.
Demonstrated contributions to open-source software, community data standards, scientific working groups, FAIR data initiatives, or national and international research consortia.
Excellent scientific communication skills, including preparation of manuscripts, grant proposals, progress reports, technical documentation, training materials, presentations, and meeting records.
Evidence of national or international scientific visibility through invited presentations, leadership roles, consortium participation, or contributions to widely adopted software, standards, AI tools, or research infrastructure.
Salary
$83,487
Required Materials
Resume/CV
3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor
Letter of interest
Importantfor applicants who are NOT current university employees or contingent workers: You will be prompted to submit your resume the first time you apply, then you will be provided an option to upload a new Resume for subsequent applications. Any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) will be uploaded in the Application Questions section; you will be able to multi-select additional files. Before submitting your online job application, ensure that ALL Required Materials have been uploaded.  Once your job application has been submitted, you cannot make changes.
Important for Current university employees and contingent workers: As a current university employee or contingent worker, you MUST apply within Workday by searching for Find UT Jobs. If you are a current University employee, log-in to Workday, navigate to your Worker Profile, click the Career link in the left hand navigation menu and then update the sections in your Professional Profile before you apply. This information will be pulled in to your application. The application is one page and you will be prompted to upload your resume. In addition, you must respond to the application questions presented to upload any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) that were noted above.
----
Employment Eligibility:
Regular staff who have been employed in their current position for the last six continuous months are eligible for openings being recruited for through University-Wide or Open Recruiting, to include both promotional opportunities and lateral transfers. Staff who are promotion/transfer eligible may apply for positions without supervisor approval.
----
Retirement Plan Eligibility:
The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per week and at least 135 days in length. This position has the option to elect the Optional Retirement Program (ORP) instead of TRS, subject to the position being 40 hours per week and at least 135 days in length.
----
Background Checks:
A criminal history background check will be required for finalist(s) under consideration for this position.
----
Equal Opportunity Employer:
The University of Texas at Austin, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.
----
Pay Transparency:
The University of Texas at Austin will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information.
----
Employment Eligibility Verification:
If hired, you will be required to complete the federal Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 form.  You will be required to present acceptable and original documents to prove your identity and authorization to work in the United States.  Documents need to be presented no later than the third day of employment.  Failure to do so will result in loss of employment at the university.
----
E-Verify:
The University of Texas at Austin use E-Verify to check the work authorization of all new hires effective May 2015. The university’s company ID number for purposes of E-Verify is 854197. For more information about E-Verify, please see the following:
E-Verify Poster (English and Spanish) [PDF]
Right to Work Poster (English) [PDF]
Right to Work Poster (Spanish) [PDF]
----
Compliance:
Employees may be required to report violations of law under Title IX and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). If this position is identified a Campus Security Authority (Clery Act), you will be notified and provided resources for reporting. Responsible employees under Title IX are defined and outlined in HOP-3031.
The Clery Act requires all prospective employees be notified of the availability of the Annual Security and Fire Safety report. You may access the most recent report here or obtain a copy at University Compliance Services, 1616 Guadalupe Street, UTA 2.206, Austin, Texas 78701.