Background

VIPRA is a multi-university research project on the spread of diseases through air travel (www.cs.fsu.edu/vipra), funded by the National Science Foundation. Its results have been highlighted in over 75 news outlets around the world, and it was also identified as one of the major scientific breakthroughs using the flagship Blue Waters supercomputer at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. In current work, we are extending it to develop a general software infrastructure. We are also developing techniques to leverage new data sources, such as social media and location-based services, to study the impact of human movement on infection spread.

Positions

We are recruiting graduate students in Computer Science to contribute to this research at the Masters level at the University of West Florida (UWF). We have funding available for multiple positions. This position will provide an excellent training opportunity for students who are interested in a Ph.D. in the future, either at UWF or elsewhere. Students can expect to acquire skills in parallel programming, machine learning, and software engineering in a public health context.

Eligibility

Applicants must meet all the admissions requirements for admission to the Master's program in Computer Science at UWF (https://uwf.edu/hmcse/departments/computer-science/graduate-programs/ms-computer-science). However, we expect students recruited for this research project to have stronger qualifications than the minimum requirements. The ideal candidate would have a GPA of over 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale) and GRE quantitative score over 160. We also expect the students to undertake a Masters thesis.

Desired skills

Applicants should have strong programming skills in C/C++ in a Unix environment and be proficient in data structures and algorithms. There are a variety of sub-projects that the applicant could focus on, and additional desired skills would vary depending on the applicant's focus. For example, python or parallel programming skills using MPI, OpenMP, or pthreads in C would be desirable for specific sub-projects. Applicants should also have adequate communication skills in written and spoken English.

Start date

Either Spring 2020 or Fall 2020 semesters.

Contact information

If you are interested, then please contact Prof. Ashok Srinivasan at asrinivasan@uwf.edu with a 1-page resume in pdf format that includes the following information:

1. name of university and location of the campus;
2. GPA or equivalent (please mention the actual score used at your university and the maximum possible, for example, 8.5/10; do not convert it to a 4.0 scale if that is not used in your transcript) and estimated rank in class;
3. undergraduate major;
4. all the above information for your graduate university if you are in graduate school;
5. list of courses related to parallel computing and data science; also a list of computer science courses taken if you are not a computer science major;
6. work experience, if any;
7. research experience and publications, if any;
8. GRE scores, and
9. TOEFL scores or equivalent if this is required for your admission.

Note: You would need to apply independently for admission to the graduate program at UWF. Any formal offer will be conveyed directly by UWF.