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DescriptionPosition Summary
The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Immunology Institute, seeks a creative and detail\-oriented Research Scientist with advanced (PhD preferred) training in immunology to support immunology\-focused research programs, immunology education/outreach for UAB investigators and trainees, and community engagement efforts. This role focuses on translating immunology and biomedical research into clear, accessible content for diverse audiences, managing institute website, newsletter, and social media content, and developing outreach/ education initiatives that build connections among researchers, students, clinicians, and the broader Birmingham community. The ideal candidate has a strong foundational knowledge of the immune system, is an excellent scientific writer, editor and storyteller, can identify key topics for scientific workshops and symposia, organize scientific events and educational programs, write scientific reports for experts in the field and stakeholders, bring creativity to institution\-wide and public\-facing science education, and is passionate about advancing health, well\-being, and the impact of translational research. This position is well suited for individuals who wish to remain actively engaged in research and science beyond the bench and contribute to the mission of UAB Medicine through scientific service and outreach. A Research Scientist conducts advanced studies in a specific field, applying specialized knowledge to drive research projects. The position requires collaboration with peers and adherence to established protocols, with moderate autonomy and responsibility for project deliverables.
General Responsibilities
A Research Scientist conducts advanced studies in a specific field, applying specialized knowledge to drive research projects. This role involves data analysis, interpretation of results, and contribution to scientific literature. The position requires collaboration with peers and adherence to established protocols, with moderate autonomy and responsibility for project deliverables. Depending on the research focus, this position may involve research collaborator contact, research animal contact, and/or specimens.
Key Duties \& Responsibilities
- Research: Utilizing training, knowledge and expertise in the field, interpret scientific research and public health findings for a broad audience; may help write grant proposals to procure external research funding; may contribute to publishing findings in professional journals; Keeps abreast of developments in their field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.
- Research writing and communication: Write, edit and translate content on immunology\-relevant manuscripts, news and research progress; Design and distribute all Institute\-related promotional materials flyers, posters, graphs, videos for social media and website; Using existing UAB templates, creates and maintains the Immunology Institute website with weekly updates to ongoing and new programs; Manage and create content for the Institute's weekly newsletter, daily notifications, Institute X site, Instagram site; Submits media communications for Institute events and noteworthy news items through UAB eReporter, HSOM Medicine News and UAB Research Matters.
- Community outreach: Initiate activities for outreach and education with community organizations and schools; respond to queries for outreach, support and education; Collaborates with the Microbiology Vice Chair for Education, the Undergraduate Immunology Society, Graduate Immunology Society, the American Physician Scientists Association (APSA) to organize and host outreach and education events (McWane, YMCA, schools, libraries); Assist with planning, organization and hosting official events, symposia, education and outreach events; Organize opportunities for basic scientists and clinicians to coalesce and initiate collaborations on multi\-disciplinary themes.
- Institute admin: Ensure that all materials are in compliance and integrated with UAB policies and procedures; Assist with organizing and advertising programs and facilities; Interface with faculty and trainee members.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Salary Range: $ 70,425 \- $114,440
QualificationsQualifications
Doctorate degree in a related field and one (1\) year of related experience OR Master s degree in a related field and three (3\) years of related experience OR Bachelor s degree in a related field and five (5\) years of related experience required. Work experience may NOT substitute for education requirement. Preferences* PhD in immunology, microbiology, molecular biology, cell biology, or a related life science field.
- The ideal candidate has a strong foundational knowledge of the immune system, is an excellent scientific writer, editor and storyteller, can identify key topics for scientific workshops and symposia, organize scientific events and educational programs, write scientific reports for experts in the field and stakeholders, bring creativity to institution\-wide and public\-facing science education, and is passionate about advancing health, well\-being, and the impact of translational research.
UAB is an Equal Employment/Equal Educational Opportunity Institution dedicated to providing equal opportunities and equal access to all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, ethnic or national origin, sex (including pregnancy), genetic information, age, disability, and veteran's status. As required by Title IX, UAB prohibits sex discrimination in any education program or activity that it operates. Individuals may report concerns or questions to UAB's Assistant Vice President and Senior Title IX Coordinator. The Title IX notice of nondiscrimination is located at uab.edu/titleix.
Primary Location: UniversityJob Category: Scientific ResearchOrganization: 310002800 UAB Immunology InstituteEmployee Status: RegularShift: Day/1st ShiftWork Arrangement (final schedule to be determined by the department/hiring manager): Onsite
Salary Context
This $70K-$114K range is in the lower quartile for Research Scientist roles in our dataset (median: $183K across 109 roles with salary data).
Role Details
About This Role
Research Scientists push the boundaries of what AI can do. They design experiments, develop novel architectures, publish papers, and translate research breakthroughs into production capabilities. This is where the fundamental advances happen, from attention mechanisms to diffusion models to reasoning chains.
The work is intellectually demanding and often ambiguous. You might spend months on an approach that doesn't pan out. The best research scientists combine deep mathematical intuition with engineering pragmatism. They know when to go deep on theory and when to run experiments. They read papers voraciously and can spot incremental contributions from genuine breakthroughs.
Across the 3,823 AI roles we're tracking, Research Scientist positions make up 3% of the market. At University of Alabama, Birmingham, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
What the Work Looks Like
A typical week includes: reading and discussing recent papers with your team, designing and running experiments on multi-GPU clusters, analyzing results and iterating on hypotheses, writing up findings for internal review or publication, and collaborating with engineering teams to productionize promising results. The ratio of thinking to coding is higher than in engineering roles.
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
Skills in Demand for This Role
PhD strongly preferred for most roles. Deep expertise in a specific area (NLP, computer vision, reinforcement learning, multimodal) is expected. PyTorch is the standard. Publication track record matters. Strong mathematical foundations in linear algebra, probability, optimization, and information theory are assumed.
Beyond the fundamentals, companies value experience with large-scale distributed training, novel architecture design, and the ability to bridge theory and practice. Understanding of current frontier topics (reasoning, multimodal, long-context, alignment) is essential. Code quality matters more than many researchers expect. Labs want researchers who can implement their ideas cleanly.
Strong research postings specify the research area, mention the team you'd join, and describe the problems they're working on. They often list recent publications from the team. Vague 'AI research' postings without specifics usually mean the company wants to sound impressive but doesn't have a real research agenda.
Compensation Benchmarks
Research Scientist roles pay a median of $223,400 based on 280 positions with disclosed compensation. Mid-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $165,000. This role's midpoint ($92K) sits 59% below the category median. Disclosed range: $70K to $114K.
Across all AI roles, the market median is $200,100. Top-quartile compensation starts at $253,500. The 90th percentile reaches $307,500. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Engineering Manager ($275,000) and AI Safety ($274,200). By seniority level: Entry: $97,880; Mid: $165,000; Senior: $227,400; Director: $247,800; VP: $250,000.
University of Alabama, Birmingham AI Hiring
University of Alabama, Birmingham has 2 open AI roles right now. They're hiring across Research Scientist, Data Scientist. Based in Birmingham, AL, US. Compensation range: $114K - $139K.
Location Context
Across all AI roles, 15% (590 positions) offer remote work, while 3,217 require on-site attendance. Top AI hiring metros: New York (2,643 roles, $211,000 median); San Francisco (2,168 roles, $253,000 median); Los Angeles (1,792 roles, $191,580 median).
Career Path
Common paths into Research Scientist roles include PhD Student, Research Engineer, Postdoc.
From here, career progression typically leads toward Research Lead, Distinguished Scientist, VP of Research.
The PhD is the entry point for most paths. Choose your advisor and research area carefully since they'll define your first industry position. Publish consistently, contribute to open-source projects in your area, and build relationships at conferences. Industry research offers better compensation and compute resources than academia, but the pressure to show product impact is real.
What to Expect in Interviews
Research interviews are multi-stage: a research talk (present your best paper), technical deep-dives on your methodology, and often a 'research proposal' exercise where you design an experiment to test a hypothesis. Coding rounds test implementation ability alongside theoretical knowledge. Be prepared to implement a paper from scratch and discuss the design choices the authors made. Strong candidates can critique papers constructively and identify gaps in experimental methodology.
When evaluating opportunities: Strong research postings specify the research area, mention the team you'd join, and describe the problems they're working on. They often list recent publications from the team. Vague 'AI research' postings without specifics usually mean the company wants to sound impressive but doesn't have a real research agenda.
AI Hiring Overview
The AI job market has 3,823 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 112 entry-level, 1,798 mid-level, 1,516 senior, and 397 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 15% of the market (590 positions). The remaining 3,217 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.
The market median for AI roles is $200,100. Top-quartile compensation starts at $253,500. The 90th percentile reaches $307,500. Highest-paying categories: AI Engineering Manager ($275,000 median, 41 roles); AI Safety ($274,200 median, 55 roles); Research Engineer ($260,000 median, 434 roles).
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
The AI Job Market Today
The AI job market spans 3,823 open positions across 15 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (2,629), Data Scientist (322), AI Software Engineer (279). These three account for the majority of open positions, though smaller categories often have higher per-role compensation because of specialized skill requirements.
The seniority mix tells a story about where AI teams are in their maturity. Entry-level roles (112) are outnumbered by mid-level (1,798) and senior (1,516) positions, reflecting that most companies are past the 'build a team from scratch' phase and need experienced engineers who can ship production systems. Leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level) total 397 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.
Remote work availability sits at 15% of all AI roles (590 positions), with 3,217 requiring on-site or hybrid attendance. The remote share has stabilized after the post-pandemic correction. Senior and specialized roles (Research Scientist, ML Architect) are more likely to be remote-eligible than entry-level positions, partly because experienced hires have more negotiating power and partly because these roles require less hands-on mentorship.
AI compensation is structured in clear tiers. The market median sits at $200,100. Top-quartile roles start at $253,500, and the 90th percentile reaches $307,500. These figures include base salary with disclosed compensation. Total compensation (including equity, bonuses, and sign-on) runs 20-40% higher at companies that offer those components.
Category matters for compensation. AI Engineering Manager roles lead at $275,000 median, while Prompt Engineer roles sit at $140,000. The spread between highest and lowest-paying categories reflects the premium on specialized technical skills versus broader analytical roles.
The most in-demand skills across all AI postings: Python (1,979 postings), Aws (1,190 postings), Azure (899 postings), Rag (839 postings), Gcp (726 postings), Pytorch (595 postings), Prompt Engineering (595 postings), Claude (540 postings). Python dominates, appearing in the vast majority of role descriptions regardless of category. Cloud platform experience (AWS, GCP, Azure) is the second most common requirement. The newer entrants to the top skills list (RAG, vector databases, LLM APIs) reflect the shift from traditional ML toward generative AI applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
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