Interested in this Research Scientist role at University of Florida?
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JOB NO:
540029
WORK TYPE:
Non\-Tenure\-Track Faculty
LOCATION:
Main Campus (Gainesville, FL)
CATEGORIES:
Biology/Life Science, Agricultural Sciences
DEPARTMENT:
60880000 \- AG\-NATURE COAST BIOLOGICAL STA
CLASSIFICATION TITLE:
Res Ast Sctst
CLASSIFICATION MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:
Highest degree possible in field; Evidence of pertinent experience for the position and qualities for the academic unit.
JOB DESCRIPTION:
The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is creating an environment that affirms community across all dimensions. If an accommodation due to a disability is needed to apply for this position, please call 352\-392\-2477 or the Florida Relay System at 800\-955\-8771 (TDD) or visit Accessibility at UF .
This is a 9 month non tenure\-accruing position that will be 100% research (Florida Agricultural Experiment Station), available in the Nature Coast Biological Station, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, at the University of Florida. This assignment may change in accordance with the needs of the unit. Duties will include, but are not limited to, updating and maintaining existing ecosystem models; analyzing large datasets on fish, habitat, and water quality; developing new models and statistical analyses; developing web applications (rShiny); maintaining code through Github; presenting results at management meetings and professional conferences; mentoring graduate students; data management; and preparing scientific publications, grant reports, and outreach materials. The faculty member will actively seek contract and grant funding to support their program.
The successful candidate will participate actively in graduate education by chairing and serving on graduate committees, supervising thesis and dissertation research, and publishing research results with students. Faculty are encouraged to participate in professional development activities related to teaching and advising and may teach courses and seminars.
Background Information:
Description: We are seeking a highly motivated assistant research scientist to develop ecosystem models and analyses to support fisheries management decisions. Join a growing lab, where we develop advanced population and ecosystem models to address real\-world challenges in fisheries and natural resource management. Our work is highly quantitative and applied, and seeks to understand how fish stocks and marine ecosystems respond to fishing and environmental change. In doing so, we aim to bridge the gap between ecosystem science, stock assessment, and management, while also advancing ecological theories and concepts.
The assistant research scientist will have the opportunity to work on one or more high\-profile projects, including: assessing ecosystem impacts of red tides on the West Florida Shelf; developing spatially explicit models to support management of Atlantic menhaden; investigating declines in reef fish abundance in the U.S. South Atlantic region; and coupling marine ecosystem models with ocean climate models. The successful candidate will grow their professional network by working within a varied, multidisciplinary group of collaborators consisting of marine ecosystem modelers, ecologists, stock assessment scientists, physical oceanographers, biogeochemical modelers, fisheries monitoring program leaders, federal and state fisheries managers, and commercial/recreational fishery stakeholders. The assistant research scientist will also have the opportunity to help recruit and mentor graduate students. Funding is available for 2\-3 years depending on salary.
The University of Florida is a Land\-Grant, Sea\-Grant, and Space\-Grant institution, encompassing virtually all academic and professional disciplines, with an enrollment of more than 56,000 students. UF is a member of The Association of American Universities. The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences includes the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, the Florida Cooperative Extension Service, the College of Veterinary Medicine, the Florida Sea Grant program, and encompasses 16 on\-campus academic departments and schools, 12 Research and Educational Centers (REC) located throughout the state, 6 Research sites/demonstration units administered by RECs or academic departments, and Florida Cooperative Extension Service offices in all 67 counties (counties operate and maintain). The School of Natural Resources and Environment is an interdisciplinary unit housed in IFAS and managed by several colleges on campus. UF/IFAS employs nearly 4,500 people, which includes approximately 990 salaried faculty and 1,400 permanent support personnel located in Gainesville and throughout the state. IFAS, one of the nation’s largest agricultural and natural resources research and education organizations, is administered by a Vice President and four deans: the Dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the Dean for Extension and Director of the Florida Cooperative Extension Service, the Dean for Research and Director of the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, and the Dean for the College of Veterinary Medicine. UF/IFAS also engages in cooperative work with Florida A\&M University in Tallahassee.
EXPECTED SALARY:
Commensurate with Experience and Education
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Doctorate degree (PhD, foreign equivalent acceptable) in an environmental science such as marine science, fisheries, ecology, oceanography, or related fields.
- Interest in fisheries ecology, marine ecosystem modeling, species distribution modeling, and mathematical modeling with applications to natural resource management.
- Ability to work both independently and collaboratively to meet project deliverables.
- Must be proficient in R.
- Written and oral communication skills, demonstrated by publications in peer\-reviewed journals and presentations at professional conferences.
- A commitment to foster community and working relationships with colleagues from a variety of backgrounds.
- Candidates should have demonstrated skills in verbal and written communication, interpersonal relationships, and procurement of extramural funding.
- Candidates must be supportive of the mission of the Land\-Grant system.
- Candidates must also have a commitment to UF core values.
PREFERRED:
- Knowledge and experience with ecosystem and food web models, fish population dynamic models and stock assessment, species distribution models, and geospatial analysis of large fisheries and environmental datasets
- Experience with the Ecopath and Ecosim software is strongly preferred.
- Experience working in collaborative, multidisciplinary projects and interacting with resource managers.
- Experience developing R shiny apps and open science tools (GitHub).
- Experience in linear and non\-linear modeling (GLMs, GAMs), spatial\-temporal data analysis, and analysis of spatial data.
- Familiarity with the Gulf of Mexico marine ecosystem.
- Experience in project management and leading interdisciplinary research teams.
SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLICANTS:
Employment Conditions
This position is available immediately and will be filled as soon as an acceptable applicant is available. Compensation is commensurate with the education, experience, and qualifications of the selected applicant.
Nominations
Nominations are welcome. Nominations need to include the complete name and address of the nominee. This information should be sent to:
Please refer to Requisition \# 540029
Robert W. Lamb, PhD
Chair, Search and Screen Committee
University of Florida
IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station
552 1st Street
PO Box 878
Cedar Key, FL 32625
Telephone: 401\-743\-4434
Email: [email protected]
Application Information
- Individuals wishing to apply should go online to Careers at UF before 11:55 p.m. (ET) of the posting end date and submit:
+ Cover letter that states applicant’s interest in the position and qualifications relative to the credentials listed above
+ Curriculum vitae
+ Contact information (including email addresses) for 3 individuals willing to write letters of recommendation
+ Unofficial transcripts
Selected candidate will be required to provide an official transcript to the hiring department upon hire. A transcript will not be considered “official” if a designation of “Issued to Student” is visible. Degrees earned from an education institution outside of the United States are required to be evaluated by a professional credentialing service provider approved by National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES).
Hiring is contingent upon eligibility to work in the US. The University of Florida is a public institution and subject to all requirements under Florida Sunshine and Public Record laws. The University and greater Gainesville community enjoy a variety of cultural events, restaurants, year\-round outdoor recreational activities, and social opportunities.
HEALTH ASSESSMENT REQUIRED: No
ADVERTISED:
29 May 2026 Eastern Daylight Time
APPLICATIONS CLOSE:
12 Jun 2026
Eastern Daylight Time
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 Florida, 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.
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 Florida AI Hiring
University of Florida has 1 open AI role right now. They're hiring across Research Scientist. Based in Gainesville, FL, US.
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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