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Hiring Summer Research Assistants for the Synapse

The Synapse visualization

We’re Hiring! 

The Center for Spatial Research is seeking Graduate Research Assistants for Summer 2016 for both full-time and part-time positions to work on various aspects of the Synapse project, a groundbreaking science communication initiative that takes it's physical form as a large-scale, permanent installation located on the ground floor of the Jerome L. Greene Science Center on the new Manhattanville campus of Columbia University. 

The JLG Center houses the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute (MBBI) which brings together cutting edge interdisciplinary neuroscience research. Visit our site for more information: http://c4sr.columbia.edu/projects/synapse 

We are looking for interested students with experience in the following areas: 

1. Visual storytelling and illustration skills 

We are looking for students that are passionate about visual storytelling and illustration to help us refine and develop storyboards for science content as well as for a variety of interactive elements for the stories. 

2. Advanced 3d graphics and modeling skills 

Students with this skill set will be responsible for helping with the creation of 3d assets and scripts to model the behavior of various installation components. Students with advanced 3d knowledge are also needed to help convert a variety of new brain models from specialized neuroscience software into voxelized meshes. 

3. Technical / front-end development skills 

For students with knowledge of web-based front end design, the team is looking for help with developing several interactive prototypes that visualize the various stories that the Synapse team has developed in collaboration with the scientists. The team is also looking for students that can help manage and organize the various graphic assets. 

Candidates must have experience working on a collaborative setting and possess at a minimum good knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite. In addition, a working knowledge of a range of the following tools is a plus: HTML/CSS, Javascript, front-end frameworks (Angular, jQuery, paper.js etc), Processing, Python, D3, MATLAB, Meshlab, Autodesk Maya, Mental Ray, Redshift 

Full-time positions are 35 hours per week for up to twelve weeks. Part-time work will be negotiated by student/project. All positions are $15/hour. 

Please send a letter of interest, CV, and relevant work examples to [email protected]. For further information please visit http://c4sr.columbia.edu