Role and Responsibilities

The Staff Scientist will:

• Develop and maintain cutting-edge computational workflows for cryo-EM and cryo-ET data analysis, including 2D/3D image processing, segmentation, and quantitative annotation.
• Design tools for structural identification and protein interaction analysis in cellular contexts.
• Integrate structural prediction methods (AlphaFold, FoldSeek, DALI, Boltz, etc.) into pipelines for interaction discovery, homolog identification, and clustering.
• Collaborate closely with experimental research groups and shared scientific units (SSUs), especially the Electron Microscopy Facility, the Scientific Computing Facility, and theImaging & Optics Facility.
• Act as a computational hub for multiple structural biology research groups and promote cross-group knowledge sharing and innovation.
• Provide advice and training on computational techniques, and guide researchers through complete structure determination workflows.
• Conceive and implement conceptually novel image processing approaches based on unmet needs in the field.

Your Profile

Essential Qualifications

• Ph.D. or postdoctoral experience in computer science, structural biology, or a related discipline.
• Proven expertise in (cryo-)EM image analysis, including Single Particle Analysis (SPA) and subtomogram averaging (STA).
• Experience with structural bioinformatics, including structure prediction tools and downstream analysis.
• Strong UNIX/Linux and HPC environment skills.
• Programming proficiency (Python, C++, Shell scripting, or similar languages).
• Experience in multidisciplinary scientific collaboration and data-centric research.

Preferred Skills and Attributes

• Experience with cryo-ET workflows and cellular-scale structural determination.
• Proficiency in neural networks, deep learning, and AI-based computational methods.
• Ability to independently drive research and software development initiatives.
• Exceptional communication skills, both written and oral.
• Aptitude for working on multiple concurrent projects and interfacing with diverse scientific domains.
• Strong collaborative mindset and proven ability to work within and across research teams.
• Prior work in high-level research environments is a plus.

Why This Role Matters

This position will:

• Help ISTA remain at the forefront of technological and methodological innovation in structural biology.
• Enable sustainable and scalable development of reusable computational tools.
• Address critical unmet needs in processing increasingly complex data from cryo-EM and structural prediction.
• Facilitate in silico discovery and system-level understanding of macromolecular function.

If you’re excited to shape the future of computational structural biology and contribute to groundbreaking research at ISTA, we encourage you to apply.