Post Doctoral Research Associate

Special Instructions to Applicants

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis without the need for visa sponsorship. The University will not sponsor applicants for work visas (e.g., H-1B).

Job Summary

The Post-Doctoral Research Associate conducts and leads research in ocean observing networks, uncrewed systems, and data science within the Roger F. Wicker Center for Ocean Enterprise. This position integrates fundamental engineering principles and data science methods to support autonomous data collection, sensor algorithm development, marine environmental modeling, and research, development, testing, and evaluation (RDT&E) of uncrewed systems (UxS) and ocean observing technologies. The position develops and implements statistical, mathematical, computer programming, operations research, and diagnostic methods and techniques to interpret and analyze complex data. Exercising independent judgment under limited supervision from a higher-level scientist or technical supervisor, the Post-Doctoral Research Associate supports research involving ocean sensing buoys and uncrewed surface and subsurface marine vehicles, including platform systems, payloads, command and control systems, power systems, and data integration and analysis. This position is located at the Roger F. Wicker Center for Ocean Enterprise in Gulfport, Mississippi, and collaborates with industry, academic, state, and federal partners to advance ocean technology and research initiatives.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

• Conducts independent and collaborative research to advance hardware, software, and techniques and develops computational algorithms and statistical methods to identify patterns and relationships in large volumes of data.

• Prepares technical reports, peer-reviewed publications, and presentations to communicate research findings and innovation outcomes.

• Collaborates with academic and external partners to support research initiatives and expand project impact.

• Contributes to Ocean Enterprise goals by participating in the development of proposals, keeping appropriate Ocean Enterprise staff informed of activities, and providing status reports documenting project milestones.

• Participates in the testing and evaluation of uncrewed systems (UxS) and other autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles or platforms and performs analysis of collected data.

• Provides programmatic and technical support to project directors or principal investigators and collaborates with Ocean Enterprise, The University of Southern Mississippi, and external researchers, as appropriate.

• Performs other duties as assigned.