Research Assistant – AgriFuTech (User Experience), 1 FTE, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, 011981

Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates for a full-time fixed-term position as a Research Assistant on the AgriFuTech (User Experience) project in the research group of Dr. Peter McKeown within AgriBiosciences, Food Security & Climate Change Research Group, Agriculture, Good Systems & Bioeconomy Research Centre, Ryan Institute & School of Biological & Chemical Sciences,

College of Science & Engineering at the University of Galway, Ireland.

This position is funded by Research Ireland’s ARC Hub for ICT, based at TU Dublin and is available immediately to 31st October 2027.

Overview of the Project: The AgriFuTech project aims to cut crop breeding timelines and costs by developing a unified AI-Driven Genomic Prediction Engine for High-Dimensional Biological Data that works across crops, traits, and species. Current genomic prediction tools struggle with scale, noise, and generalisation, driving up costs, lengthening breeding cycles, and leaving available data under-utilised. Unlike existing pipelines that rely on extensive feature engineering, marker and species-specific tuning, AgriFuTech learns directly from high-dimensional, noisy data and maintains performance across traits, species, and environments. This reduces dependence on specialist bioinformatics teams, lowers deployment friction, and opens the door to rapid reuse across crops and a compelling case for commercial seed companies, public breeding programmes, and specialty crop developers. See: https://ict.archub.ie/

Salary: Research Assistant salary scale €34,129- €44,311 per annum, (subject to the project’s funding limitations), and pro rata for shorter and/or part-time contracts.

Closing date for receipt of applications is 17:00 (Irish Time) on 28th of October 2026. It will not be possible to consider applications received after the closing date.

Research Assistant – AgriFuTech (User Experience) Agriculture & Bioeconomy Research Centre, Ryan Institute & School of Biological & Chemical Sciences, College of Science & Engineering University of Galway Ref. No. 011981

JOB ADVERTISEMENT

Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates for a full-time fixed -term position as a Research Assistant on the AgriFuTech (User Experience) project in the research group of Dr. Peter McKeown within AgriBiosciences, Food Security & Climate Change Research Group, Agriculture, Good Systems & Bioeconomy Research Centre, Ryan Institute & School of Biological & Chemical Sciences, College of Science & Engineering at the University of Galway, Ireland.

This position is funded by Research Ireland’s ARC Hub for ICT, based at TU Dublin and is available immediately to 31st October 2027.

Overview of the Project: The AgriFuTech project aims to cut crop breeding timelines and costs by developing a unified AI-Driven Genomic Prediction Engine for High -Dimensional Biological Data that works across crops, traits, and species. Current genomic prediction tools struggle with scale, noise, and generalisation, driving up costs, lengthening breeding cycles, and leaving available data under - utilised. Unlike existing pipelines that rely on extensive feature engineering, marker and species - specific tuning, AgriFuTech learns directly from high -dimensional, noisy data and maintains performance across traits, species, and environments. This reduces dependence on specialist bioinformatics teams, lowers deployment friction, and opens the door to rapid reuse across crops and a compelling case for commercial seed companies, public breeding programmes, and specialty crop developers. See: https://ict.archub.ie/

Salary: Research Assistant salary scale €34,129- €44,311 per annum, (subject to the project’s funding limitations), and pro rata for shorter and/or part-time contracts. The default position for all new public sector appointments is the 1st point of the salary scale. This may be reviewed, and consideration afforded to appointment at a higher point on the payscale (subject to the project’s funding limitations), where eviden ce of prior years’ equivalent experience is accepted in determining placement on the scale above point 1, subject to the maximum of the scale. Research Salary Scales - University of Galway

Closing date for receipt of applications is 17:00 (Irish Time) on 28th of October 2026. It will not be possible to consider applications received after the closing date.

JOB DESCRIPTION The successful candidate for the AgriFuTech RA (User Experience) will be an ambitious, proactive, and innovative professional with demonstrated expertise in frontend development skills and the ability to build modern, responsive and maintainable web applications . They should be able to understand complex professional workflows and translate them into intuitive interfaces , and be comfortable presenting relationships between data, models, recommendations, alternatives, uncertainty and outcomes. Attention to usability and detail will be particularly important as AgriFutech supports consequential scientific and operational decisions. The candidate must be able to work closely with backend developers and domain experts as the product evolves, and contribute more widely to teams translating complex data into impactful solutions that support research, innovation, and evidence - based decision-making for sustainable agricultural systems.

The individual will work in partnership with colleagues in the research group and their collaborators, including participating in relevant ARC Hub for ICT training, commercialisation and stakeholder engagement sessions, while exercising a degree of independence and contributing to the conception, design, and implementation of solutions. The role requires organisational skills, capacity for self - learning, and an ability to drive innovation across the group's research and development portfolio.

We are particularly interested to hear from candidates with an interest in building solutions from an early-stage architecture (rather than joining an already mature product), and a willingness to engage with users and understand real problems rather than simply implementing specifications.

Duties: • Contribute strategic and technical input to the AgriBiosciences, Food Security & Climate Change research group, including the implementation of computational and data -driven solutions in areas of relevance. • Drive the application of user interfaces as frontends for pipelines for handling crop breeding data and other complex challenges in agricultural genetics and related research domains. • Coordinate and undertake research activities, while supporting collaborative initiatives with multidisciplinary teams, external partners, stakeholders, and the ARC Hub for ICT team. • Help to identify emerging opportunities for innovation, proactively propose new research and commercial initiatives, and contribute to the strategic growth of the group's digital and analytical capabilities. • Ensure adherence to best practices in data quality, governance, and reproducibility. • Present research progress, technical outputs, and strategic recommendations to project teams, collaborators, stakeholders, funders, and wider audiences as appropriate. • Support the mentoring and development of students, researchers, and team members in relevant methodologies. • Actively contribute to research funding applications, innovation activities, knowledge transfer initiatives, and the translation of research outputs into practical impact.

• Maintain awareness of and ensure compliance with relevant University, sectoral, and funder policies and procedures, including research ethics, data governance, intellectual property, commercialisation, equality, diversity and inclusion, and health and safety requirements. • Any other duties assigned commensurate to this level of post.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS Essential Requirements: • Masters degree (or higher) in Software Engineering, Computer Science, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence or a closely related discipline. • Demonstrated evidence of user-centred thinking in web application design. • The ability to visualise complex information. • Attention to usability and detail in development of web-based solutions. • Collaborative and adaptable, particularly in collaborations with backend developers.

Desirable Requirements: • Experience with React/TypeScript or a comparable modern frontend stack. • Experience developing data-intensive applications. • UX/UI design experience. • Experience with scientific, engineering, analytics or decision-support software. • Experience visualising rankings, uncertainty, alternatives, constraints or model outputs. • Experience implementing workflow, approval or audit interfaces. • Experience integrating frontend applications with complex APIs. • Exposure to plant science, breeding, bioinformatics, agriculture or scientific software would be particularly useful.

CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Researchers at University of Galway are encouraged to avail of a range of training and development opportunities designed to support their personal career development plans. University of Galway provides continuing professional development supports for all researchers seeking to build their own career pathways either within or beyond academia. Researchers are encouraged to engage with our Researcher Development Centre (RDC) upon commencing emplo yment - see HERE for further information.

FURTHER INFORMATION/LINKS

• TO APPLY: Search Current University of Galway vacancies. Applications must be submitted online. o How to apply guide

• For informal enquiries, please contact: Dr. Peter McKeown, [email protected] and Pouya Motienoparvar, [email protected]

• University's Strategic Plan

• Working in Research at University of Galway

• Moving to Ireland (Euraxess)

• Applicant Information

• We reserve the right to re-advertise or extend the closing date for this post.

• University of Galway is an equal opportunities employer.

• All positions are recruited in line with Open, Transparent, Merit (OTM) and Competency based recruitment.