Machine Learning Engineer

We are looking for a team member to join our multidisciplinary team of neuroscientists, biologists, behaviorists, analysts and engineers to develop solutions for behavioral analysis of rodents based on machine vision systems. The employee contributes to research in the biomedical field by using state of the art methods to conceptualize, develop and evaluate machine learning classifiers for detecting signs of pain or stress in images and videos of mice. The employee also develops applications or automated pipelines for acquiring and processing video data and analyzing it using the trained machine learning classifiers. Further, he/she will assist with the development of homecage monitoring solutions from the data processing and data analysis side. The position is currently limited to one year.

The position is at the interface between the laboratory of Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience and the ETH Zurich 3R Hub. The former is interested in understanding the molecular and circuit changes that occur in response to stress exposures, and how they relate to psychiatric diseases. The 3R Hub is focused on developing tools to refine and reduce the use of animals in research, particular through the development and deployment of advanced, open-source behavioral screening and analyses methods. The position we are trying to fill involves mainly two projects. The first project deals with pain assessment in mice using the mouse grimace scale. Here, we leverage machine learning tools to predict - in real time - the pain levels an animal experiences (e.g. during recovery from surgery) to give an actionable readout for adminstration of analgesia. We need to implement cutting-edge machine learning algorithms as well as software engineering to design front-end applications for rollout to end users. The second project focuses on homecage monitoring of mice, where we need programming expertise to deal with data management, pose-estimation tracking using deep learning applications, as well as unsupervised approaches to identify and classify rodent behavior based on body-point tracking. The ideal candidate can integrate into a multidisciplinary team to implement computationally efficient and user-friendly solutions for the challenges presented in these two projects.

In this position you will be responsible for the successful implementation of software solutions that enable behavior analysis based on machine vision approaches in a dynamic research environment. As part of this job, you will...

• annotate video data for body point tracking, object detection and keyframe selection
• interact with group members to ensure a smooth process between data acquisition and data analysis to identify obstacles and find solutions on the fly
• develop and maintain scripts, applications and automated pipelines for data acquisition (video recordings)
• develop and maintain scripts, applications and automated pipelines for processing, machine learning model training and inference
• ensure that the developed solutions work for team members as well as for external collaborators
• evaluate machine learning models using appropriate statistical methods (benchmarking, model selection)

• A bachelor degree in informatics
• Fluent in German to collaborate with (and train) local technicians and animal caretakers on software implementation
• Extensive experience with software development, data science and computer vision
• Several years of work experience in software development / DevOps Engineering
• Several years of work experience programming in python
• Good Knowledge of Python Machine Learning Frameworks, especially PyTorch and cv2
• Work experience in the field of process automation
• Work experience developing specialized machine learning and computer vision applications
• Good knowledge of data plotting and visualization
• Experience working with video and image processing
• Experience with microcontrollers, embedded systems and electronics
• Good knowledge of web development using HTML, CSS and JavaScript or JavaScript-based frameworks

• A caring, supportive and modern work environment based on trust and respect
• A uniquely stimulating scientific environment with a cutting-edge research lab embedded in the greater Zurich Neuroscience Center (ZNZ)
• Flexible working hours (incl. the option for home office) that are compatible with a healthy work/life balance
• Opportunities for furthering education and continued learning
• The possibility to take responsibilty in guiding projects and mentoring students
• Meaningful work with a long-term vision to advance our understanding of brain function

We look forward to receiving your online application with the following documents:

• Curriculum Vitae incl. Publication List
• A short statement (max. 250 words) summarizing your work experience and why you think you are the ideal candiate for the position

Please note that we exclusively accept applications submitted through our online application portal. Applications via email or postal services will not be considered.

Further information about our lab can be found on our lab's website and the 3R-Hub's homepage. Questions regarding the position should be directed toDr. Oliver Sturman, oliver.sturman@hest.ethz.ch(no applications).

For recruitment services the GTC of ETH Zurich apply.