Position Description

William L. Maxwell Postdoctoral Fellow 
The Center for Data Science for Enterprise and Society 
Cornell University  

In conjunction with Cornell’s Engineering Innovations in Medicine (EIM) initiative and the School of Operations Research and Information Engineering, the Center for Data Science for Enterprise & Society at Cornell University seeks to recruit the inaugural Maxwell Postdoctoral Fellow; this is a one-year postdoctoral position made possible by the gift of alumnus Dev Joneja, PhD ‘89.  This position will serve to bridge between the Cornell College of Engineering, Weill Cornell Medicine, and Cornell Tech.

The goal of the Engineering Innovations in Medicine initiative is to advance biological discovery, develop new diagnostic tools, and deploy new therapeutics by integrating data science, engineering, and medicine. Specifically, the mission is to pioneer cutting-edge engineering principles that will fundamentally change the way biomedical data is acquired, computed, and used and to develop, validate, and implement new, data-driven decision-making approaches to advance human health.

The Center for Data Science for Enterprise & Society aims to unify programs and curricula in data science across a wide spectrum of application domains, including computational social science (e.g., sociology and government), the economics/computer science interface, the aspects of digital agriculture in the production and management of agriculture, digital platforms supporting urban infrastructure (e.g., the sharing economy), and as a theme that is cross-cutting in many of these areas, the corresponding issues of privacy, security, and fairness. The areas highlighted are meant to serve only as illustrative; candidates for the Maxwell postdoctoral Fellowship are sought from all areas of research that advance the state of the art in data science and the health sciences, extending the reach of data-driven research into novel medical application domains.    

Applicants should submit their curriculum vitae (CV) and research statement summarizing their accomplishments to date, as well as a diversity statement; they must also submit a two-page description of proposed research for the period to be spent at the Center, including a proposed primary and secondary faculty mentor at Cornell; these can be any Cornell faculty members, and collectively have expertise that span both some relevant area from a health science application domain as well as a core data science domain; two letters of recommendation as well as a letter of support from each Cornell faculty mentor. Applicants should contact the appropriate faculty directly in advance to ensure their support of their application.  Applications should have mentors appointed in in different Cornell units from at least two of the Cornell College of Engineering, Weill Cornell Medicine, and Cornell Tech, but applications with mentors from both the Cornell College of Engineering and Weill Cornell Medicine are particularly encouraged.  Candidates will be required to show proof of their Ph.D. prior to the start of this position, and to have already done substantial research in areas relevant to the Center. 

For full consideration, applications should be completed by February 15, 2025. Offers will be made to accommodate a start date as early as July 2025. 

The Center for Data Science for Enterprise & Society embraces diversity and seeks candidates who can contribute to a welcoming climate for students, staff and faculty of all races and genders. We strongly encourage women and underrepresented minorities to apply.