Applied BioMath is looking to hire a Julia intern to convert our C library for ODE simulations into Julia and test the various ODE solvers available in Julia on our models.
At Applied BioMath, we do a lot of simulations of pharmacological systems. These systems are modeled as initial value problems (IVPs). As is typically done in this field, the ordinary differential equations (ODEs) underlying the IVPs are solved numerically using an ODE solver. Our simulation engine is a Python application that calls an in-house C library that defines the system of ODEs and invokes SUNDIALS to do the numerical integration. We are interested in porting this in-house C library to Julia. The main motivation is that we would like to try the large collection of ODE solvers available in the DifferentialEquations.jl package to see if any of them improve performance or robustness. We also hope that Julia improves the maintainability of the code, compared to C, and opens an opportunity to migrate our optimization code from Python to Julia.
This project presents a unique opportunity to learn Julia, C, and Python in a life science business setting. The well-defined scope and interface of the existing code base makes this project particularly well-suited for an internship. There are existing tests from the Python layer that provide fast and accurate goalposts for progress. Implementing a proof-a-concept should be straightforward for a qualified intern, but there are tiers of optional features that will challenge even the best student. Your mentors at ABM will have extensive experience in C and Python, but you will either have to come with Julia experience or be willing to be self-taught in that language.
The internship is funded through the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center’s Data Science Internship Program. The internship is only available to Massachusetts residents or attendees of a Massachusetts university. We are looking for a full time position for 3-6 months, though the hours per week and length of time is flexible. In keeping with the internship guidelines, the internship pays $20/hr for those who have completed a bachelors, $25/hr for those who have completed a masters, and $40/hr for those who have completed a PhD.
Even though Massachusetts residency or college attendance is required, this position is available as fully remote. But you can come to our Concord, MA, office whenever you want to.
Those interested should apply through the internship program. Please message me after you have applied so that I know you are interested in our particular internship.