USDA-ARS Training Opportunity in Soybean Germplasm Curation Management and Data Science
*Applications are reviewed on a rolling-basis.
ARS Office/Lab and Location: A research opportunity is currently available with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Soybean Maize Germplasm Pathology and Genetics Research Unit, located in Urbana, Illinois.
The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency with a mission to find solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day from field to table. ARS will deliver cutting-edge, scientific tools and innovative solutions for American farmers, producers, industry, and communities to support the nourishment and well-being of all people; sustain our nation’s agroecosystems and natural resources; and ensure the economic competitiveness and excellence of our agriculture. The vision of the agency is to provide global leadership in agricultural discoveries through scientific excellence.
Research Project: This fellowship will focus on germplasm curation, including maintenance, regeneration, distribution, and quality control. Under the guidance of a mentor, the participant will optimize workflows for phenotypic germplasm data collection and seek to improve germplasm use efficiency. The participant will gain experience using multiple databases for inventorying, tracking distributions, and managing phenotypic data to maintain identity preservation of the soybean germplasm collection holdings, and will have opportunities to improve database utilization. Under mentorship, the participant will conduct experiments for phenotypic germplasm evaluation using mobile devices and high-throughput methods such as drones. Phenotypic evaluation will align agronomic traits with allele frequency using advanced statistics. The participant will have the opportunity to collaborate with the soybean breeding community to define scientific thresholds for duplicate germplasm accessions that supports genetic diversity while removing redundancy. The participant will learn how phenotypic datasets are integrated with genomic data for association analyses, genomic selection, and AI-driven methods, including machine learning and deep learning, to enhance germplasm utilization.
Learning Objectives: During this appointment, the participant will learn or enhance their skills in the following:
- Apply principles of germplasm management and genetic diversity to real-world soybean genetic resource and breeding challenges.
- Gain hands-on experience with mobile and drone-based phenotypic data collection and quality control workflows.
- Develop skills in data integration for genomic association studies, genomic selection, and AI-driven predictive modeling.
- Learn to implement machine learning and deep learning approaches for optimizing germplasm use efficiency.
- Strengthen scientific communication, collaboration, and confidence through preparation of technical reports and collaborative projects.
- Enhance problem-solving and critical thinking skills while working in a multidisciplinary research environment.
Mentor(s): The mentors for this opportunity are Zhanyou Xu (Zhanyou.Xu@usda.gov), Lilian Miranda (lilian.miranda@usda.gov), and Neha Kothari (neha.kothari@usda.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research, please contact the mentors.
Anticipated Appointment Start Date: April 2026. Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.
Appointment Length: The appointment will initially be for one year but may be renewed upon recommendation of ARS and is contingent on the availability of funds.
Level of Participation: The appointment is full time.
Participant Stipend: The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience. The anticipated stipend range is $53,208 – $70,000 annually.
Citizenship Requirements: This opportunity is available to U.S. citizens only.
ORISE Information: This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and ARS. Participants do not become employees of USDA, ARS, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. Health insurance can be obtained through ORISE.
Questions: Please visit our Program Website. After reading, if you have additional questions about the application process, please email ORISE.ARS.Midwest@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.
Qualifications
The qualified candidate should be currently pursuing or have received a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree in the one of the relevant fields.
Preferred Skills:
- Experience in plant science and/or plant breeding, including management of field plot trials, data collection, and database management.
- Experience in large data analyses
- Experience with operation optimization
- Experience with machine learning, image analysis
- Experience with model development and optimization
- Experience with drone flying
- Experience with robots and coding
- Knowledge of plant breeding, genetics, statistics, agronomy, plant physiology, plant pathology, or related field.
- Strong communication skills and academic journal publishing.
Stipend
$53,208.00 – $70,000.00 Yearly
Point of Contact
Eligibility Requirements
- Citizenship: U.S. Citizen Only