HHMI Looking for Farm Hands

With no absence of fanfare, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Farm Research Campus has finally opened its doors. It is now looking for life scientists with backgrounds in mathematics, computer science, optical physics and chemistry in addition to biology - to walk through them. The institute's focus is on two main areas of research: understanding the brain's information-processing system and developing technologies for creating and interpreting biological images. "It's a highly collaborative environment where people with very different expertise work together," says Janelia director Gerald Rubin.

Ten group leaders and six fellows are already settling into the new facility. They will head small laboratories that are fully funded by HHMI. Over the next four years, the institute will be hiring three to four group leaders and three to four research fellows each year to establish new laboratories. By 2010, 400 scientists are expected to work at the facility. In addition to formal employment and informal collaborations, scientists can also get a taste for farm living as "visiting researchers" which allows researchers to live and collaborate on campus. Go to www.hhmi.org/janelia/positions.html for information about available positions.