OpenWetWare:Jobs

paid UROP positions available for Spring 2006

OpenWetWare: Development and User Tools
Immediate Supervisor: Alexander Mallet, amallet@mit.edu
Faculty Supervisor: Prof. Drew Endy, Biological Engineering

OpenWetWare is a wiki-based shared online space for researchers in the biological sciences to share information and develop research collaborations. The site was started less than a year ago, already has several hundred users from 22 universities and was recently mentioned in Nature magazine as an example of a Web 2.0 approach to scientific communication. OWW was awarded an MIT iCampus grant in December í05 to further its mission. We are working to develop new methods to allow researchers to easily share experimental protocols, research posters, presentations and any other forms of information that will allow closer collaboration. In service of this, we are looking for a UROP student to write software that a) makes it easier to convert information in various file formats (eg MS Word, LaTex) into wiki markup b) implements improved authentication protocols to allow MIT users to log in via certificates c) interfaces between the dynamic information on OWW and digital archives such as MITís Dspace (http://dspace.mit.edu). The student will also be encouraged to independently come up with other tools that would make OWW better. This project would be ideal for a student interested in developing skills in building web-based application technology, like scripting, mySQL, PHP and authentication. It will also offer the opportunity to work directly with current users of OWW and the Mediawiki open source software development community. We would like someone to start ASAP, with a time commitment of at least 10hrs/week during the semester. The UROP is for Spring and possibly summer.

Prerequisites: Enthusiasm. Some programming experience (preferably in Java/Python/Perl) required; familiarity with markup languages and document formats desirable but not required.

Contact: Please send a resume to Alexander Mallet, amallet@mit.edu if you're interested. See http://openwetware.org/wiki/Science_2.0 for further description of OpenWetWare.

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OpenWetWare: Information Management
Immediate Supervisor: Jeff Gritton, jgritton@mit.edu
Faculty Supervisor: Prof. Drew Endy, Biological Engineering

OpenWetWare (OWW, http://openwetware.org) is a shared online space for researchers in the biological sciences to share information and develop research collaborations. The site was started less than a year ago, already has several hundred users from 22 universities and was recently mentioned in Nature magazine as an example of a Web 2.0 approach to scientific communication. OWW was awarded an MIT iCampus grant in December í05 to further its mission. We envision OWW as a way for researchers and students to share information on experimental protocols, lab equipment and materials etc. Consequently we are developing systems to encourage users to submit information in a consistent and efficient manner and to allow that information to be easily found. We are looking for a UROP to help develop these systems. Some of the tasks that this UROP will perform are developing page designs and templates, monitoring site usage, and polling current users. We are looking for a student to start ASAP and willing to commit at least 10 hours per week during the semester.

Prerequisites: Interest in developing online communities, computer user interactions, and information design is all that is required. Of course, experience in these areas or web design is a definite plus.

Contact: Please send a resume to Jeff Gritton, jgritton@mit.edu if you're interested. See http://openwetware.org/wiki/Science_2.0 for further description of OpenWetWare.