Who We Are

The mission of D. E. Shaw Research is intrinsically interdisciplinary, and its successful realization requires the coordinated efforts of individuals with backgrounds in a number of different scientific and technical fields, including

  • Computer architecture and engineering
  • Computer science and applied mathematics
  • Computational biology, chemistry and physics
  • Pharmacology and drug discovery

Many of our most significant accomplishments are attributable to advances that lie within the overlaps among these various areas. Although some members of our team already had a background in more than one of these fields at the time they joined us, most have acquired their “multilingual” capabilities in the course of working with other members of our team.

These somewhat fuzzy disciplinary boundaries can make it difficult to definitively classify each of us as a member of one specific subgroup or to organize all of our efforts into a simple hierarchical structure. The various activities of the team are overseen by its chief scientist, David E. Shaw, who founded the D. E. Shaw group of companies. Our most innovative and productive projects, however, are often initiated in an ad hoc manner when members of our team—either individually or in small, informal, cross‑disciplinary groups—spot potential opportunities to advance our strategic objectives in new and creative ways.

The success of our efforts is also attributable to the extraordinary capabilities and commitment of the team members who are responsible for our physical and computational infrastructure and for our operational, administrative, and management functions.

If this description of “Who We Are” seems like it might be a good match with Who You  Are, we welcome you to explore the various opportunities for joining us at D. E. Shaw Research.