• Job Type: Support Staff - Non-Union
• Bargaining Unit:
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• End Date if Temporary:
• Hours Per Week: 35.00
• Salary Range: $38,100 - $40,000

Position Summary

Columbia University's Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute brings together world-class scientists across academic disciplines conducting pioneering research to transform our understanding of how the brain works – and gives rise to mind and behavior. The Institute fosters a collaborative and inclusive environment across 50+ labs, advancing insights into human health by exploring how the brain develops, performs, endures, and recovers.

At the Zuckerman Institute, we are committed to becoming a more inclusive, equitable, and diverse place of scientific discovery and supporting a culture of respect. Promoting diversity in science will help drive the transformative science that can change the world.

Situated in the Jerome L. Greene Science Center on Columbia’s Manhattanville campus, the state-of-the-art building offers an environment where the highest level of scholarly scientific research takes place on a daily basis, with the benefit of being located in the heart of New York, one of the world’s most vibrant and culturally rich cities.

The Bendesky Lab studies the genetic and neuronal bases of behavior and its evolution. It has discovered mechanisms underlying the evolution of monogamous behaviors in rodents including parenting, it has recently sequenced the Siamese fighting fish genome, and it has developed tools to manipulate its genome and found the genetic bases of many of its phenotypic traits. More information about the lab can be found in the lab web page and the Zuckerman Institute lab page.

The lab has an exciting opportunity for recent graduates of a biology or chemistry field, seeking experience working in a research laboratory. The Research Staff Assistant will have the unique experience of working in a collaborative environment supporting the mission of the laboratory while gaining exposure to benchwork, data collection, and analysis, as well as lab management. The position can be viewed as a stepping-stone to further education, with previous incumbents having published research papers and continued to top PhD programs. The position will allow for the incumbent to learn and apply multiple research techniques and possibly to develop their own research project.

Applicants should submit a cover letter indicating their interest, a CV including any publications, and the contact information for at least two but ideally three faculty-level references. This role is fully grant-funded and is reevaluated after year one, with the expectation the candidate will stay in the role for a two-year commitment.

Responsibilities

• Routine laboratory management activities, including ordering supplies, sustaining inventories, and maintenance of instruments; administrative duties and other assignments deemed necessary by the Principal Investigator (PI)

• Overseeing the organization of the lab and lab meetings

• Benchwork duties, such as making solutions and maintaining stocks

• Perform histology techniques including in situ hybridization

• Help lab members with experiments

  
  

Minimum Qualifications

A Bachelor’s Degree in the life sciences with knowledge of basic chemistry techniques, such as making solutions and pH'ing
Experience in molecular biology techniques, such as PCR. Must be comfortable working with vertebrate animals such as fish and mice. Applicant must be highly motivated, self-starter, with meticulous laboratory habits

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to hiring qualified local residents.