Want to take a year before submitting yourself to the drudgery of graduate or medical school? Spend it in sunny Utah! Amazing canyons and national parks, great hiking and camping, superb mountain and road biking, and the best skiing on the planet. These intangibles, a short to non-existent commute, and relatively inexpensive cost of living make Utah a great place to live and work.
Full time-research assistant position available immediately in a large but supportive and interactive C. elegans lab to work on sex. Worm sex, that is. Responsibilities will include but will not be limited to (1) designing and implementing experiments to map and clone genes using qPCR SNP analysis and transgenic rescue, (2) designing and implementing experiments to analyze cloned genes by cell-specific rescue, GFP fusions, and all the other usual stuff, (3) constructing mutant strains, genotyping them by qPCR and analyzing their by behavior, (4) computerized analysis of worm behavior, and depending on interest, (5) development on computerized analysis techniques and/or (6) assisting in the purification of worm sex pheromones. You’ll also be in charge of managing the lab strain collection.
Qualified applicants should have relevant lab experience and an undergraduate degree, probably in the biological or biochemical sciences, but we’ll consider an art major if you can pick worms, handle a pipetter, you are organized and efficient, and your PCR reactions work. You’ll be expected to work independently, take the initiative when necessary, and participate in the lab culture (attend group meetings, interface with your coworkers on the project, and help manage the undergraduate researchers in the lab). You should be able to describe how to make a 5M solution of NaCl.
Salary and benefits are according to University of Utah payscale, commensurate with experience and education, plus aforementioned intangibles.
If interested, please send a CV with your research and education and contact information for 2 references to:
Jamie White
jwhite (at) biology (dot) utah (dot) edu
or Erik Jorgensen
jorgensen (at) biology (dot) utah (dot) edu