Postdoctoral Research Associate - Kaplow Lab

The Kaplow Lab will be opening in Carnegie Mellon University's Departments of Biological Sciences and Computational Biology on August 1, 2024. We are interested in deciphering the roles that differences between species in transcriptional regulatory elements play in vertebrate evolution. We are also excited about using differences in transcriptional regulation between species to provide insights into gene regulatory mechanisms. We seek a highly motivated postdoc who is interested in leading scientific investigations in these areas. Specific topics of interest include identifying gene regulatory mechanisms underlying metabolic phenotype evolution in mammals, developing computational methods to study gene regulation evolution across species whose most common ancestor lived over one hundred million years ago, and developing experimental approaches to test hypotheses about transcriptional regulation evolution in vivo. We are open to a postdoc who wants to do mostly experimental work, mostly computational work, or a combination of experimental and computational work. While this position has available funding, we will assist the postdoc in applying for external postdoctoral fellowships if the postdoc is interested in doing so.

This position will be in the Biological Sciences Department within the Mellon College of Science unless the postdoc is simultaneously awarded the Lane Fellowship (https://cbd.cmu.edu/join-us/lane-fellow.html), in which case the position will be in the Computational Biology Department within the School of Computer Science. The postdoc will have the opportunity to work closely with scientists in both the Biological Sciences and Computational Biology Departments.

Preferred qualifications (we are open to motivated candidates who do not have everything):

* A Ph.D. in biology, bioengineering, computational biology, computer science, mathematics, or a related field with a genomics-related research thesis.

* If the postdoc would like to do primarily wet lab work, at least 1 year of experimental research experience, including experience with basic molecular biology techniques, such as pipetting, molecular cloning, and nucleic acids extraction.

* If the postdoc would like to do primarily computational work, at least 1 year of computational research experience, strong programming skills, and completed coursework in probability and statistics.

* Fluency in spoken and written English and strong oral and written communication skills.

* Experience preparing scientific manuscripts and presentations.

A successful background check is necessary to be hired.

This is a full-time position, and benefits will be provided (https://www.cmu.edu/jobs/benefits-at-a-glance/). Candidates who can work mostly in-person are strongly preferred.

Applications, including a cover letter, curriculum vitae, and contact information for three references should be submitted electronically via Interfolio. The cover letter should contain a description of the postdoc candidate's specific research interests. The curriculum vitae should include all educational degrees, all publications, and any experience formally mentoring less experienced scientists. At least two references from faculty are preferred, and at least two references from scientists who have worked with the postdoc candidate in the last few years are preferred.