Postdoctoral Research Associate - Microbial Ecology and Metagenomics

Requisition Id 12267 

Overview: 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the largest US Department of Energy science and energy laboratory, conducting basic and applied research to deliver transformative solutions to compelling problems in energy and security. We are seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate who will support the Integrative Microbiomics Group in the Biosciences Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in the area of microbial ecology and metagenomics. associate in the area of microbial ecology and metagenomics. You will join international and interdisciplinary teams of investigators passionate about understanding the ecology of soil and plant associated microbial communities as well as their responses to various anthropogenically induced change (climate, contaminants, land use, etc) accross multiple ecosystems. Specifically, you will focus on projects to understand microbial interactions and functions through the application of state of the art  metagenomics approaches to investigate the effects of environmental change in boreal peat ecosystems as part of the SPRUCE project (https://mnspruce.ornl.gov/).

Major Duties/Responsibilities: 

• Design, conduct, analyze and interpret laboratory and field based research.
• Perform research utilizing a full range of state-of-the-art equipment/facilities for microbiology, molecular biology, ecosystem ecology, and genomics in a professional environment with excellent technical support.
• Lead and contribute to the development of scientific manuscripts and presentations describing the results of research team studies.

Basic Qualifications:

• Ph.D. degree in microbiology, ecology, molecular biology, or related fields.
• Demonstrated expertise in both modern molecular ecology methods such as metagenome analyses, quantitative PCR, rRNA community sequence analyses, and field and laboratory methods for characterizing soil biogeochemical cycling processes.
• Demonstrated record of expertise in applying informatics approaches for amplicon microbiome and shotgun metagenomic studies.
• Track record of excellent primary contributions to peer-reviewed publications.

Preferred Qualifications:

• A successful history of interdisciplinary, integrative, and creative research in the discipline of microbial ecology as evidenced by contributions to large teams as well individually led science publications
• Familiarity with a broad suite of software and tools for DNA sequence analysis of rRNA and metagenomic microbial datasets.
• The ability to program and script in R, Python or apply other with appropriate computational approaches to customize analyses.

Please submit three letters of reference when applying to this position. You can upload these directly to your application or have them sent to postdocrecruitment@ornl.gov with the position title and number referenced in the subject line.

Instructions to upload documents to your candidate profile:

• Login to your account via jobs.ornl.gov
• View Profile
• Under the My Documents section, select Add a Document

Applicants cannot have received their Ph.D. more than five years prior to the date of application and must complete all degree requirements before starting their appointment. The appointment length will be for up to 24 months with the potential for extension. Initial appointments and extensions are subject to performance and the availability of funding.

Moving can be overwhelming and expensive. UT-Battelle offers a generous relocation package to ease the transition process. Domestic and international relocation assistance is available for certain positions. If invited to interview, be sure to ask your Recruiter (Talent Acquisition Partner) for details.

For more information about our benefits, working here, and living here, visit the “About” tab at jobs.ornl.gov.

This position will remain open for a minimum of 5 days after which it will close when a qualified candidate is identified and/or hired.

We accept Word (.doc, .docx), Adobe (unsecured .pdf), Rich Text Format (.rtf), and HTML (.htm, .html) up to 5MB in size. Resumes from third party vendors will not be accepted; these resumes will be deleted and the candidates submitted will not be considered for employment.

If you have trouble applying for a position, please email ORNLRecruiting@ornl.gov.

ORNL is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants, including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans, are encouraged to apply.  UT-Battelle is an E-Verify employer.