Postdoctoral Research Associate

Texas A&M University System • College Station, TX

1d • Onsite

About The Position

This Postdoctoral Research Associate position is with Texas A&M AgriLife Research, specifically within the Horticultural Sciences Department in College Station, Texas. Texas A&M AgriLife is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive agriculture program, part of The Texas A&M University System, with over 5,000 employees. The organization brings together a college and four state agencies focused on agriculture and life sciences, aiming to improve lives, environments, and the Texas economy through education, research, extension, and service. The role involves leading and coordinating lab activities, conducting research on bioactive compounds from food sources, investigating genetic and environmental factors in fruits and vegetables, studying plant disease samples, and maintaining laboratory certification. The associate will also develop analytical methods, train students, participate in grant writing and publications, and maintain analytical instrumentation.

Requirements

• Doctorate degree.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Ability to independently design and execute experiments.
• Expertise in laboratory research and analytical instrumentation.
• Experience in identifying, characterizing, and functionally analyzing volatile and bioactive compounds.
• Understanding of the link between abiotic/biotic stressors and secondary metabolite production, particularly in climate-resilient crops like tomatoes.
• Proven record of peer-reviewed publications and research productivity.
• Ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong teamwork and collaboration skills.
• Competency in statistical analysis tools (e.g., SAS, R, XLstat, Multivariate analysis).
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, Outlook).
• Availability to work evenings and weekends as needed.
• The candidate needs to be able to conduct studies independently by his/her ability to think and move the research towards innovation.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in research related to secondary metabolites of fruits and vegetables, gut microbiome, soil microbiome, and specifically tomato in relation to water use efficiency and heat tolerance.
• Driver's license
• Experience with LC-MS, GC-MS, Raman spectroscopy, and NMR for compound identification and metabolic profiling.
• Familiarity with statistical modeling and computational approaches for bioactive compound analysis.
• Plant microbiome interactions; host-associated and endophytic communities
• Stress biology; soil and rhizosphere microbiology
• Functional microbiology
• Next-generation sequencing, metagenomics, RNA-seq and transcriptomics analysis
• Multi-omics integration
• Bioinformatics and data analysis using R and Python
• AI/ML-assisted biological data analysis.
• Expertise in assay development for new compounds and ingredients.
• Ability to manage laboratory personnel, inventory, and research projects.
• Strong background in preparing safety manuals, analytical methods, and standard operating procedures.
• Experience in disseminating research findings through reports, presentations, and grant proposals.
• Mentorship experience with students and lab members.

Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate lab activities, including scheduling, supply requisition, safety, and compliance
• Conduct research on bioactive compounds from food sources, including metabolite identification, microbiome and nanoencapsulation systems for microbiological safety.
• Investigate the genetic, biochemical, and environmental factors influencing bioactive compounds and volatiles in fruits and vegetables.
• Study plant disease samples to understand relationships between diseases, pests, and potential metabolites.
• Maintain laboratory certification through record-keeping and quality assurance and collaborate with research teams, industry partners, and other experts, including participation in the tomato integrated project.
• Conduct field trials and collect samples across Texas as needed.
• Develop and optimize analytical methods for bioactive compounds and assess their changes in different vegetables and fruits.
• Train and mentor undergraduate and graduate students, as well as visiting scientists.
• Participate in grant writing, manuscript preparation, and dissemination of research through peer-reviewed publications.
• Troubleshoot and maintain analytical instrumentation.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Director of the Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center.

Benefits

• Health, dental, vision, life and long-term disability insurance with Texas A&M AgriLife contributing to employee health and basic life premiums
• 12-15 days of annual paid holidays
• Up to eight hours of paid sick leave and at least eight hours of paid vacation each month
• Automatic enrollment in the Teacher Retirement System of Texas
• Employee Wellness Initiative for Texas A&M AgriLife

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree