Postdoctoral Scholar-Fixed Term

MSU Careers Details • East Lansing, MI

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition seeks a Postdoctoral Researcher to contribute to a project aimed at identifying factors associated with foodborne pathogen persistence in pre-harvest food production environments. This is a collaborative project with the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering at MSU, and will involve travel for sample collection, processing samples for microbiome characterization, and computational modeling. The Postdoctoral Researcher will be responsible for leading the development of predictive models based on environmental data, microbiome features, and agricultural practices. Additional responsibilities will include supervision of graduate students, preparing manuscripts, giving presentations, and assisting with project reporting requirements. The initial appointment is for 1 year, with the opportunity to renew for a second year.

Requirements

• Earned Ph.D. in Biosystems Engineering, Food Science, or equivalent
• Demonstrated expertise in computational modeling
• Demonstrated experience coding in multiple programming languages (R, Python, MATLAB)
• Experience working with food industry stakeholders
• History of publications in the area of food safety and predictive modeling
• Applicants will be asked to disclose whether they are subject to any pending investigation, findings or sanctions related to professional misconduct.
• All applicants will be asked to sign an authorization and release, which authorizes the University to contact the candidate’s current and former employers, for a period of 7 years prior to the date of application, related to any pending investigations, findings of responsibility and/or sanctions related to professional misconduct.
• If an applicant fails to sign the authorization and release, the application will be deemed incomplete and will be withdrawn.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with field work
• Familiarity with microbiome data analysis
• Familiarity with machine learning and large language models for data analysis
• Experience mentoring junior team members

Responsibilities

• Leading the development of predictive models based on environmental data, microbiome features, and agricultural practices.
• Supervision of graduate students.
• Preparing manuscripts.
• Giving presentations.
• Assisting with project reporting requirements.
• Travel for sample collection.
• Processing samples for microbiome characterization.
• Computational modeling.

Benefits

• Consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or protected veteran status.

What This Job Offers

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