Research Associate, Cope Lab
About The Position
Dr. Elise Cope’s Lab in the Department of Neuroscience and the Center of Brain Immunology and Glia (BIG) at the University of Virginia is seeking to hire a motivated Postdoctoral Research Associate to investigate how structural plasticity contributes to social memory function in the healthy and diseased brain. Research in the lab focuses on hippocampal microcircuits underlying social memory, with an emphasis on the roles of adult-born neurons, perineuronal nets, and microglia. The Cope Lab employs behavioral, histological, pharmacologic, environmental, transgenic, viral, chemogenetic, and in vivo electrophysiological methods to uncover how these cells and their cellular or extracellular structures interact and collectively shape hippocampal social memory function. Postdoctoral Research Associates will manage their own projects, interact with other lab members and collaborators, present their work at lab meetings and conferences, and contribute to grant applications and manuscripts for publication. Candidates will be expected to learn new techniques as a part of their training requirement. This position also includes opportunities to help mentor and teach students.
Requirements
- Doctoral degree in neuroscience, or a related field by the start date of the appointment
- First author publication(s)
- Experience in the independent conduct of laboratory experiments including experimental design, data display in figures, data analysis including standard statistical analyses, and data management
- Interest and confidence in developing new techniques for hypothesis testing
- High level of motivation and technical capacity to drive a research project
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
- Excellent communication skills, demonstrated by a strong publication record, consistent with the candidate's career stage, and presentations at conferences
- Ability to work with others as part of a team, including both teaching and learning from others
Nice To Haves
- Experience with mouse handling
- Experience with stereotaxic survival surgery
- Experience with behavior testing
- Experience with immunohistochemistry
- Experience with confocal imaging
- Experience with in vivo neural recordings
- Demonstrated creativity and flexibility in experimental design or new methods
Responsibilities
- Manage their own projects
- Interact with other lab members and collaborators
- Present their work at lab meetings and conferences
- Contribute to grant applications and manuscripts for publication
- Learn new techniques as a part of their training requirement
- Help mentor and teach students
Benefits
- Benefitted position
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
Education Level
Ph.D. or professional degree
