Research Associate Jobs

About The Position

Requirements

• Ph.D. in structural biology and/or biochemistry with demonstrated productivity in these areas.
• Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.

Nice To Haves

• Ph.D. in structural biology and/or biochemistry with at least three years’ experience and demonstrated research productivity on enzymes that bind nucleic acids and/or protein-nucleic acid complexes

Responsibilities

• Express, purify, and characterize full-length and deletion constructs of group II intron and other non-LTR retroelement reverse transcriptase and related proteins for structural analysis and biotechnological applications using Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography FPLC and other methods.
• Characterize wild-type and mutant proteins biochemically via enzymatic assays and determine conditions for obtaining diffraction quality crystals and/or for cryo-electron microscopy analysis of proteins and protein/nucleic acid complexes.
• Carry out biochemical and biophysical assays.
• Obtain structures of reverse transcriptase and related enzymes and their nucleic acid-protein complexes by X-ray diffraction and/or cryo-EM structures.
• Write manuscripts and assist in the preparation of reports, abstracts, manuscripts and proposals.
• Make presentations at lab meetings.
• Attend lab meetings and other meetings.
• Order chemicals and supplies specific to current project.
• Provide instruction, assistance and mentoring to graduate students.

Benefits

• Retirement Plan (Teacher Retirement System of Texas or Optional Retirement Program)