Assistant Research Professor Career Track

$80,000 - $85,000/Yr

Washington State University - College Park, MD

Full-time - Entry Level

College Park, MD

Educational Services

About the position

The Research Assistant Professor position at Washington State University is a fixed-term faculty role focused on leading and participating in research efforts in plant biology, particularly in the areas of genomics and metabolomics. The successful candidate will work collaboratively with colleagues and external partners, manage lab activities, and contribute to grant writing and research presentations.

Responsibilities

• Lead and participate in ongoing research efforts while developing independent projects.
• Lead whole genome assembly and annotation project of new apple and pear cultivars.
• Co-lead research on the absorption and metabolism of smoke compounds in grapes by integrating metabolomic and transcriptomic data.
• Develop a stable and robust gene family classification framework to enhance comparative genomic research within and beyond Rosaceae.
• Contribute to the development of cultivar-agnostic predictions of pome fruit maturity using unsupervised deep learning techniques.
• Assist the Principle Investigator with lab management tasks, including organizing group meetings, supervising undergraduate and graduate students, budgeting, and ordering lab supplies.
• Present research findings through poster/oral presentation, as well as peer-reviewed publication.
• Engaged in grant writing and perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Ph.D in Plant Biology
• Excellent bioinformatics skills, including whole genome assembly and annotation, comparative genomics, phylogenomics, targeted gene model re-annotation, transcriptome analysis, network science.
• Expertise in molecular biology techniques, including DNA, RNA isolation and quality control, protein synthesis and purification, PCR, cloning, plasmid isolation, and genetic modification of non-model plant organisms.
• Proven success in securing extramural funding, ideally from sources like the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission.
• Skilled in using high-performance computing systems and standalone Linux systems.
• Experience in applying machine learning and deep learning techniques to plant genomics.
• Experience in plant biomarker discovery.
• Strong problem-solving abilities and a capacity for learning new experimental techniques.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently with minimal supervision.

Nice-to-haves

• A strong publication record in plant genomics, transcriptomics, and machine learning, particularly in specialty crops such as tree fruits.
• Experience managing a research lab.

Benefits

• Paid sick and vacation leave
• Paid holidays
• Medical, dental, life and disability insurance package for employees and dependents
• Retirement
• Deferred compensation and optional supplemental retirement accounts