Postdoctoral Fellow

Job Posting Title: Postdoctoral Fellow ---- Hiring Department: Molecular Biosciences ---- Position Open To: All Applicants ---- Weekly Scheduled Hours: 40 ---- FLSA Status: Exempt ---- Earliest Start Date: Immediately ---- Position Duration: Expected to Continue Until Feb 24, 2027 ---- Location: AUSTIN, TX ---- Job Details: General Notes PhD must have been received within the past 3 years. This is a temporary training position that can be renewed annually, for a maximum of five years, based upon performance review, progress towards research goals, and continuation of funding. Purpose The principal responsibilities of a postdoctoral fellow in the Torii Lab are to conduct independent research projects aligned with the lab’s scientific mission and to disseminate research findings through publications and presentations at scientific meetings. The position is expected to pursue cutting‑edge research using state‑of‑the‑art technologies and to advance our understanding of plant development and signaling mechanisms that enable adaptation to extreme environments, including underwater conditions. The fellow will be responsible for developing a hypothesis‑driven research plan that outlines materials and methods, experimental design, and anticipated outcomes prior to initiating experiments. In addition, the fellow will establish and optimize pipelines for efficient genome editing in the emergent model species Rorippa aquatica . The position will also contribute to the preparation of upcoming research grant proposals. All members of the Torii Lab are expected to uphold the highest ethical standards and to foster a collaborative environment where all individuals work together to drive scientific innovation and discovery. Responsibilities Perform independent research project as a leader of a small team of research technologists/engineers perform functional genomics and developmental biology research to unravel the regulatory network underpinning how a plant metamorphoses epidermal (stomatal) developmental program adapted to submergence. Study developmental biology/cell biology of amphibious plants sing molecular genetics, genome editing, molecular biology, cell biology, genomics/epigenomics/proteomics and related experimental techniques. Collaborate with other researchers and research technologists to develop genome-editing system in R. aquatica for functional genomics/developmental biology research described above. Data collection, data curation, data organization and data analysis, bioinformatic analysis, run computational pipelines, survey literature. P roperly document lab notebooks, organize materials (plasmids, seeds, DNA oligos, plants, etc) and data (e.g. confocal image files, RNA-seq files) for the assigned research projects and for the general Torii Lab inventories, strictly adhering to the Lab guideline. Maintain, manage, and operate critical pieces of equipment as well as chores in the lab (including proper growth room maintenance, plant cares, seed harvesting, dish washing, weekend watering) as necessary. Be in charge of a specific equipment which the postdoc has a strong expertise. Train and mentor junior researchers, such as undergraduates and technicians. Actively participate and present at the weekly lab meetings, Departmental seminars, BioTACOS, and other scientific conference/workshops. Write technical reports, review articles, fellowship applications, assist grant writing (provide preliminary data for grants) and scientific manuscripts as required. Required Qualifications PhD in molecular biology, cell biology, biochemistry, or closely related field. PhD must have been received within the past 3 years. Salary Range $70,000 Working Conditions Uniforms and/or personal protection equipment (furnished) May work around chemical fumes May work around standard office conditions May work around biohazards May work around chemicals Required Materials Resume/CV 3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor Letter of interest Important for applicants who are NOT current university employees or contingent workers:  You will be prompted to submit your resume the first time you apply, then you will be provided an option to upload a new Resume for subsequent applications. Any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) will be uploaded in the Application Questions section; you will be able to multi-select additional files. Before submitting your online job application, ensure that ALL Required Materials have been uploaded.  Once your job application has been submitted, you cannot make changes. Important for Current university employees and contingent workers:  As a current university employee or contingent worker, you MUST apply within Workday by searching for Find UT Jobs. If you are a current University employee, log-in to Workday, navigate to your Worker Profile, click the Career link in the left hand navigation menu and then update the sections in your Professional Profile before you apply. This information will be pulled in to your application. The application is one page and you will be prompted to upload your resume. In addition, you must respond to the application questions presented to upload any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) that were noted above. ---- Employment Eligibility: Please make sure you meet all the required qualifications and you can perform all of the essential functions with or without a reasonable accommodation. ---- Retirement Plan Eligibility: The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per week and at least 135 days in length. This position has the option to elect the Optional Retirement Program (ORP) instead of TRS, subject to the position being 40 hours per week and at least 135 days