Postdoctoral Research Associate

Job Title

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Agency

Texas A&M University

Department

Chemistry

Proposed Minimum Salary

Commensurate

Job Location

College Station, Texas

Job Type

Staff

Job Description

Here’s a Glimpse of the Job

Texas A&M’s Chemistry Department is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate to develop and apply innovative methods for investigating RNA–protein interactions in living cells. This position will focus on designing, optimizing, and implementing chemical biology and sequencing-based approaches to better understand how RNA structure and dynamics influence protein recognition. The successful candidate will play a key role in advancing the laboratory’s research program through the development of new technologies, data analysis, and contributions to scientific publications and grant proposals. This role offers valuable opportunities for interdisciplinary training and collaboration while contributing to research that advances our understanding of RNA regulation in health and disease.

Opportunities to Contribute

• Design, develop, optimize, troubleshoot, and perform experimental workflows using chemical biology, sequencing, and molecular biology techniques to investigate RNA–protein interactions in living cells and ensure high-quality, reproducible results.

• Process and analyze high-throughput sequencing data, including the lab’s DMS-MaPseq pipeline, while developing computational workflows for RNA structure and RNA–protein interaction studies and maintaining accurate documentation to ensure reproducibility.

• Contribute to manuscript preparation and grant applications by providing experimental results, data analyses, and scientific written content.

• Provide guidance and training to graduate and undergraduate students in experimental design, laboratory techniques, and data interpretation while fostering a collaborative and supportive research environment.

• Present research progress and findings at group meetings, departmental seminars, workshops, and national and international conferences.

Qualifications

• Appropriate PhD in a related field. 

• Required licenses or certificates may vary with research area. 

A well-qualified candidate for this position will also possess:

• Ph.D. in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Chemical Biology, or a closely related field (completed or expected prior to start date).

• Demonstrated research experience in RNA biology, protein–nucleic acid interactions, or related molecular/cellular biology topics.

• Expertise in chemical biology approaches, RNA structure probing, or next-generation sequencing library preparation.

• Familiarity with computational tools for analyzing sequencing data (e.g., Python, R, or bioinformatics pipelines).

• Strong record of productivity as evidenced by peer-reviewed publications or preprints.

• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in a research team.

• Excellent verbal and written skills.

• Presentation skills.

• Analytical skills.

• Attention to detail.

Salary: Compensation will be commensurate based on the selected candidate's education and experience.

Special Note: Due to this position’s salary having all or a portion of it being funded by grants or contracts, the continuing salary and overall employment is contingent upon availability of these funds in the future.

What you need to do:

Select the Apply button to begin your application. Submitting a cover letter and resume is strongly recommended and will help us with the review process. You may upload these documents on the application under CV/Resume.

Why Texas A&M University? 

Texas A&M University is committed to enriching the learning and working environment by promoting a culture that respects all perspectives, talents & lived experiences. Embracing varying opinions and perspectives strengthens our core values which are: Respect, Excellence, Leadership, Loyalty, Integrity, and Selfless Service.   

Texas A&M University’s Department of Chemistry is a cadre of faculty, staff, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, academic advisors, scientific and technical staff, who have a shared purpose of translating our passion for chemistry to young scholars at all levels in many scientific fields. To learn more, please visit our website: http://www.chem.tamu.edu/      

We are a prestigious university with strong traditions, Core Values, and a community of caring and collaboration.  Amenities associated with a major university, such as sporting and cultural events, state-of-the-art recreation facilities, the Bush Library and Museum, and much more await you.  Experience all that a big city has to offer but with a reasonable cost-of-living and no long commutes.  

• Medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, life and AD&D, flexible spending accounts, and long-term disability insurance with Texas A&M contributing to employee health and basic life premiums 

• 12-15 days of annual paid holidays  

• Up to eight hours of paid sick leave and at least eight hours of paid vacation each month 

• Automatic enrollment in the Teacher Retirement System of Texas  

• Health and Wellness: Free exercise programs and release time 

• Professional Development: All employees have access to free LinkedIn Learning training, webinars, and limited financial support to attend conferences, workshops, and more  

• Educational release time and tuition assistance for completing a degree while a Texas A&M employee 

• Living Well, a program at Texas A&M that has been built by employees, for employees 

Instructions to Applicants: Applications received by Texas A&M University must either have all job application data entered, or a resume attached. Failure to provide all job application data or a complete resume could result in an invalid submission and a rejected application. We encourage all applicants to upload a resume or use a LinkedIn profile to prepopulate the online application.

All positions are security-sensitive. Applicants are subject to a criminal history investigation, and employment is contingent upon the institution’s verification of credentials and/or other information required by the institution’s procedures, including the completion of the criminal history check.

Equal Opportunity/Veterans/Disability Employer.