Research Engineering/Scientist Associate III

University of Texas at Austin

Job Posting Title:

Research Engineering/Scientist Associate III

Hiring Department:

Department of Neuroscience

Position Open To:

All Applicants

Weekly Scheduled Hours:

40

FLSA Status:

Exempt

Earliest Start Date:

Jul 01, 2025

Position Duration:

Expected to Continue Until Jun 30, 2027

Location:

AUSTIN, TX

Job Details:

General Notes

Initial assignment will be for two years. Subsequent renewal of employment will be based upon performance review, progress towards research goals, and continuation of funding. Some weekend work required.

Purpose

Incumbent will complete brain slice electrophysiology experiments and mouse behavioral experiments in support of funded grants in the Dobbs Lab. Other secondary duties are related to general laboratory management functions.

Responsibilities

  • Brain slice electrophysiology:
    • Prepping solutions for recordings, making live brain slices and performing voltage and current clamp recordings in neurons.
    • Using optogenetics, chemogenetics, electrical stimulation, and application of pharmacologic compounds to acute brain slices during electrophysiology experiments.
    • Maintaining the electrophysiology rig, keeping accurate records of experiments, performing data analysis, and creating figures for publications and grants.
    • Training other laboratory members to prepare brain slices and perform brain slice electrophysiology.
  • Mouse Behavioral experiments:
    • Includes assays to measure drug reward and self-administration as well as locomotor assays. General behavioral characterization of novel transgenic mouse lines.
    • Administration of test compounds to mice (intra-peritoneal, sub-cutaneous, intra-venous).
  • Surgeries in mouse:
    • Stereotaxic delivery of AAVs encoding fluorescent tracers, DREADDs or opsins to be used in later electrophysiology or behavior experiments.
    • Stereotaxic implantation of cannula or fiber optics for later behavioral experiments.
    • Post-operative monitoring of mice.
  • Lab management duties:
    • Ordering laboratory supplies and maintaining laboratory inventory
    • Assist in onboarding, orienting, and training new personnel
    • Assist in maintaining IACUC and IBC approvals.
  • Marginal/Incidental functions: Other related functions as assigned.

Required Qualifications

  • Minimum of a Master’s degree in biology, neurosciences, life sciences or related field and two years of related experience, or a Bachelor’s degree with four years of related experience.
  • Proficiency with pClamp software in collecting and analyzing electrophysiological data. Proficiency with independently performing voltage clamp and current clamp electrophysiology experiments in acute brain slices.
  • Experience with mouse handling and familiarity with behavioral experiments in mice is required.
  • Proficiency with MS Office Suite, especially Excel.
  • Familiarity with basic statistical analysis (ANOVA, t-tests, correlation).
  • Must have excellent organizational and time management skills.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Additional experience with biological “wet-lab” work experience is preferred.
  • Experience in animal husbandry, PCR and qPCR.
  • Experience using GraphPad Prism for data analysis is a plus, but not necessary.

Salary Range

$42,228+ depending on qualifications

Working Conditions

  • May work around chemical fumes.
  • May work around standard office conditions.
  • May work around biohazards.
  • May work around chemicals.
  • Repetitive use of a keyboard at a workstation.

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:

Regular staff who have been employed in their current position for the last six continuous months are eligible for openings being recruited for through University-Wide or Open Recruiting, to include both promotional opportunities and lateral transfers. Staff who are promotion/transfer eligible may apply for positions without supervisor approval.

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.

Background Checks:

A criminal history background check will be required for finalist(s) under consideration for this position.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

The University of Texas at Austin, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.

Pay Transparency:

The University of Texas at Austin will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information.

Employment Eligibility Verification:

If hired, you will be required to complete the federal Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 form. You will be required to present acceptable and original documents to prove your identity and authorization to work in the United States. Documents need to be presented no later than the third day of employment. Failure to do so will result in loss of employment at the university.

E-Verify:

The University of Texas at Austin use E-Verify to check the work authorization of all new hires effective May 2015. The university’s company ID number for purposes of E-Verify is 854197. For more information about E-Verify, please see the following:

  • E-Verify Poster (English) [PDF]
  • E-Verify Poster (Spanish) [PDF]
  • Right To Work Poster (English) [PDF]
  • Right To Work Poster (Spanish) [PDF]

Compliance:

Employees may be required to report violations of law under Title IX and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). If this position is identified a Campus Security Authority (Clery Act), you will be notified and provided resources for reporting. Responsible employees under Title IX are defined and outlined in HOP-3031.

The Clery Act requires all prospective employees be notified of the availability of the Annual Security and Fire Safety report. You may access the most recent report here or obtain a copy at University Compliance Services, 1616 Guadalupe Street, UTA 2.206, Austin, Texas 78701.

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Confirmed 23 hours ago. Posted 25 days ago.

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