Research Associate-Fixed Term

Position Summary

We are seeking a highly motivated and talented postdoctoral researcher to join our team integrating molecular genetics, stress physiology, behavior, and welfare. Our team is focused on group-housed gestating sows and intergenerational effects measured in their offspring. The candidate will work with faculty, technicians, and students to assess stress response in group-housed gestating sows and investigate physiological, behavioral, transcriptomic, and epigenomic differences in their offspring. The candidate will lead data collection and analysis of behavioral data in sows related to stress and welfare, behavioral data in young pigs related to fear/anxiety, physiological measures of stress at all ages, as well as RNA-seq and bisulfite sequencing data from various tissue types.

The candidate will prepare publications for high impact journals and present at scientific conferences in addition to translating information for outreach publications and discussions with industry stakeholders. Additional professional development opportunities will include mentoring students, writing grant proposals, interfacing with swine producers, and guest lecturing in undergraduate courses.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or protected veteran status.

Required Degree

Doctorate

Desired Qualifications

The candidate is expected to have training and experience in swine biology and management, animal welfare, statistics, molecular techniques (e.g., DNA/RNA isolation, RT-qPCR, ELISA), and sequencing analysis using a high performance computing cluster. Familiarity with Bash scripting for Slurm workload manager, and computing languages of Linux, Python, and R is required. Furthermore, the candidate should have experience handling swine at all stages of production, be comfortable working in a farm environment, have expertise in integration and interpretation of diverse datasets, excellent communication skills, experience working with livestock producers, a desire to mentor others, and be self-motivated, organized, collegial, and adaptable. The candidate is expected to oversee a team collecting behavioral data, including performing training, checking data quality, analyzing data, and integrating their work with findings of other team members, including graduate students.

Required Application Materials

CV and cover letter

Special Instructions

Apply at careers.msu.edu

MSU Statement

Michigan State University has been advancing the common good with uncommon will for more than 160 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU pushes the boundaries of discovery and forges enduring partnerships to solve the most pressing global challenges while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.