Postdoctoral Associate

The appointee must have received the doctorate in a field appropriate to the assigned duties and responsibilities.

1 year contract, with potential extensions up to 2 additional years.

Starting date: Flexible. As soon as possible is preferred, and no later than December 1 2025.

We aim to recruit a highly motivated and skilled postdoc to work on a project using comparative venomics and microbiomics to assess the evolution of venom complexity in social and subsocial spiders. This interdisciplinary project will use HPLC, genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and microbiomics to investigate venom complexity. This position is funded by a collaborative National Science Foundation Grant to Nick Keiser (University of Florida) and Tim Colston (University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez). The postdoc will have the opportunity to lead fieldwork in Namibia and South Africa. Other key areas for professional development include mentorship of graduate and undergraduate researchers at both institutions, potential to develop and lead courses and international collaboration.

Responsibilities & skills

• Leadership roles in research. The postdoc will lead one or more discrete projects with a clear set of research objectives that will result in first-authored publications. In addition, we expect the postdoc to develop additional projects that will establish their independence and provide opportunity for research creativity and mentoring of graduate and undergraduate students. 
• Career mentoring. At the University of Florida, the postdoc will have access to the “Preparing Future Faculty” programming through the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. Both PIs will work closely with the postdoc to develop effective application materials for potential careers in both academic and non-academic settings.
• Training in responsible research practices. The postdoc will be expected in their first year to complete a series of web-based training modules on responsible research practices through the UF Science Library and/or UPRM GSA resources. These modules cover topics such as data management, navigating mentor/mentee responsibilities, responsible authorship, and research misconduct. 

Evaluation of progress. The postdoc will meet weekly with Keiser individually and once per month as a group with Colston to clarify expectations, check in on the progress of projects, and bring up any questions or concerns. The combination of group meetings and one-on-one meetings will ensure that we can continually assess research needs and progress.

Relevant links:

Keiser Lab: www.keiserlab.com 

Colston Lab: https://maddreptiles.com/

$60,000

Employment Benefits include:

Health Insurance: UF participates in state- and university-sponsored benefits programs for individuals, families and domestic partners, and offers voluntary insurance that includes vision, dental, long-term disability and more.

Leave: Full-time post-doctoral associates earn paid leave bi-weekly.

To learn more visit: hr.ufl.edu/benefits

• A PhD in any area of ecology, evolution, or related fields.
• Experience with genomics, transcriptomics, and bioinformatics or motivation to acquire these skills quickly.
• A track record of research productivity in both independent and collaborative projects.

Application must be submitted by 11:55 p.m. (ET) of the posting end date.