UT-ORII Fellow: Synthetic Biology

Requisition Id 13971 

Overview:

The Biosciences Division (BSD) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is focused on advancing science and technology to better understand complex biological systems and their relationship with the environment. BSD has the expertise and special facilities in genomics, computational biology, microbiology, microbial ecology, biophysics, structural biology, and plant sciences. Research experiments include large-scale laboratory, greenhouse, and field experimental data acquisition, management, organization, and analysis to derive insight and hypotheses suitable for further experimental validation and to improve researchers’ ability to further advance understanding of biological systems.

The Synthetic Biology group, working with the UT-ORII Circular Bioeconomy initiative, is focused on developing and applying genetic tools and techniques to address barriers to engineering organisms central to success. Synthetic Biology aims to re-engineer living organisms to create new and beneficial bioproducts, including sustainable biofuels, bioplastics, and other biochemicals and materials while improving sustainability at economies of scale. A fundamental barrier that remains include our ability to understand and engineer capabilities such as high stress tolerance, broad substrate utilization, and complex product formation pathways with improved yield and lower costs. This barrier represent substantial time, cost, and risk to commercialization of novel biodesign strategies – resulting in limited organisms, both model and non-model, and products successfully moving into industrial production over the last decade. We aim to develop a strong and multidisciplinary team to uncover underlying design principles for engineering these traits across a variety of organisms.

This position will be associated with the UT-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute’s Circular Bioeconomy Systems (CBS) Convergent Research Initiative (CRI), whose mission is to develop transformative strategies for managing, valorizing, and extending the lifespan of each carbon atom. They aim to use emerging science to produce materials from sustainable carbon sources, pioneering the shift toward low-energy and low-carbon-intensity agriculture, and manufacturing. At full strength, the CBS CRI will include ~20 member investigators from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture (UTIA), and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK). The CBS CRI supports its interdisciplinary researchers by offering networking opportunities with fellow scientists and bioeconomy stakeholders, facilitating collaborative experiments and proposal development, providing mentorship from senior CRI researchers, and offering tailored professional development opportunities.

Major Duties/Responsibilities:

• Perform research in bacterial engineering and/or development of synthetic biology tools 
• Develop and deploy a fluxomics platform for diverse organisms
• Work with a diverse team of scientists
• Interface directly with internal and external partners in various disciplines
• Present research results at national scientific meetings
• Publish scientific results in peer-reviewed journals in a timely manner
• Participate in project planning and execution
• Work with staff to develop new proposals
• Maintain detailed and accurate records
• Acquire and analyze data in keeping with project scheduling
• Take a position of leadership for day-to-day laboratory operations while addressing all of ORNL's environmental health and safety requirements
• Self-assess experimental research skill set and identify weakness and secure learning resources to address these issues
• Ensure compliance with environmental, safety, health and quality program requirements
• Deliver ORNL’s mission by aligning behaviors, priorities, and interactions with our core values of Impact, Integrity, Teamwork, Safety, and Service. Promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility by fostering a respectful workplace – in how we treat one another, work together, and measure success.

 Basic Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in a relevant STEM field and at least one year of postdoctoral experience
• Expertise in metabolomics and bacterial engineering
• Positive and self-starting
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and collaboratively as part of large, multidisciplinary teams
• Strong record of productive and creative research demonstrated by publication in peer-reviewed journals, presentations at professional conferences, and society awards
• Experience in project and proposal development
• Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with fluxomics                 
• Experience with engineering non-model bacteria
• Experience generating and analyzing large datasets
• Effective writing and presentation skills, demonstrated by a strong publication record from previous research
• Desire to work both independently and collaboratively as part of a multidisciplinary team
• Proven publication record

For more information about this position, please contact Dr. Carrie Eckert at eckertca@ornl.gov.

Benefits at ORNL:  

ORNL offers competitive pay and benefits programs to attract and retain talented people. The laboratory offers many employee benefits, including medical and retirement plans and flexible work hours, to help you and your family live happy and healthy. Employee amenities such as on-site fitness, banking, and cafeteria facilities are also provided for convenience.

Other benefits include the following: Prescription Drug Plan, Dental Plan, Vision Plan, 401(k) Retirement Plan, Contributory Pension Plan, Life Insurance, Disability Benefits, Generous Vacation and Holidays, Parental Leave, Legal Insurance with Identity Theft Protection, Employee Assistance Plan, Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Savings Accounts, Wellness Programs, Educational Assistance, Relocation Assistance, and Employee Discounts.

If you have difficulty using the online application system or need an accommodation to apply due to a disability, please email: ORNLRecruiting@ornl.gov 

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This position will remain open for a minimum of 5 days after which it will close when a qualified candidate is identified and/or hired.

We accept Word (.doc, .docx), Adobe (unsecured .pdf), Rich Text Format (.rtf), and HTML (.htm, .html) up to 5MB in size. Resumes from third party vendors will not be accepted; these resumes will be deleted and the candidates submitted will not be considered for employment.

ORNL is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants, including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans, are encouraged to apply.  UT-Battelle is an E-Verify employer.