Postdoctoral Fellowship

CHEMICAL SENSES POSTDOC – Florida State Universiy

Two NIH-funded postdoctoral positions are available immediately for research and training in chemosensory-related areas.

Up to 2 years of support are available from the Florida State University Chemosensory Training Program (CTP), funded from an institutional T32 NRSA training grant from the NIDCD.  There are openings in the laboratories of Alan Spector, Wen Li, Lisa Eckel, Roberto Vincis, Liz Hammock, Doug Storace, or Debra Fadool for a highly-motivated and self-driven individual who wishes to work towards an independent career in neuroscience or chemosensory-related research.  We seek individuals who desire interaction across a group of experts in the chemosensory field to accentuate their postdoctoral traineeship and who can contribute creatively to enhance or extend the research program of one of the laboratories in the CTP group while building their expertise and reputation as a bridge to an independent- investigator career.  Value-added professional development and research collaborations across CTP laboratories and their graduate-and undergraduate students are therefore highly encouraged. Successful candidates must be a US Citizen or US permanent resident with a recent Ph.D. degree and should have substantive research experience as evidenced by a strong publication record including first author publication. We currently have two postdoctoral training opportunities available:  One is a special opportunity supported by the VP for Research Office to enhance diversity of our trainees into academic positions and a second opportunity is for an open trainee.  Both would be members of our training grant program and mentored by our faculty preceptor community. 

Postdoctoral Trainer expertise ranges from exploration of gustatory and olfactory central coding, taste psychophysics, regulation of ingestive behavior, neuromodulation of ion channels, disruption of olfactory sensory signaling and circuitry attributed to diabetes and obesity, anxiety/threat, or gustatory physiology, olfactory bulb synaptic physiology, and TAAR signaling. 

The CTP faculty research at molecular, physiological and behavioral levels is described in individual faculty pages on the FSU Program in Neuroscience Website;  www.neuro.fsu.edu.  The 30-year history of the CTP Training Grant Program and a Flyer explaining the current opportunity are found on the FSU Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPDA) Website:  http://opda.fsu.edu/Awards-and-Fellowships/NIH-FSU-Postdoctoral-Fellowships/NIH-Training-Grant-Postdoctoral-Appointments. 

Primary responsibilities will include designing and implementing research studies, collecting and analyzing data, preparing research results for publication, presenting at national and international meetings.

We are particularly interested in candidates with strong backgrounds in modern techniques, whether molecular, physiological or behavioral and would favor those with complementary expertise in multiple areas. Florida State University is committed to a rewarding environment for postdoctoral scholars and to providing opportunities for professional advancement and career preparation.  Professional Development and University-wide Opportunities for postdoc engagement are found on the FSU OPDA Website: http://opda.fsu.edu/

Current research focus of our training laboratories is to investigate the impact of metabolic disorders (obesity/diabetes) or anxiety/threat on chemosensory function, behavior, and physiology and uses a combinatorial, multidisciplinary approach.  We are seeking creative, self-motivated individuals who have strong experimental experiences and the drive to pursue challenging, rigorous studies in the chemical senses.  Experimental approaches employed in these laboratories include slice electrophysiology, in vivo awake recording, dynamic clamp, use of optical probes and calcium imaging, whole-nerve recording, optogentic and chemogenetic recording, fMRI, EEG/MEG, behavioral phenotyping, ion channel structure/function studies, protein-protein interactions, whole-animal metabolic phenotyping, tissue culture, psychophysical studies of sensory-mediated behaviors, confocal microscopy, olfactometry, genetically-modified mouse models, transection and lesion analysis of central sensory structures, ingestive behavior phenotyping following gastric bypass surgery, and taste preference testing. 

Postdoctoral Scholars select a mentor from our team of faculty trainers.  Scholars participate in semester-long rotating series of reading / practicum group with the trainers, annual special lecture series in the chemical senses, conference travel presentation of their research, and professional development activities with the CTP trainers or FSU postdoctoral association.  Scholars are expected to develop an IDP with their selected mentor, and are coached in grant writing exercises to apply for extramural awards and fellowships.  Appointments are provided access to health insurance benefits, retirement option plans, seminole savings program, and an annual training-related expense budget dependent upon pre- or postdoctoral trainning level.  Salary is commensurate with level of experience as set by NIH institutional training grant guidelines.

Applicants should submit (SINGLE PDF) a cover letter explicitly addressing the qualifications for this position; paragraph describing their long-term career goals; 1-2 page research statement (length excludes citations); detailed curriculum vitae; and the names, email, and addresses for three professional references to:  Debra Ann Fadool, CTP Director.  Example publication of best work can also be included.

Deadline:  Applications will be prioritized for decision if received prior to August 20, 2022.

Questions?  Please contact Dr. Debra Ann Fadool (dfadool@bio.fsu.edu)