Recruit

The Department of Biomedical Engineering in the College of Engineering at the University of California, Davis invites applications from qualified candidates for one or more Junior Specialist positions. A bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering, engineering, neurobiology, biology or related field, or equivalent research experience is required.

The successful candidate will join the Neurorobotics Lab, led by Professor Karen Moxon. The lab is focused on examining the factors associated with spinal cord injuries and to engineer novel systems to restore function after injury.

NATURE AND PURPOSE
The position of Junior Specialist has a narrow focus in a specialized area and provides technical or specialized expertise (e.g., with instrumentation and research equipment, or with research methods) in the planning and execution of a research project. Junior Specialists are required to be actively and significantly involved in publishable research activities, including reviewing journal articles and engaging in discussions on research and the interpretation of research results. Junior Specialists are also expected to participate in appropriate professional/technical societies or groups and other educational and research organizations as well as review research proposals, journal manuscripts, and publications as applicable related to their research area of expertise.

JOB SUMMARY AND DESIGNATED AREA OF EXPERTISE
The candidate’s responsibilities are a significant and essential part of publishable research activities.
Under the direction of the PI, the candidate is expected to collect, organize, and present data, engage in lab meetings and discussions on research, and assist in the interpretation and publication of those data. The applicant will be mentored regarding career paths in academia or industry and be supported to present data at conferences and contribute to the publication of peer reviewed manuscripts. The candidate’s significant and meaningful contributions will lead to authorship or acknowledgement on published work.

MAJOR RESEARCH RESPONSIBILITIES (60% EFFORT)
• Using existing data in the lab, apply cutting edge computational approaches to the analysis of the data. Working with the PI, become familiar with the existing data structures and computational approaches.
• Design hypothesis driven research questions to analyze the data that provide new understanding of the systems under study.
• Identify creative ways to address any need for revision of experimental protocols.
• In collaboration with PI and other lab personnel, support the writing and reviewing of manuscripts and presentation of data at conferences.
• Read, review, and summarize literature pertinent to to neural engineering and/or the direction of the research.
• Present research results during lab meetings.
• Lab maintenance and organization including pre-purchasing efforts, scheduling volunteer activities, documenting lab software and computer hardware.
• Animal care pre and post operative.

PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE AND ACTIVITY (30% EFFORT)
• Candidate will participate in appropriate professional/technical societies or groups and other educational and research organizations.
• The candidate will present their work formally to the team in an open forum once every two months and meet with the PI weekly to discuss progress.
• The candidate will attend workshops related to scientific writing and be fully supported to improve writing and presentation skills,
• The candidate will have opportunities to present abstracts describing their work at national meetings and be first author on key publications of their work.
• The candidate is expected to attend workshops at Davis or other institutions for writing skills for both grants and manuscripts, as well as other topics including plagiarism, presentation skills, diversity and inclusiveness and academic job hunt.
• With support from the PI and other researchers in the lab, write journal articles base on the research conducted, analyzed and synthesized.

UNIVERSITY AND PUBLIC SERVICE (10% EFFORT)
• Help to organize meetings, workshops and public outreach events in neuroengineering.

WORK ENVIRONMENT
• Routinely work holidays and weekends and may work various hours on short notice with fluctuating lunch and break times.
• Perform duties in Biosafety Level 1 (BSL) 1 facility where rodents are housed and monitored.
• No eating or drinking in surgery, treatment, procedure rooms, other areas of the lab and animal facility.
• Directly or indirectly engage in the performance of work on Federal or State contracts and grants as well as periodically come into contact with controlled substances; and are expected to abide by the UC Policy on Substance Abuse, the Federal Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988, and the State Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1990.

POSITION AVAILABLE/CLOSING DATE
As openings occur, appointments are made contingent upon availability of funding. The posting will remain open to accommodate Moxon lab needs. If you would like to continue to be considered after that time, you will need to submit a new application when a new position is posted.

UC Davis is a smoke and tobacco-free campus (http://breathefree.ucdavis.edu/).

We are an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer, and particularly encourage applications from members of historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, women, individuals’ with disabilities, veterans, LGBTQ community members, and others who demonstrate the ability to help us achieve our vision of a diverse and inclusive community. For the complete University of California nondiscrimination and affirmative action policy see: http://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000376/NondiscrimAffirmAct

Under Federal law, the University of California may employ only individuals who are legally able to work in the United States as established by providing documents as specified in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Certain UC Davis positions funded by federal contracts or sub-contracts require the selected candidate to pass an E-Verify check. More information is available at: http://www.uscis.gov/e-verify

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