Laboratory Research Operations Assistant
Position Overview
The Laboratory Research Operations Assistant will work closely with Professor Jessica Connelly and lab members to support both research execution and laboratory operations. This role combines molecular biology, imaging, and animal behavior research, and lab management, making it ideal for candidates seeking a broad and immersive research experience.
Key Responsibilities
- Maintain and manage a small animal breeding colony, including daily husbandry
- Conduct and record behavioral observations and analyses
- Absorb and assist with small animal surgical procedures
- Perform tissue collection, processing, and biobanking
- Isolate and analyze DNA and RNA from tissues and cells
- Absorb and assist with cell culture and molecular biology workflows
- Absorb and assist with confocal and other imaging modalities, including neuroimaging
- Ensure accurate, detailed experimental records and ensure data quality
- Manage laboratory inventory, reagents, and supplies
- Absorb and ensure compliance with institutional animal care and safety protocols
- Train and supervise undergraduate research assistants
- Absorb and contribute to general laboratory operations, including organization, maintenance, and workflow optimization
- Absorb and contribute to manuscripts, grant preparation, and scientific presentations
What We Offer
- Direct mentorship from the PI and senior scientists
- Opportunities for authorship on scientific publications
- Experience contributing to grant writing and experimental design
- Opportunities to present research at national and international conferences
- A collaborative, intellectually engaging lab environment
Minimum Qualifications
- High school diploma or equivalent
- At least 1 year of laboratory experience (including undergraduate research); Bachelor’s degree may substitute for experience
Preferred Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in a life science discipline
- Experience with rodent models and animal handling
- Background in animal behavior analysis
- Experience with dissection and/or small animal surgery
- Familiarity with DNA/RNA extraction, qPCR, or molecular biology techniques
- Experience with cell culture
- Experience with neuroimaging pipeline design and analysis
Skill Range
$19.00–$21.50/hour (commensurate with experience)
Physical Demands
This position can spend extensive periods of time standing and squatting while conducting experiments or caring for animals. Also requires keyboarding and other benchwork and animal procedures requiring fine finger manipulation. This is a restricted position; continuation is dependent on funding and satisfactory performance.
Location
The position is located in Charlottesville, Virginia. This is a full-time benefited position.
Application Process
Please apply online, and search for R0082682. Internal applicants may search and apply for jobs on the UVA Internal Careers website. Complete an application online with the following documents: CV/Resume, Cover Letter, and Upload all materials into the resume submission field, multiple documents can be submitted into this one field. Alternatively, merge all documents into one PDF for submission. Applications that do not contain all the required documents will not receive full consideration.
Contact Information
For information regarding the position or the application process, please contact Jessica Speth, Academic Recruiter, js9rk@virginia.edu.