UNIV - Postdoc - Department of Neurosciences

About the role

The Gowrishankar Lab at the Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to join our laboratory. This position is an excellent opportunity for candidates who have recently obtained or are about to obtain a Ph.D. in neuroscience or related fields.

Responsibilities

• 50% Surgical and Behavioral Procedures in Mice: Learn and perform intracranial mouse surgeries for opto/chemogenetics, anatomical tracing, gene manipulation, fiber photometry and two-photon imaging experiments. Conduct behavioral experimental procedures on these mice, including but not limited to mouse operant self-administration studies, mouse operant drug-self administration studies, mouse behavioral assays to study the impact of chronic pain, and depressive-like behavior.
• 20% Data Analyses: Learn and assist in the analysis of the data collected from these procedures using computational and statistical analyses in programming languages such as MATLAB and Python.
• 10% Grant Writing: Apply for intra- and extramural funding at all stages of their career and assist in writing grants with the PI for laboratory funding.
• 10% Animal Husbandry: Provide basic husbandry care for animals that are breeding and part of their own experimental studies. Monitor and maintain mouse lines to facilitate their experimental studies.
• 10% Wet Lab Procedures with Tissue: Learn and perform brain extractions and tissue collection. Use this tissue to learn and perform a variety of ex-vivo techniques such as immunohistochemistry and in-situ hybridization.

Qualifications

• A Ph.D. in neuroscience or related fields, obtained on or before July 31, 2026
• Experience with mouse handling is a requirement
• Strong organizational and communication skills
• Ability to work independently and in a team
• Comprehensive Knowledge of biomedical research techniques and neuroscience core concepts
• Demonstrated track record in the form of a strong publication record on topics related to the lab’s research interests

Additional Qualifications (desired, but not required)

• Experience in systems neuroscience techniques such as in vivo fiber photometry and in vivo two-photon imaging
• Experience with substance use disorder animal models
• Experience with computational and statistical methods in programming languages such as MATLAB and Python