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Postdoctoral Scholar

Inside Higher Ed, Lexington, KY, United States


Required Education

Ph.D. in chemistry, biochemistry or closely related field.
Job Title

Postdoctoral Scholar
Requisition Number

DU14454
Department Name

8E030: Chemistry
Work Location

Lexington, KY
Salary Range

$49,850.00/year
Type of Position

Full-Time
Physical Requirements

Active work at lab bench, move between lab rooms, push carts and carry flasks, good vision, hearing, and generally fit for active research work.
Shift

Standard lab working hours. Around 8-5 Monday – Friday.
Job Summary

The responsibilities of a postdoctoral scholar will include high-quality research, updating the P.I. regularly on progress and challenges, training students or other researchers joining the lab, a fair share of equipment maintenance and upkeep in the lab and ordering supplies, excellent record-keeping, safety compliance including correct chemical maintenance and disposal practices, analysis and presentation of data, archiving data in forms useful to other researchers and the P.I., writing papers, assistance applying for grants and overseeing junior members of the group, preparation of periodic reports and presentations (at a meeting a year, at least).
Targets and Opportunities

Production of electron transfer flavoproteins (ETFs) including mutated variants.
Characterization of effects of including partner proteins.
Making amino acid substitutions and characterizing their consequences.
Similarly for the effects of ligand binding.
Deposition of enzymes on electrodes and electrochemical characterization of said enzymes/complexes.
Studies of ETFs containing modified flavins.
Kinetic characterizations.
Investigation of possible significance of buried disulfide bonds.
Fluorescence including single-molecule and FRET if this avenue proves fruitful.
Not all of these initiatives will bear fruit, and several will be allocated to other group members, but the forgoing are aims of the projects supporting this postdoctoral position.
Skills / Knowledge / Abilities

The following skills will all be valuable. It is not required that all be pre-existing, but candidates already skilled in the following will be preferred: culture of E. coli, sterile technique, protein purification, simple column chromatography, UV visible spectrophotometry and titrations, biochemical spectroscopy of another form (fluorescence or CD or NMR or EPR, for example). Protein and cofactor quantitation’s, standard curves, analysis of spectra, making figures. Anaerobic technique, including gas train (vacuum line) and glove box, electrochemistry. Enzyme assays including enzyme kinetics (steady state and pre-steady state). Experience with bioinformatics, scripting phylogenetics.
Preferred Education/Experience

Courses in protein biochemistry, enzyme mechanism, molecular biophysics, structural biology, experimental biochemistry, physical chemistry or physical biochemistry.
University Community

We value the well-being of each of our employees and are dedicated to creating a healthy place for everyone to work, learn and live. In the interest of maintaining a safe and healthy environment for our students, employees, patients and visitors, the University of Kentucky is a Tobacco & Drug Free campus.
The University follows both the federal and state Constitutions as well as all applicable federal and state laws on nondiscrimination. The University provides equal opportunities for qualified persons in all aspects of institutional operations and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnic origin, religion, creed, age, physical or mental disability, veteran status, uniformed service, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information or social or economic status.
Any candidate offered a position may be required to pass pre-employment screenings as mandated by University of Kentucky Human Resources. These screenings may include a national background check and/or drug screen.

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