A postdoctoral position is available immediately in the Biological, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences Division (BEPSD) at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II). NSLS-II is a user facility dedicated to helping researchers from the U.S. and abroad bring cutting-edge synchrotron technology and automation to bear on society’s most pressing issues. 

Position Description

The position will support the operation and continued development of a center for high throughput x-ray crystallographic fragment screening (XCFS). The successful candidate will collaborate closely with NSLS-II staff while developing cutting edge sample preparation and data analysis techniques that enable the next generation of the XCFS methodology. In addition, the candidate will be expected to select and pursue target systems tailored to their own scientific interests and to work closely with NSLS-II staff in supporting user operations of the XCFS facility from crystallization to data analysis. The position offers candidates a unique opportunity to cultivate skillsets in laboratory automation and data science as they work closely with NSLS-II professional staff and industrial or academic users of the facility.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Initiate and complete independent XCFS projects from crystallization to public data deposition.

• Support external user XCFS campaigns from crystallization to data analysis and deposition.

• Work with NSLS-II software developers to create and modify database schema and data processing pipelines for handling XCFS laboratory metadata.

• Work with NSLS-II automation team and engineering support staff to develop the next generation of robotics and sample preparation protocols for XCFS.

• Optimize crystallization systems for XCFS campaigns.

• Work with external users or CROs to optimize or modify crystallization constructs for XCFS campaigns.

• Document research activities and provide regular status updates for ongoing projects.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• PhD in Chemistry, Physics, Biophysics, Biology, Biochemistry or Structural Biology.

• Proven ability to optimize peptide, protein or nucleic acid crystallization systems.

• Basic laboratory skills in safely handling and maintaining chemical reagent stocks.

• Proven track record in disseminating scientific results in the form of publications.

• Strong motivation to provide excellent user support.

Preferred Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Ability to program and debug python code, particularly Jupyter notebooks.

• Experience in working on collaborative software projects.

Environmental, Health & Safety Requirements:

• Any information pertaining to the environment, health or safety requirements for a position that will be considered when evaluating a candidate (e.g., details from JAF)

Other Information:

• The position will be located onsite at BNL.

• Candidates must have received a Ph.D. by the commencement of employment.

• BNL policy requires that after obtaining a PhD, eligible candidates for research associate appointments may not exceed a combined total of 5 years of relevant work experience as a post-doc and/or in an R&D position, excluding time associated with family planning, military service, illness or other life-changing events.

Brookhaven Laboratory is committed to providing fair, equitable and competitive compensation. The full salary range for this position is $71,900.00 - 100,000.00 / year. Salary offers will be commensurate with the final candidate’s qualification, education and experience and considered with the internal peer group.