Research Staff Assistant

• Job Type: Support Staff - Non-Union
• Bargaining Unit:
• Regular/Temporary: Temporary
• End Date if Temporary: 11/26/2027
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Standard Work Schedule:
• Building: Jerome L. Greene Science Center
• Salary Range: $45,000-$47,000

Columbia University's Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute unites world-class scientists across diverse academic disciplines to conduct groundbreaking research that transforms our understanding of the brain and its influence on the mind and behavior.

As a leading neuroscience institute, our mission is to decipher the mind and brain to better understand behavior. Our researchers are committed to foundational science, uncovering the principles that shape how the brain develops, functions, and recovers.

With more than 50 labs, the Zuckerman Institute serves as a hub for collaboration, bringing together Columbia’s top scholars to drive research in bold new directions. Located in Manhattanville, our state-of-the-art Jerome L. Greene Science Center provides an inspiring home for discovery in one of the world’s most dynamic cities.

The laboratory of Carol Mason at Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute has an open position for a highly motivated Research Staff Assistant to perform routine lab duties in support of experiments investigating cellular and molecular mechanisms of visual system and spinal sensory circuit development.

This is a full-time, temporary, grant-funded position.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following:

• Lab management: Working in collaboration with the other lab members, the Research Staff Assistant is responsible for maintaining supplies of common solutions and inventory control; overseeing lab equipment and ensuring safety measures and institutional compliance.
• Responsible for ordering supplies on Quartzy and from other vendors; reconciling purchase orders.
• Animal husbandry: Serving as liaison between the lab and veterinary staff in supporting the mouse colony. Colony maintenance involves ordering, record keeping, genotyping and breeding.
• Experimental Support: Assisting in experiments as required, potentially involving surgical procedures, histology, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, microscopy and computer assisted analysis; RNA sequencing and tissue culture.
• Analysis and interpretation of experimental data; preparation of data and images for publication.
• Training and oversight of undergraduate, summer and visiting students, in general lab techniques and specific experimental approaches and their quantification and interpretation.
• Reporting: Attendance and presentation at lab meetings and direct reporting to PI.
• Additional duties as assigned by Principal Investigator

Minimum Qualifications

• The successful candidate will have a Bachelor’s degree in a scientific or engineering field with a basic understanding of biology.

Preferred Qualifications

• 6 months or more of related research experience

Other Requirements

Candidate must be interested in acquiring lab skills and want to gain practical training and mentorship in a cutting-edge neuroscience research environment. Ability to work independently with accuracy and attention to detail is required.

The ideal candidate will possess sound judgment with a collaborative style that thrives on and fosters teamwork and cooperation within the immediate team and beyond, to the broader organization. 

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.