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Job Summary

The Ismagilov Lab at Caltech is hiring a full-time Research Lab Technician for a 2-year term position. Reporting to Professor Rustem Ismagilov, the successful candidate will contribute to key projects and collaborations in human health. Examples include: developing novel tools that improve biological AI models by orders of magnitude; developing closed-loop systems that combine robotics and AI for rapid autonomous experimentation; discovering in human tissues novel bacteria, fungi, and viruses (and corresponding genes and pathways) responsible for heath and disease; developing novel diagnostic approaches; investigating the microbial origins of human diseases. Additional details about the lab can be found at http://ismagilovlab.caltech.edu/.

Essential Job Duties

• Assist graduate students, postdocs, and research staff in their projects.
• Design and perform exceptionally high-quality experiments.
• Perform automated DNA and RNA extractions from many different sample types, including clinical samples (e.g., saliva, swabs, urine, blood, biopsies).
• Perform nucleic acid amplification analyses using standard techniques such as qPCR, ddPCR, RT-qPCR, and RT-ddPCR.
• Assist with Illumina and Nanopore sequencing library preparations for 16S rRNA gene, shotgun metagenomic sequencing, and RNA sequencing.
• Perform critical sequencing-library quality-control steps.
• Perform basic microbiology techniques such as bacterial culture, making media, and handling glycerol stocks with aseptic techniques.
• Analyze raw data and generate figures.
• Assist with scripting and validating protocols for automated liquid handlers.
• Maintain the lab’s excellent standards for biosafety and chemical safety.
• Follow lab procedures for maintaining a neat, detailed electronic lab notebook.
• Maintain the organization of lab workspaces and maintain stocks of lab supplies. 
• A highly motivated and qualified candidate may additionally develop independent aspects of ongoing projects, while continuing to provide research support to the lab.
   

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in science with an educational emphasis in chemistry, biology, microbiology, or a related field required at the time of application.
• Strong drive to learn and make a positive impact on the lab and the lab’s mission. 
• Strong organizational, time-management, and project-management skills.
• Lab experience (beyond academic coursework) in microbiology, molecular biology, and/or biochemistry.
• Highly detail-oriented; must have prior experience performing complex experiments, using laboratory techniques, and generating reproducible data that others can rely on.
• Demonstrated ability to learn to perform highly technical workflows in a laboratory setting.
• Must be able to use sound judgment to handle a variety of tasks simultaneously and to shift priorities, as well as effectively solve problems. 
• Must be able to work independently as well as part of a collaborative team in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to interact professionally with all levels of staff.
• Ambition to learn how to do research at a higher and higher level, including how to design high-quality experiments and definitively answer scientific questions.
   

Preferred Qualifications

• Ambition to enter a top medical or graduate school or a similar high-performance, high-impact environment in industry or academia.
• Prior experience working at BSL-2.
• Prior experience performing qPCR and nucleic-acid extractions.
• Prior experience tracking and/or handling large numbers of samples in parallel.
• Prior experience handling and processing 96-sample assays, such as 96-well PCR plates or 96-well screening assays.
• Interest in liquid-handler automation of wet-lab workflows and closed-loop automation systems.
• Co-authorship on a scientific publication.
• Prior experience or undergraduate-level coursework with a basic programming language for data analysis (Python, MATLAB, R).
   

Required Documents

• Resume (describe relevant experiences and accomplishments).
• Cover letter with specific examples demonstrating candidate's a) alignment with the lab’s mission; b) level of ambition, motivation, and drive for conducting research; c) attention to detail and ability to produce data others can trust; d) level of technical mastery of their top three most relevant experimental skills as described in their resume.