About the role
Position Summary
The Lundquist Laboratory Group is seeking a Researcher & Laboratory Manager to play a pivotal role in advancing our research on plastoglobule lipid droplets and their involvement in photosynthetic and phospho-regulation. In this dual-capacity role, you will dedicate approximately 20% of your time to operational leadership, ensuring seamless daily lab function through budget management, chemical/supply inventory control, safety protocol adherence, and digital outreach. The other 80% of your time will be dedicated to active scientific investigation, where you will integrate wet-lab techniques (e.g., immunoblotting, protein phosphorylation assays, cellular ultrastructure investigation, lipidomics, proteomics, etc.) with computational approaches (e.g., protein-protein interaction and structural modeling) to drive impactful discoveries.
Detailed description of work/duties
Laboratory Management & Operations (20%)
- Operational Oversight: Manage daily laboratory operations, resource purchasing, and maintenance of chemical and supply inventories.
- Safety & Compliance: Ensure full compliance with institutional environmental health and safety (EHS) protocols and guidelines.
- Digital Presence: Maintain and update the laboratory website to reflect current research, publications, and team updates.
Scientific Research & Execution (80%)
- Experimental Design & Execution: Plan and perform advanced biochemical, molecular, cellular, and computational experiments to investigate plastoglobule function.
- Wet-Lab Techniques: Conduct specialized assays, including protein phosphorylation studies, immunoblotting, lipidomics, proteomics, protein-protein interaction studies and/or cellular ultrastructural investigations.
- Mentoring and supervision: Train and supervise undergraduate and graduate trainees in experimental design, wet-lab protocols, and data analysis to ensure research quality and laboratory safety.
- Communication: Assist in preparation of scientific manuscripts and research talks.
- Computational Modeling: Utilize bioinformatic and computational tools for structural modeling and protein-protein interaction analyses.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or protected veteran status.
Required Degree
Doctorate -biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology or related field
Minimum Requirements
- PhD in biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology or related field.
- Demonstrable experience with design, execution and communication of bench (wet-lab) research.
- Excellent organizational and management skills.
- Excellent multi-tasking and time-management skills.
Desired Qualifications
- Demonstrated experience with plant biochemical or molecular biological research such as gene cloning, in vitro kinase assays, lipid profiling, protein-protein interaction assays.
- Familiarity with gene cloning, heterologous protein expression, in vitro kinase assays, immunoblotting, photosynthetic measurements and/or confocal and electron microscopy.
Required Application Materials
Cover letter outlining qualifications and reason for interest
Current CV/resume
Contact information for at least three references
Review of Applications Begins On
08/31/2026
Summary of Health Risks
formaldehyde
Website
https://www.lundquist-lab.net/
MSU Statement
Michigan State University has been advancing the common good with uncommon will for more than 160 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU pushes the boundaries of discovery and forges enduring partnerships to solve the most pressing global challenges while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.