Postdoctoral Research Associate

Job Title

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Agency

Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi

Department

College of Engineering-Computing Sciences

Proposed Minimum Salary

Commensurate

Job Location

Corpus Christi, Texas

Job Type

Staff

Job Description

TAMU-CC is a dynamic university designated as both a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and Minority-Serving Institution (MSI) with approximately 11,000 students from 47 states and 54 foreign nations. We employ over 1,400 full-time and 2,000 part-time Islanders (including students/GAs). The University attracts highly talented faculty and staff and offers an array of undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral programs. As a member of the Texas A&M University System, TAMU-CC benefits from a range of resources, increased visibility and influence, and opportunities to collaborate in mutually beneficial ways with peers across member institutions and associated agencies.

TAMU-CC's beautiful campus is located on a 240-acre island on Corpus Christi Bay and was ranked #1 College by the Sea by Best College Reviews. Our natural setting is enhanced by its modern, attractive, and state-of-the-art classroom buildings and support facilities.

Learn more information here!

PURPOSE

The Collective Intelligence in Motion (CIM) Lab at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC) seeks a Postdoctoral Researcher to advance secure, low-latency communications and AI-driven control for autonomous vehicle systems with an emphasis on 5G/6G Open RAN (near-RT RIC, xApps/rApps) and vehicular edge computing. The postdoc will design and evaluate networking architectures and protocols, develop machine-learning methods for decision-making, and validate results on lab testbeds. Collaborating with experts in cybersecurity and computer science, the researcher will publish high-quality work and deliver software artifacts that strengthen the security, robustness, and performance of connected autonomous systems.

Responsibilities

Research & Publications: 35%

• Conduct original research in NextG (5G/6G) with emphasis on O-RAN (near-RT RIC, xApps/rApps), network security, and spectrum management.
• Design and evaluate AI/ML methods (DL/RL/LLMs/FL) for network automation and decision-making in autonomous/vehicular systems.
• Lead high-quality publications and create reproducible artifacts (code, datasets, experiment scripts).
  
  

Systems, Security & Testbeds: 35%

• Build and operate prototypes on lab testbeds (e.g., O-RAN SC/srsRAN/OAI/ns-3), integrating SMO/RIC pipelines and UAV/vehicular edge components.
• Implement rigorous experiments, data pipelines, and performance evaluations; harden systems with best security practices (PKI/TLS, RBAC, secure CI/CD).
• Release open-source software packages and documentation; maintain benchmarks and continuous integration for reproducibility.
  
  

Collaboration, Proposals & Mentoring: 30%

• Contribute to proposals and collaborate across academia/industry partners to secure funding and deliver joint milestones.
• Mentor graduate and undergraduate researchers (project planning, experiments, writing) and foster a collaborative, high-performance lab environment.
• Support knowledge transfer: internal tech talks, guest lectures/modules tied to lab testbeds, and external demos with stakeholders.
  
  

Qualifications

• Doctoral degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Computer Engineering, or a closely related field.
• Foundation in network security for 5G/6G and O-RAN, including TLS 1.2/1.3 with mTLS, PKI/X.509 and certificate lifecycle, IPsec/MACsec, RBAC/ABAC, and secure key/secrets management.
• Familiarity with O-RAN architecture and interfaces (A1, E2, O1/O2, Open Fronthaul) and their security implications in SMO/near-RT RIC deployments.
• Experience with secure software engineering: threat modeling, secure coding/code review, dependency/SBOM management, container/Kubernetes security, and reproducible experiments.
• Strong programming skills (e.g., Python/C ); ability to prototype and evaluate security controls on cloud-native stacks (Docker, Kubernetes, Helm).
• Records of scholarship including designing research protocols, conducting studies/experiments, and authoring peer-reviewed papers.
• Excellent writing, communication, and presentation skills; demonstrated ability to work in a collaborative, multidisciplinary team and meet deadlines on multiple projects.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on with O-RAN SC/srsRAN/OAI and secure RIC/SMO deployments (e.g., Kubernetes RBAC, NetworkPolicies, Pod Security, service-mesh mTLS such as Istio/Linkerd).
• Experience implementing/assessing identity and access for xApps/rApps and SMO northbound APIs (OAuth2/OIDC, JWT, fine-grained policy), and multi-tenant isolation.
• Knowledge of relevant standards and guidance (e.g., 3GPP TS 33.501, O-RAN WG11 Security) and ability to translate normative controls into testable checklists.
• Applied AI/ML for network security/automation (DL/RL/LLMs/RAG/FL) including anomaly detection, policy learning, or intrusion detection in RAN/edge systems.
• Practical experience with MATLAB, ns-3 (or srsRAN/OAI/O-RAN SC), Python, and JavaScript; familiarity with tools such as Wireshark/eBPF is a plus.
• Strong publication record (Q1 journals and/or top-tier conferences); prior mentoring and proposal contributions are desirable.
  
  

SALARY: Up to $4,583.34 Monthly ($55,000.08 Annually, Approximately)

Note

• This is a grant funded position. Continued employment contingent upon available funding.
• Employment may be impacted by the Presidential proclamation issued on September 19, 2025 and the moratorium issued by Texas Governor Abbott on January 27, 2026.
  
  

BENEFITS (rules, Policies, Eligibility Apply)

From our generousbenefits packageand professional development opportunities, to our retirement programs and our commitment to service excellence, the Island University is an engaging and rewarding place to work.

Insurance

• Medical
• $0 - $30 per month for Employee Only coverage after university contribution ($920 value).
• Up to 83% of premium covered by the university:
• Employee and Spouse
• Employee and Children
• Employee and Family coverage
• Dental & Vision
• Life Insurance, Accidental D&D, Long Term Disability, Flexible Spending Account and Day Care Spending Account
  

DUAL CAREER PARTNER PROGRAM

ON-CAMPUS WELLNESS OPPORTUNITIES

Work Life Solutions

• Counseling, Work Life Assistance, Financial Resources, and Legal Resources
  
  

Tuition Benefits

• Public Loan Forgiveness
• Book scholarships
• 100% tuition coverage for up to 18 credit hours per fiscal year (other rules may apply).
  
  

Retirement

• Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) or Optional Retirement Plan (ORP)
• Voluntary Tax Deferred Account/Deferred Compensation Plan
  
  

Time Off

• 8 hours of vacation paid time off every month.
• 8 hours of sick leave time off every month.
• 8 hours of paid time off for Birthday leave.
• 12-15 paid holidays each year.
  
  

All positions are security-sensitive. Applicants are subject to a criminal history investigation, and employment is contingent upon the institution's verification of credentials and/or other information required by the institution's procedures, including the completion of the criminal history check.

Equal Opportunity/Veterans/Disability Employer.