What are the responsibilities and job description for the Postdoctoral Associate, Sur Lab position at Massachusetts Institute of Technology?
Posting Description
POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATE, SUR LAB
, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory , to join the laboratory of Mriganka Sur , whose goal is to discover fundamental mechanisms of brain wiring and processing and how they go awry in disorders of brain development. The postdoctoral associate is responsible for conducting research to study the molecular mechanisms of Rett Syndrome. They will use human stem cells, combined molecular and microscopy technologies, to study the early mechanisms of Rett Syndrome and other neurodevelopmental disorders in vitro. Responsibilities include performing human pluripotent stem cell maintenance and differentiation into brain organoids and 2D cultures; identifying and validating molecular and cellular targets, working independently to generate and analyze data, and working with collaborating research groups and core facilities. Conducting this research involves planning and performing experiments, and collecting and analyzing data using quantitative techniques, which requires a unique background and combination of skills in biological methods.
The full job description is available, here: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:a2067ba8-1571-4339-9d85-24a99b2ca4e9
Job Requirements
REQUIRED : PhD in neuroscience, biological science, or related field; ability with iPSC/organoid culture, mouse models, microscopy (multiphoton imaging preferred), histology and immunohistochemistry as well as molecular techniques; demonstrated expertise in human iPSC culture; superior oral and written communication skills; and the ability to analyze data and present it in a format suitable for publication. PREFERRED : Research experience studying disease mechanisms and molecular signaling pathway in a neurological condition; computational expertise: experience analyzing calcium/voltage imaging data (Python, MATLAB) or transcriptomic data (R, Python, Seurat, or similar); genomic engineering: proficiency with CRISPR-based genome editing and isogenic model generation; and synthetic biology/molecular cloning: familiarity with molecular biology techniques for construct the plasmid and validation.
4/27/2026