Teaching Lab Scientific Coordinator - Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisboa, Portugal

Lisbon, October 22, 2015

OPEN POSITION – TEACHING LAB SCIENTIFIC COORDINATOR

We are seeking applicants for one full-time position as scientific coordinator of the teaching lab of the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme (CNP). The  teaching  lab  scientific  coordinator   (TLSC) will  be  responsible  for optimizing, maintaining and running the operation of the technical equipment in the CNP teaching lab, and to use it to have a leading role in teaching- through-experimentation    in    the    International    Neuroscience    Doctoral Programme  (INDP),   summer  courses,   and  other   educational   activities organized by the CNP.

Successful candidates should have a strong experimental background and be familiar with  standard  techniques  and methodologies  used in modern neuroscience.  Candidates  should  also  have a  strong  interest  in  science education, and will be expected to work closely with course instructors and students  in  the  development  of  experiments  and  in  the  analysis of  the corresponding data as a means of revealing principles of brain function.

Job Specifications: The TLSC is expected to:

• Actively   collaborate   with   CNP   faculty   and   other   course organizers   in   the   design   of   experimental   setups    and experiments that best achieve specific goals.
• Optimize and  maintain in functioning  conditions  a variety  of experimental set-ups from the teaching lab.
• Mentor  students  on  the  use  of  the  different   experimental techniques.
• Be able to discuss with students how to evaluate and interpret scientific data in the context of specific hypothesis.
• Work  closely  with  administrative  personnel  of  the  CNP  and providers to maintain the teaching lab properly equipped  with parts and materials.
• Be able to troubleshoot problems, modify and adapt plans  to changing conditions,  and find solutions in a volatile  scientific environment.

• Be able to work with others and have fruitful interactions with other course organizers and with students.
• Be willing and eager to learn new skills as necessary for  all teaching activities.

Experience:  Applicants  should  be  familiar  with  the  basic  structure  and functional relationships of the nervous system. A PhD is not required, but candidates  should  have  at  least  3  years  of  research  experience  at  the graduate level. Successful applicants should have experience in at least 3 of the  following   methodologies,   and  are  expected   to   gradually  become proficient in most of them through interaction with members of technological platforms and researchers at the CNP.

• Familiarity with  computer  software  and  hardware  (interaction and  control  of  a  diversity  of  sensors  and   actuators  with computers).
• Image/video analysis.
• Microscopy: Optical, Confocal, Two-photon.
• Intra-cellular and extra-cellular electrophysiology and pharmacology.
• Molecular and genetic tools: PCR, cloning, basic biochemistry, basic bioinformatics.

• Experience with  animal behavior. Design of  behavioral  tasks and psychophysics.
• Quantitative methods for the analysis of scientific data.
• Programming in Matlab/Python.

Science and education at the CNP: The CNP currently consists of over 180 researchers, working in 17 independent research groups and a number of central technical facilities. The scientific mission of the CNP is to establish links between neural activity and behavior, with an emphasis on genetically- tractable model organisms. The CNP organizes an international PhD program (INDP) and several summer courses as a FENS-IBRO training center.

Teaching  lab.  An  integral  part  of  the  CNP’s  educational  initiative  is  its Teaching lab, spanning more than 150 m2. The Teaching Laboratory is a fully equipped  (benches, fume  hoods,  sinks,  etc.),  open  lab  space  for  20-30 students  that  can be dynamically  reconfigured  to  support  a full range of neuroscience  courses.  It  also  overlooks,  via  floor  to  ceiling  windows,  a tropical garden and the river. The experimental spaces include an Imaging Lab (a dark-room  containing a full size optical table is used for advanced imaging set-ups (two-photon  microscopy,  SPIM, etc.) and custom (course- designed)   optical   systems),   a   Wet   Lab   (standard   components   and infrastructure for molecular biology and genetics are available and the lab space is easily reconfigurable to support > 6 independent “wet-benches”), and an Electronics & Rapid-Prototyping Lab (dedicated benches and the tools required to design and construct novel experiment equipment: electronics workstations, 3-D printer, Laser cutter, and small parts library).