Cryo-FIB Research Specialist

Primary Work Address: 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, VA, 20147

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus is apioneering research center in Ashburn, Virginia, where scientists pursue fundamental questions in the life sciences. Our integrated teams of biologists, computational scientists, and tool-builders innovate research practices and technologies to solve biology’sdeepest mysteries. HHMI launched Janelia in 2006, establishing an intellectually enriching environment for scientists to do creative,collaborative, hands-on work. We share our methods, results, andtools with the scientific community.

This is a role for someone who wants to spend their days at the controls of some of the most advanced microscopes in the world,doing the same careful prep and imaging work reliably, day afterday, and building something new when the situation calls forit.

The cryoEM Shared Resource at Janelia Research Campus supportscryo-electron microscopy research for the entire HHMI community,not just the scientists on campus. The facility runs four Titan Krios microscopes, two cryo-FIB/SEM systems (an Aquilos2 and aHelios Hydra), cryo light microscopes, and the equipment needed toprepare cryo-EM grids. It is one of the busiest, most technicallydemanding resources HHMI operates.

You will focus on cryo-FIB/SEM, cryo-light microscopy and CLEM, and advanced cryo-EM sample preparation. Most of your time goes toroutine operation: preparing samples, milling with the FIB,imaging, and collecting data for facility users and collaborators. When an existing protocol does not cover what a project needs, youwill help build or adapt one. You will also keep up with the literature and emerging technologies in the field and bring backideas that could make the facility better, and you will train otherscientists in techniques you have already mastered.

You will work closely with facility staff and with research groups from across the country, some of whom you will never meet inperson. Part of the job is translating what a researcher needs intoa concrete imaging or sample-prep plan, and telling them plainlywhen something is not going to work.

• Run sample preparation, cryo-FIB milling, and imaging for facility users and collaborative projects, day in and day out. Thisroutine operation and data collection is the core of the job.
• Operate, maintain, and configure the cryo-FIB/SEM systems, cryolight microscopes, and sample-prep equipment.
• Collect and organize imaging and experimental data, and keep accurate daily records of instrument use and equipment performance.
• Judge whether an image, a milled sample, or a prep run is goodenough to use, and know what to change when it is not.
• Troubleshoot problems across hardware, software, and technique,working through SOPs and literature before pulling in a vendor orcolleague.
• Consult with researchers on experimental design and samplestrategy, and guide them on what is feasible and realistic
• When an existing protocol doesn't cover what a project needs,build or adapt one, from sample prep through, FIB milling, imaging and data correlation.
• Review the scientific literature and new technologies, and bringback and implement ideas that could improve the facility's methods and capabilities.
• Train users and staff on cryo-FIB, cryo-CLEM, and sample prepworkflows, including hands-on demonstration.
• Help plan facility capabilities, order supplies, and scheduleinstrument time.

• Hands-on with cryo already. You've pre prepared samples, milled, or imaged on a cryo-FIB/SEM or cryo-EMsystem before. This is not a role to learn the fundamentals from scratch.
• A steady hand with expensive machines. You can operate,troubleshoot, and get real performance out of instruments like…