Postdoctoral Scholar

Postdoctoral Scholar

To be considered for this position, all applicants must apply through People Admin and attach their CV or resume, cover letter, and names and contact information of 3 references. Appointments are typically for a one-year period. Five years (typically five appointments of one year) is typically the maximum total period that any individual may serve as a Scholar. The University, in its sole discretion, has the option to renew or extend any appointment, subject to the availability of funds, past performance evaluations, and/or any other lawful reasons.

Job Title
- Postdoctoral Scholar

Position Number - PDS-MCBI-02-26

Vacancy Open to
- All Candidates

Department - EHH BSOM Microbiology and Immunology

Department Homepage - (Use the "Apply for this Job" box below)./

Advertising Department - MICROBIOLOGY & IMMUNOLOGY

Division - ECU Health/BSOM

Classification Title
- Postdoctoral Scholar

Working Title
- Postdoctoral Scholar

Number of Vacancies - 2

Full Time Equivalent (FTE) - 1.0

Full Time or Part Time
- Full Time

Anticipated Recruitment Range. Salary offered may be outside of this range as impacted by budget, UNC salary administration, and/or candidate qualifications.

- $62,232

Position Type
- Postdoctoral Scholars

Position Location (City) - Greenville

Job Category
- Postdoctoral Scholars

Be a Pirate! East Carolina University (ECU) is consistently ranked among the nation's top public universities for its commitment to research, innovation, social mobility, and public service. Classified as a R1 institution by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education, ECU is among the top 5% of research universities in the United States, an elite designation reflecting the highest levels of research activity, funding, and doctoral output.

Founded in 1907, ECU is a public, four-year university located in Greenville, N.C., which is widely regarded as the cultural, educational, economic, and medical hub of eastern North Carolina. Through education, research, healthcare, community engagement, athletics, cultural enrichment, and service, ECU enhances the quality of life for its students, the state and communities around the world. It is a great place to work, teach, and learn.

ECU's commitment to impactful scholarship is further demonstrated through its repeated Carnegie Community Engagement Classification (2010, 2015, 2024), as well as its 2024 designation as a Carnegie Leadership for Public Purpose institution. These distinctions recognize the university's leadership in translating research into meaningful community partnerships and measurable societal benefits. The university supports its workforce through a wide range of professional development opportunities designed to foster career growth and skill advancement.

Eligible employees also benefit from a comprehensive benefits package that promotes a healthy work-life balance.

Primary Purpose of Organizational Unit
- The Department of Microbiology and Immunology is a distinguished research and teaching facility of East Carolina University School of Medicine, consisting of approximately 50 people. This department provides an academic base for teacher-scientists employed by the School of Medicine at East Carolina University in the disciplines of microbiology, immunology, molecular biology, and other related disciplines. The department provides instruction to medical students and dental students, and provides instruction, guidance, and research experience to Ph.D. and M.S. students seeking degrees in microbiology and immunology.

The department also offers a postdoctoral research training program. The department supports an array of faculty-directed research programs, many of which are supported by extramural grants and/or contracts. The department provides service to the school, university, state, nation, and to the profession through the activities of faculty members on committees, study sections, in professional organizations, as consultants, and through other activities.

Primary Purpose of Position
- The postdoctoral scholar will lead independent and collaborative research focused on the biology of spirochetes. Using Borrelia burgdorferi and Leptospira species as model organisms, the researcher will investigate the structure–function relationships of periplasmic flagella, mechanisms of gene regulation, the cyclic-di-GMP signaling pathway, and factors contributing to bacterial virulence.

Duties include:

hypothesis and protocol development, literature review, collection of pilot data, report writing, supervision of undergraduate and graduate students, and new laboratory staff, review of data for quality control, supervision of data entry/data analysis, analysis of research hypothesis using descriptive and multivariate statistics, and the development of independent and collaborative presentations and publications. Scholars are expected to demonstrate compliance with established guidelines and regulatory standards for research, including biosafety, responsible conduct of research, and human…