Noblis Applied Science Lab Intern Recruitment, Applications Invited

Noblis’ life sciences and bioinformatics practice is focused on advancing infectious disease science, synthetic biology research, and molecular biology signatures and detection methods for the national security and public health domains. In this internship, the candidate will be fully emersed with team research professionals and will gain hands-on experience working in and maintaining a biosafety level 2 laboratory.

This role has two aspects. One is to serve as a lab technician providing hands-on laboratory activities to assist principal investigators (PIs) in completing their experiments. The diversity of research projects provides an excellent opportunity to gain hands-on experience in basic microbiology, molecular biology, tissue culture, next-generation sequencing and potentially 3D printing. The candidate will be provided all the necessary safety and techniques training to work independently in the lab. The second aspect of this role is to provide management activities to ensure the safe, efficient, and effective operation of the biosafety level (BSL 2) lab. The candidate will work with the Biosafety Officer to ensure compliance of the lab with all safety requirements. Maintaining consumables and reagents inventories is a key requirement of this role to ensure operations proceed without interruption. Training and mentorship on the processes will be provided. When the candidate has reached proficiency, this aspect of the work may be completed remotely.

This position requires at least 20 hours per week in-person. Experience with laboratory work, research techniques and relevant instruments from laboratory courses or work experience is necessary. Proficiency with the Microsoft office suite, in particular Excel, is also required. The ideal candidate is motivated, responsible, dependable, detail-oriented, has a positive attitude and a passion for applied research.

Responsibilities:

• Lab technician responsibilities:
  • Basic microbiology and molecular biology lab work
  • Basic tissue culturing
  • 3D printing
  • Next-generation sequencing
  • Provide hands on assistance for virtual and live lab demonstrations as needed
  • Manage waste – autoclaving, coordinating waste pickup

• Lab management
  • Tracking, stocking, ordering general consumables (e.g., tips, tubes, gloves, common reagents, etc.)
  • Track and communicate equipment maintenance needs, certifications and replacement schedule
  • Pick up received shipments, communicate arrivals and storage location
  • Track chemical inventory, manage MSDS log
  • Biosafety Office support – maintain Biosafety and Bioethics Committee calendar of activities, track due outs, assist in biosafety and chem safety monitoring, and SOP drafting
  • Maintain a lab work and tour/demo schedule to minimize conflicts and maximize lab availability to all stakeholders

Required

• Qualified candidate must be enrolled in a degree program in Biology or a related field and have a minimum of 1 year of relevant hands-on laboratory experience.
• Mastery of aseptic technique
• Experience with basic streak plating and broth culture or mammalian cell culture.
• Experience with preparation, purification, quantitation of DNA and RNA.
• Experience with gel electrophoresis, DNA amplification or polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
• Extremely organized and able to efficiently manage time and workflow, including skillfully prioritizing both long-term projects and day-to-day responsibilities.
• Team player with demonstrated experience working successfully on diverse teams.
• Ability to work independently upon demonstrating proficiency with techniques.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.
• U.S. Citizen

Preferred:

• Graduate-level coursework and lab experience are preferred.
• Experience with next-generation sequencing (e.g., Illumina, Pacific Biosciences, Oxford Nanopore Technologies).
• Experience with molecular cloning techniques.
• Experience with protein purification, detection, quantitation, and analysis.
• Experience in programming languages, e.g., Python and R.
• Experience using standard bioinformatics tools for microbial and viral -omics.