Job Description

Posting Details

Department

Genetics - 423501

Posting Open Date

10/16/2025

Application Deadline

Open Until Filled

Yes

Position Type

Postdoctoral Scholar

Position Title

Post-Doc Research Associate (Liu Lab)

Vacancy ID

PDS004680

Full-time/Part-time

Full-Time Temporary

Hours per week

40

FTE

1

Work Location

Chapel Hill, NC

Position Location

North Carolina, US

Hiring Range

$62,232 - $67,824 dependent on experience

Proposed Start Date

12/01/2025

Estimated Duration of Appointment

12 Months


Position Information

Be a Tar Heel!

A global higher education leader in innovative teaching, research and public service, the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

consistently ranks as

one of the nation's top public universities

and is among is the top ten research universities in the nation for federal research expenditures as well as for federally funded social and behavioral sciences research and development.
Here at Carolina, our highly skilled postdocs play a vital role in our research enterprise and towards our overall commitment to research excellence. Across many disciplines, postdocs contribute to the intellectual vitality of the University. They provide innovative ideas and perspectives, foster a stimulating research environment and advance knowledge within their fields. Postdocs are crucial members of our scientific research workforce, contributors to our research outputs and an important reason why Carolina is one of the leading public research institutions in the country.
UNC-Chapel Hill offers postdocs comprehensive

medical and vision coverage

, paid leave, and

benefits and services

that support professional development and a healthy work/life balance. Chapel Hill regularly ranks as one of the best college towns and best places to live in the United States, a reputation guided by the diverse social, cultural, recreation and professional opportunities that span the campus and community.

Primary Purpose of Organizational Unit

Our mission is to improve the health and well-being of North Carolinians and others whom we serve. We accomplish this by providing leadership and excellence in the interrelated areas of patient care, education and research.



Patient care: We promote health and provide superb clinical care while maintaining our strong tradition of reaching underserved populations and reducing health disparities across North Carolina and beyond.



Education: We prepare tomorrow`s healthcare professionals and biomedical researchers from all backgrounds by facilitating learning within innovative and integrated curricula and team-oriented interprofessional education to ensure a highly skilled workforce.



Research: We develop and support a rich array of outstanding health sciences research programs, centers and resources. We provide infrastructure and opportunities for collaboration among disciplines throughout and beyond our university to support outstanding research. We foster programs in the areas of basic, translational, mechanistic and population research.

Position Summary

The Liu Lab at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is seeking a highly motivated Postdoctoral Research Associate to investigate the evolutionary mechanisms that shape the pathogenicity and drug resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). This position will focus on identifying the genetic determinants that drive bacterial adaptation to the host environment and contribute to antimicrobial resistance and persistence during infection.



The successful candidate will leverage large-scale longitudinal clinical cohorts and bacterial isolate collections obtained through collaborations. The research will involve developing and applying novel population-genomic and statistical frameworks to detect non-canonical forms of natural selection, adaptive convergence, and bacterial traits associated with transmission, virulence, and treatment outcomes.



This position will require integration of multi-dimensional datasets including genomic, transcriptomic, phenotypic, and clinical metadata to elucidate how bacterial evolution influences disease progression and therapeutic response. The postdoc will have the opportunity to collaborate closely with computational biologists, microbiologists, and clinicians, and to contribute to the design of follow-up functional validation experiments.

Minimum Education and Experience Requirements

Ph.D. in microbiology, genetics, computational biology, or a related field.

Required Qualifications, Competencies, and Experience

Ph.D. or all but dissertation for Ph.D.

Preferred Qualifications, Competencies, and Experience

The ideal candidate will have a strong background in microbial genomics, evolutionary biology, bioinformatics, or computational biology, with an interest in translational applications that connect bacterial evolution to clinical impact. Experience in bacterial genomics or evolution is preferred.

Special Physical/Mental Requirements