Join Saunders Lab

The University of Minnesota Minneapolis campus sits just across the Mississippi River from downtown Minneapolis. The lab is adjacent to a slew of campus amenities, as well as bike paths and public transportation for access to the rest of the Twin Cities.

We are looking for enthusiastic scientists to join the team! Please see below for details and send inquiries to bts@umn.edu.

Research Technicians

Potential technician candidates must have a bachelor's degree in neuroscience, psychology, or related life sciences field. Previous research experience is required. Strong communication and organizational skills and the ability to work unsupervised and interact effectively with all lab members are important characteristics. A keen eye for detail and flexibility is also expected. Previous neuroscience-related research experience is required. Previous experience with rodent behavioral neuroscience research is preferred, but not required. Technicians are responsible for basic lab management and organizational tasks, such as maintaining lab order and cleanliness, ordering supplies, and maintaining equipment, supervise animal breeding colonies, analyze behavioral and neural data, and generally engage with other lab members about research. With experience, research technicians also assist in training of new lab members. Research technicians will also run independent experiments and be involved directly in the process of seeing a research project through to publication.

This position is ideal for someone looking for additional research training experience before moving on to graduate school. We will give you training in technical research skills and experimental design and analysis, as well as leadership and mentorship opportunities to help you achieve your goals. Given the extensive training involved, a ~2 year commitment is expected.

Postdoctoral Fellows

Potential candidates must have (or will have by time of start) a PhD in neuroscience, psychology, biomedical engineering, or related field. Applicants should have a strong record of graduate research, including first-author publications in neuroscience and/or behavioral science journals. We are especially interested in candidates with research expertise in either rodent behavioral procedures of motivation and addiction-related questions, and/or neural circuit techniques (opto/chemogenetics, viral-based anatomy, calcium imaging, etc) in general. Experience with programming in MATLAB, Python, or R is also highly desirable.

Post docs in the lab will work within the lab's research domain, but ideally they will lead projects that are driven by their own research backgrounds, and have the opportunity to mentor and oversee others in the lab in the process. We will work together to design projects that allow post docs to acquire and extend the skills necessary for moving on in the career path of their interest.

Those interested should contact bts@umn.edu with a CV, a 1-2 page statement on your research experience and plans for postdoctoral research as you see them fitting in with the lab, and the contact information of 3 people who can provide a detailed reference letter.

Graduate Students

Saunders Lab is currently accepting rotation students from the University of Minnesota Graduate Program in Neuroscience. Potential students should contact Dr. Saunders at bts@umn.edu. If you are applying to graduate school right now and are interested in the lab, please get in touch!

For first-year/new GPN students, please reach out to Dr. Saunders directly to inquire about rotation opportunities a few months before the rotation start date. This is important for ensure a rotation slot is available, as well as for planning a rotation project.

Undergraduate Students

Undergraduate students interested in the lab should email bts@umn.edu to inquire about openings. Please send your CV, a brief statement about your research experience and interests, and details on your daily/weekly availability to work in the lab.