Research Associate II, Hsu Lab

About Arc Institute

The Arc Institute is a new scientific institution that conducts curiosity-driven basic science and technology development to understand and treat complex human diseases. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Arc is an independent research organization founded on the belief that many important research programs will be enabled by new institutional models. Arc operates in partnership with Stanford University, UCSF, and UC Berkeley.

While the prevailing university research model has yielded many tremendous successes, we believe in the importance of institutional experimentation as a way to make progress. These include :

Funding : Arc will fully fund Core Investigator's (PI's) research groups, liberating scientists from the typical constraints of project-based external grants.

• Technology : Biomedical research has become increasingly dependent on complex tooling. Arc Technology Centers develop, optimize and deploy rapidly advancing experimental and computational technologies in collaboration with Core Investigators.
• Support : Arc aims to provide first-class support—operationally, financially and scientifically—that will enable scientists to pursue long-term high risk, high reward research that can meaningfully advance progress in disease cures, including neurodegeneration, cancer, and immune dysfunction.
• Culture : We believe that culture matters enormously in science and that excellence is difficult to sustain. We aim to create a culture that is focused on scientific curiosity, a deep commitment to truth, broad ambition, and selfless collaboration.

Arc has scaled to nearly 300 people. With $650M+ in committed funding and a state of the art new lab facility in Palo Alto, Arc will continue to grow quickly in the coming years.

About the position

We are seeking a Research Associate II to join the Hsu Laboratory at the Arc Institute. In this position, you will contribute to developing the next generation of platform technologies for genome engineering and biological programming, and gain expertise in molecular biology, protein engineering, and technology development.

You will have the opportunity to work with world-leading scientists in relevant fields, including CRISPR technologies, computational biology, machine learning, and single-cell genomics. This position offers a unique chance for a highly motivated and curious researcher to develop cutting-edge molecular technologies. Some of the relevant projects extend from our recent work in systematically characterizing new enzyme families for genome design and editing, including programmable bridge recombinases (Nature 2024) and large serine recombinases, (Nature Biotechnology 2022) as well as AI guided protein design (Science 2024).

This is a great stepping stone for candidates looking to enroll in a top PhD program in the future, as you will be involved in designing projects from the ground up and co-authoring papers (past RAs in the lab have been admitted for PhD studies at Harvard, UC Berkeley, UCSF, Stanford, MIT, etc.). The ideal candidate must have a strong background in molecular biology and will learn to apply their skills to building novel molecular technologies.

About you

You love science and learning. Whether it's gaining knowledge in new fields of scientific research or learning a new lab technique, you never stop being curious and routinely enjoy stepping out of your comfort zone to learn new things.

In this position, you will

Contribute to the discovery, development, and engineering of bridge recombinase systems.

Requirements

BS / MS or equivalent professional experience in cell & molecular biology, biochemistry or bioengineering

Extensive experience with standard molecular biology techniques, including cloning, PCR, qPCR, NGS library preparation, and nanopore sequencing

Experience with primary cells or iPSCs is a plus

The base salary for this position is $75,900. This amount does not include benefits or other forms of compensation.

J-18808-Ljbffr