Research Assistant Professor Jobs in Texas

Location: El Paso, TX
Category: Science
Job Type: Full-time
Posted On: Wed May 27 2026

Job Description:

The Department of Biological Sciences at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) invites applications for a non-tenure-track Research Assistant Professor in Behavioral Neuroscience. This position is one of four within a coordinated cluster hire - alongside colleagues in brain circuit imaging, machine learning and artificial intelligence, and research software engineering - that will expand a cross-college interdisciplinary team studying the brain circuits underlying craving, reward, and addiction. The successful candidate will anchor the behavioral component of an integrated research pipeline that links rat behavioral experiments to large-scale imaging datasets and atlas-based circuit mapping using the open-access brain atlas, Brain Maps 4.0, contributing to the development of an open-access digital atlas of brain reward circuits in the laboratory rat. The position also includes opportunities for teaching and research mentorship within the Brain Mapping & Connectomics (BM&C) undergraduate teaching laboratory, a course-based research experience that trains students in mesoscale brain mapping methods and feeds their curated datasets and analyses into the broader research pipeline.

Position Responsibilities

• Design and conduct rat behavioral experiments in models of substance use disorders (e.g., nicotine, alcohol, cocaine) and feeding disorders (e.g., binge-eating, sugar/fat overconsumption), with an emphasis on operant and appetitive conditioning paradigms
• Analyze behavioral data and characterize reward, craving, and impulsivity-related phenotypes
• Use Brain Maps 4.0 to register behaviorally defined recording, lesion, or stimulation sites to standardized rat-brain coordinates
• Generate behavioral and physiological datasets that feed downstream stages of the pipeline, and integrate behavioral readouts with large-scale imaging datasets generated by team members and the Imaging & Behavioral Neuroscience Core Facility
• Collaborate with cluster-hire colleagues in imaging, ML/AI, and software engineering on multi-modal data integration and atlas development
• Contribute to peer-reviewed publications, federal grant applications, and the open-access digital atlas of brain reward circuits
• Mentor graduate and undergraduate trainees to contribute their efforts to the research pipeline.

Job Requirements:

• Ph.D. in behavioral neuroscience, neuroscience, psychology, biomedical sciences, or a closely related field
• Demonstrated experience using Brain Maps 4.0 to register behavioral or other experimental data to standardized rat-brain coordinates
• Experience with rat stereotaxic surgery, intracranial implants, and/or neuroanatomical tract-tracing
• Hands-on experience conducting operant or appetitive conditioning experiments in rats (e.g., self-administration, intracranial self-stimulation, lever-pressing tasks, reinstatement, devaluation, or progressive-ratio schedules)
• Established record of in vivo experimental research in rats, evidenced by peer-reviewed publications or preprints
• Experience teaching mesoscale brain mapping to undergraduate students
• Demonstrated ability to work in interdisciplinary teams that integrate behavior with neural data

Preferred Qualifications

• Graduate or postdoctoral research experience in a behavioral neuroscience or addiction research laboratory
• Experience with calcium imaging in rat reward-circuit research (e.g., fiber photometry, miniscope, or two-photon)
• Experience with additional intracranial methods relevant to reward circuit research, such as microinfusion, chemogenetics, or in vivo electrophysiology and surgical methods such as vascular catheterization
• Experience integrating behavioral readouts with whole-brain or mesoscale imaging datasets
• Basic familiarity with quantitative or computational methods for behavioral data analysis (Python, MATLAB, or R), including AI/ML approaches where applicable
• Track record of independent grant submissions or co-authored funded proposals

Additional Information:

Appointment: Non-tenure-track Research Assistant Professor. Initial appointment is for 12 months, renewable contingent on performance and funding availability. The position can be renewed for a maximum of 3 years; renewal beyond 3 years will depend on the candidate's ability to secure extramural funding.

Salary: Commensurate with experience and qualifications. The salary includes excellent fringe benefits. Hiring decisions are based on budget approval.

In keeping with its access, excellence, and impact mission, The University of Texas at El Paso is committed to an open, diverse, and inclusive learning and working environment that honors the talents, respects the differences, and nurtures the growth and development of all. We seek to attract faculty and staff who share our commitment.

The University of Texas at El Paso is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or sexual orientation and gender in employment or the provision of services in accordance with state and federal law. Discrimination on the basis of sex includes an employee's or prospective employee's right to be free from sexual harassment under Title IX of the Higher Education Amendments of 1972. Inquiries - including the filing of a Formal Complaint or reporting an incident - about the application of Title IX may be referred to the Title IX Coordinator, who can be reached by phone at (915) 747-8358, by email at titleix@utep.edu, or by mail at 500 W. University Ave., El Paso, TX, Kelly Hall, Room 312.

For accommodation information for employees and applicants with disabilities, please contact UTEP's Equal Opportunity Office at eoaa@utep.edu.

To the extent that this position involves research, work, or access to critical infrastructure as referenced in Executive Order GA-48, being hired for and continuing to be employed in this position requires the ability to maintain the security or integrity of the infrastructure.