Research Assistant Professor - Behavioral Neuroscience

Research Assistant Professor - Behavioral Neuroscience Category: Science Subscribe: New Job Alerts RSS Job Feed Department: Biological Sciences Locations: El Paso, TX Posted: May 27, 2026 Closes: Open Until Filled Type: Full-time Ref. No.: RREP-26-018 Position ID: 200929 Share About The University of Texas at El Paso: The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a Carnegie R1, equal opportunity, and community engaged university at the heart of the U.S.-Mexico border region that is increasing access to excellent higher education. We advance discovery of public value and positively impact the health, culture, education and economy of the community we serve. UTEP enrolls more than 25,000 students, 85% of whom are Hispanic and half of whom are the first in their families to attend college. UTEP offers 171 bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs at the only open-access, top-tier research university in America. Located at the westernmost tip of Texas, El Paso is set against the backdrop of the Franklin Mountains and the Chihuahuan Desert in one of the largest binational communities in the world. A family-oriented community that is one of the safest large cities in the U.S., the cost of living in El Paso is very reasonable with an average home value of $224,000 in 2025, and Texas has no income tax. The region's rich culture includes a vibrant street art and mural scene, art galleries, a new children's museum and science center, the state's longest-running symphony orchestra and a full schedule of seasonal events and festivals. Sports fans will enjoy Division I college athletics, Triple-A baseball affiliate the El Paso Chihuahuas and professional soccer team El Paso Locomotive FC, and outdoor enthusiasts will be drawn to year-round hiking, mountain biking and rock climbing in nearby state and national parks. About the Department of Biological Sciences The Department of Biological Sciences offers two Ph.D. tracks (Bioscience and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) and has over 100 graduate students and over 2,000 undergraduate majors, including over 150 neuroscience majors. Biological sciences faculty maintain strong collaborative and programmatic ties with several other departments, including Psychology, Pharmacy, Physics, Chemistry, and Computer Science. The department hosts a vibrant neuroscience research community studying the neural circuitry of craving, reward, and addiction, with active programs in rat models of substance-use and feeding-related disorders, operant and appetitive conditioning, and intracranial methods for probing reward circuits. The cluster hire described in this announcement extends these strengths into an integrated research program on the neural circuitry of craving, reward, and addiction. This position anchors the start of the pipeline: rat drug- and food-reward trials, designed and conducted with cluster co-PIs in Biology, Psychology, and Pharmacy, generate the behavioral data and brain samples that feed downstream imaging, atlas mapping, and ML/AI work. The NIH-funded Imaging & Behavioral Neuroscience (IBN) Core Facility supports both ends of the pipeline - rat behavioral testing facilities alongside whole-brain light-sheet 3-D microscopy at the microcircuit level. UTEP's Border Biomedical Research Center (BBRC) is a strategic institutional partner and operates its own imaging core; shared campus high-performance computing resources support the cluster's pipeline-wide data integration and analysis. The work is supported by multiple active federal awards. 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. 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 will depend on the candidate's qualifications and experience and 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 ..., by email at ... , 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 ... . 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. Application Instructions: A complete application includes: Cover letter describing research interests, relevant experience, and fit with the position Curriculum vitae Statement of research (maximum of 2 pages) Names and contact information for three professional references Up to three representative publications, preprints, or software/data artifacts Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Questions about the position may be directed to the search committee chair, Dr. Arshad M. Khan ( ... ). Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Powered by