17 Postdoctoral Fellowship at Cornell University, New York, United States

A postdoctoral researcher position is available in the Lammerding laboratory to investigate how mechanical stimuli and deformation of the cell nucleus modulate the expression of mechanoresponsive genes and chromatin organization through an NIH funded project. The research builds on previous discoveries in the Lammerding lab that found that nuclear envelope proteins play crucial roles in the ability of cells to respond to mechanical stimuli (Lammerding et al. J Clin Invest 2004; Ho et al. Nature 2013; Kalukula et al. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 2022) and that cell migration through confined spaces results in nuclear envelope rupture, DNA damage, and chromatin modification (Denais et al. Science 2016; Shah et al. Current Biol 2021; Hsia et al. iScience 2022). Additional research opportunities are available to investigate the biophysical mechanism by which cells move their large nucleus through tight spaces (see for example, Keys et al. J Cell Science 2024). The available research projects involved genomic and transcriptomic analyses, live cell imaging of cells expressing fluorescent reporters, and custom-developed devices to mimic physiological environments and mechanical stimulation.

The Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science at Cornell University invites applications for a postdoctoral research position. The applicant is expected to work primarily with Prof. Dongwoo Chung in the field of observational extragalactic astrophysics and cosmology.

The applicant will have the opportunity to pursue research projects in support of a range of cm- to mm-wave surveys at the forefront of line-intensity mapping, through the COMAP, TIME, and CCAT collaborations. The applicant will have some latitude for self-directed work, while spending a significant fraction of their time working on testing and validating analysis strategies for new data from the cutting-edge instruments operated by these collaborations. Applicants with prior experience with wide-field cm- to mm-wave surveys (line-intensity mapping or otherwise)—including in data analysis, simulations, and/or forecasting—are especially encouraged to apply.

We are looking for a Postdoctoral Associate to join our interdisciplinary, NSF-funded project on deterring objectionable speech online. The project is a joint collaboration between the Department of Communication, the Department of Information Science, and the Cornell Social Media Lab and is funded by the National Science Foundation. The full-time Postdoctoral Associate will participate in research on the effectiveness of real-world interventions to deter objectionable speech. Additionally, the Postdoctoral Associate will design field experiments that encourage users to take effective and pro-social action when they see speech, such as harassment, hate speech, or misinformation, that they find inappropriate or objectionable.

The Cornell University Action Research Collaborative (ARC) is seeking to hire a full-time research associate to work and manage on several projects across New York State. The mission of ARC is to develop and support equitable and sustainable research-practice-policy partnerships that can generate solutions to improve the lives of communities that are too often neglected. ARC approaches partnerships using multiple disciplinary perspectives and methodological approaches. Also, it is imperative that community partners are involved in all phases of projects (i.e., from study design to dissemination of findings). The overarching goal is for these projects to inform interventions and public policies that support the well-being of marginalized populations. The research associate will conduct and manage social scientific research projects on how structural, cultural, and political processes affect people’s experiences, as well as downstream outcomes in public policy and broader society. Applicants should have experience conducting quantitative or mixed-methods (quantitative and qualitative) social scientific research with multidisciplinary teams. The candidate will be expected to work on projects with faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate research assistants from multiple social scientific disciplines (e.g., nutrition, communications, psychology), as well as community and policy partners.

The overarching Rose Postdoctoral Program at the Cornell Lab is currently home to a vibrant community of several dozen postdoctoral associates working across all programs, and we strive to provide a supportive and collaborative environment for postdoctoral associates that fosters personal growth and career advancement.

Rose Postdoctoral Associates  are competitive fellowship awards that support innovative, independent research by early career scholars of exceptional promise. Rose Postdoctoral Associates pursue cutting-edge scholarship, while fostering intellectual interaction among Lab programs and experts from across the University. Any area of inquiry related to the Lab’s mission “to interpret and conserve the Earth’s biological diversity through research, education, and citizen science focused on birds and nature” is potentially appropriate. Activities involving research and/or outreach spanning several Lab programs are particularly encouraged, and some postdoctoral associates are co-mentored. Projects that foster links among people and units from across Cornell University and beyond are likewise welcome and encouraged. Potential applicants are encouraged to contact the most relevant faculty and staff at the Lab to brainstorm about areas of mutual interest and synergistic projects. We are especially interested in supporting the independent research of individuals who can bring new ideas, approaches, and connections to the Lab, while simultaneously leveraging our existing tools, data, and expertise in science, education, and communication.

This position entails field work and laboratory-based research examining forest nitrogen dynamics over winter, how these processes will change with warming winters and reduced snowpacks, and how they compare to summer conditions. The primary focus of this position is to lead a cross-season isotopic tracer (15N) study of plant, soil and microbial processes at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  This position is based on Cornell’s campus in Ithaca, NY, with travel to Hubbard Brook. The position includes field, laboratory, and quantitative analyses, as well as opportunities for written and oral presentations of project results.

The Agroecology Postdoctoral Associate will join and contribute to a vibrant community of scholars across Cornell University, including faculty, researchers, visiting fellows, and graduate students who combine interdisciplinary interests in the everyday experiences of agroecology, political ecology of food systems, and critical climate change adaptation with disciplinary skills and interests from development studies, to ecology, to crop and soil sciences and science and technology studies, among other disciplines.

The successful candidate will work closely with Professor Bezner Kerr to advance several ongoing projects related to agroecology and rural development in Malawi, as well as develop new research projects on transdisciplinary agroecology and climate change adaptation in Africa. The Postdoctoral Associate will be integrated into Professor Bezner Kerr’s lab group on food, agroecology, climate change adaptation and social justice, including mentorship of graduate and undergraduate students in research methods. They will meet regularly with students to discuss works in progress and other issues. Additionally, they will contribute to the Department of Global Development, the Institute of African Studies and Cornell more broadly by working on their own research and connecting to colleagues across the university. Depending on interests and feasibility, they may be able to teach and/or engage in off-campus fieldwork with Professor Bezner Kerr.

The research group of Dr. Ana Bento at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, seeks two skilled postdoctoral scholars to join our research team. Specializing in infectious disease eco-epidemiology and public health modeling, we study vaccine-preventable respiratory infections (e.g., SARS-CoV-2, influenza, pertussis) and climate sensitive expanding arboviral diseases (e.g., Dengue, Chikungunya, Oropouche, Zika).  Our research group is interested in the following topics: transmission dynamics of infectious diseases; impact of surveillance and public health interventions with an overarching goal of informing public health policy as well as local and regional capacity and outbreak preparedness; and one health approaches for anticipating viral emergence in hotspots of emerging infectious diseases. The successful candidate will combine mathematical models with classic and novel surveillance, serological and climate change data to examine the dynamics of infection and immunity for antigenically variable pathogens.

The Society for the Humanities at Cornell University invites applications for residential fellowships from scholars and artists whose projects reflect on the 2025-26 theme of Scale. Up to six fellows will be appointed. The fellowships are held for one year (August through July). Each Society Fellow will receive $62,000.

Fellows include scholars and practitioners from other universities and members of the Cornell faculty released from regular duties. Fellows at the Society for the Humanities are “residential,” and will collaborate with one another and the Taylor Family Director of the Society for the Humanities, Durba Ghosh, Professor of History. Fellows spend their time in research and writing during the residential fellowship, and are required to participate in a weekly Fellows Seminar work-shopping each other’s projects and discussing readings based on the yearly theme.

The nature of this fellowship year is social and communal—fellows forge connections outside the classroom and the lecture hall by sharing meals following the weekly seminar and attending post-lecture receptions and other casual events throughout the year. Fellows live and work in Ithaca, NY, and are expected to be in their offices on campus frequently. All applicants for Society Fellowships should share in this commitment to creating a supportive and intellectually stimulating community.

The Postdoctoral Associate will conduct research in the lab of Ping Wang (https://blogs.cornell.edu/wang/) to understand the molecular genetics of insect resistance to insecticidal toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). Specifically, the Postdoctoral Associate will use biochemical and molecular approaches and genomic and proteomic technologies to map and identify genes involved in Bt toxin resistance in the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni. When new resistance genes are identified, the postdoc will functionally confirm the mutation by gene editing and study the biological functions of the genes. The Postdoctoral Associate will have ample opportunities to improve and enhance research skills and knowledge, and to develop expertise in areas of Bt resistance and insect molecular genetics research, while contributing to the current research projects in the Wang Lab. 

Migratory birds are important indicators of ecosystem health that connect peoples and places in ways few phenomena can. To understand and monitor migratory birds, their numbers, and their responses to global change, data and methods are urgently needed that can capture their movements at population scales. BirdFlow is an innovative, NSF-funded project that uses the Cornell Lab’s eBird database to infer the movements of migratory birds across the annual cycle. The Postdoctoral Associate will lead research that utilizes BirdFlow models to expand our knowledge of bird movements, including studying migratory connectivity and its associations with population trends, investigating species’ resilience to climate change and environmental fluctuations, and exploring BirdFlow models for providing real-time information on species’ movements in the context of the BirdCast public website. The postdoc will also work on integrating additional data sources, such as BirdCast radar data, individual tracking data and banding data, to improve and validate BirdFlow models. With the BirdFlow team, the postdoc will have an opportunity to contribute to products and software that will be released for scientists, conservation practitioners, industry, and the public to explore and investigate the phenomenon of avian migration. Specific research topics include:

• Calibrate, validate and apply BirdFlow models to investigate key open questions in migration biology, including the estimation of migratory connectivity for large numbers of species and its relationship with migrant population trends.
• Explore the usefulness of BirdFlow in providing near real-time information on migratory movements in the context of the BirdCast project (www.birdcast.info), including a comparison with radar-based estimates of migration.
• Develop and validate BirdFlow models that incorporate multiple data modalities (e.g. citizen science, radar, tracking, and banding) to estimate large-scale movements of migratory birds.

We seek a scholar with a PhD in History who is also grounded in theoretical and methodological public history approaches, in particular Museum Studies, Historic Preservation, or digital history. This position will involve developing new directions in public history teaching and research, and joining an interdisciplinary group of scholars and students whose projects focus on historic sites, digital media, museums, libraries, archives, and/or local communities. Geographic area and historical era open, but we prefer candidates who focus on climate or energy history, African American women’s history, or LGBTQ+ history in the Americas.

The Postdoctoral Associate will conduct research on protein engineering, including bioconjugation chemistry, protein/enzyme engineering, expression, purification, and characterization to perform in human health, food, and agriculture applications.  The Postdoctoral Associate will utilize techniques such as: computational and experimental rational design, plasmid construction, analysis of Sanger and Whole Genome sequence data, transformation of vectors into expression systems, Western blot and other characterization methods of engineered proteins.  Projects include developing methods to genetically engineer bacteriophages and study their proteins and host interactions. The scientist will also design methods to immobilize enzymes and characterize their performance under conditions of intended use.  The scientist is also expected to write manuscripts for publications which detail the findings of the research. The Postdoctoral Associate will be expected to perform in a high-paced, creative, inclusive, and team-oriented research environment.

We are seeking a Postdoctoral Associate to join our project team using a model-experiment (ModEx) approach to explore the exciting prospect that significant dormant-season plant nitrogen (N) uptake occurs in northern forests. The postdoc will work with our project team to interpret and model field measurements of 15N tracer studies of cold-season N uptake at two experimental sites and explore the significance of cold-season uptake in altering the coupled carbon-nitrogen (C-N) cycle under a future climate.

Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Associate with a focus on educational assessment to help guide a Cornell initiative focused on innovation in the assessment of student learning at the course level. The Postdoctoral Associate will (i) work with the Faculty Director of the Active Learning Initiative to coordinate assessment analysis and research; (ii) help organize and convene the Working Group on Innovation in Assessment, an effort to support research, experimentation with, and adoption of new practices in undergraduate student assessment; (iii) offer assessment research expertise and work with participating faculty to help facilitate experiments in assessment practices that are rooted in the research literature; (iv) compile and evaluate the results of the working group’s efforts to share with the Cornell community; and (v) lead and contribute to research publications coming out of the initiative.