Postdoctoral Researcher – Neurobiology | Lu Lab @ UIUC

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We are seeking a motivated and creative postdoctoral researcher with a background in circuit neuroscience or systems neuroscience to join our team. This is an exciting opportunity for neuroscientists with expertise in functional circuit manipulation and imaging who want to expand their skill set into advanced connectomic platforms to understand synapse-level neuronal connectivity across different brain regions or resolve circuit mechanisms in neurological/neuropsychiatric disorders.

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Responsibilities​

• Apply multimodal connectomic platforms to acquire connectomic volumes from selected brain regions.

• Analyze single-cell transcriptomic datasets for choosing cell-type markers.

• Collaborate with a computational team to curate multimodal datasets, proofread cell autosegmentation, extract circuit maps, and perform quantitative connectivity analysis.

• Lead in vivo animal validation experiments: design and execute studies in behaving mice to validate or functionally perturb circuits using optogenetics, chemogenetics, or viral tracing.

• Contribute to grant reporting, manuscript preparation, and presentation of findings at scientific conferences.

• Mentor and support graduate and undergraduate students in experimental techniques and scientific reasoning.

Qualifications​

• Ph.D. in neuroscience, bioengineering, or a closely related field

• Hands-on expertise with molecular circuit tools (e.g., viral strategies, optogenetics, chemogenetics/DREADDs)

• Expertise in mouse stereotactic surgery and intracranial injection

• Demonstrated experience with behavioral paradigms

• Experience with fluorescence microscopy or other advanced imaging modalities (prior EM experience is not required)

• Strong track record of scientific productivity (peer-reviewed publications)

   •  Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present complex data clearly to interdisciplinary audiences

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About the Lu Lab

The Lu Lab operates at the interface of chemistry and neuroscience, developing innovative biochemical tools, advanced microscopy techniques, and computational methods to map and analyze brain circuits in both health and disease. A core focus is on integrating molecular information — including the extraordinary diversity of neuronal proteins and disease-related biomarkers — with connectomic imaging, to build a comprehensive understanding of how brain circuits function and how they are disrupted in neuropsychiatric conditions. The lab is affiliated with UIUC's Department of Chemistry, Beckman Institute, and Neuroscience Program, and offers a uniquely cross-disciplinary training environment.

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About UIUC

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is one of the nation's premier public research universities — ranked among the top 50 globally by Times Higher Education. The Department of Chemistry has been a particularly fertile ground for scientific breakthroughs. It counts 12 Nobel Prize winners among its graduates, postdocs, and faculty — a legacy that spans disciplines and decades. Notable laureates with deep ties to the chemistry department include Paul Lauterbur, whose UIUC research on nuclear magnetic resonance contributed to the MRI technology that earned him the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2003; E.J. Corey, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1990 for his development of the theory and methodology of organic synthesis during his time on the Illinois faculty; and most recently, Omar Yaghi (Ph.D. '90), awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of metal-organic frameworks. UIUC is also home to the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, one of the country's foremost interdisciplinary research institutes, fostering collaboration across engineering, biology, neuroscience, and the physical sciences.