Join Our Team
The Plant Resilience Institute, or PRI, at Michigan State University (MSU) is growing and seeks talented individuals across research, administration, and more! Visit the active postings linked below to apply, and check back often for new opportunities. All PRI openings can be found at careers.msu.edu.
New and prospective PRI members should review the PRI onboarding packet. This PDF file contains helpful information for new trainees about PRI's research and labs, events, resources, and more.
Open Positions
Project Administrator
SYNCORNET project: The Topp lab at MSU is seeking a highly motivated, organized, and proactive project manager to support the successful execution of SYNCORNET, a large-scale, multi-institutional research project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy ARPA-E. The SYNCORNET project brings together a multidisciplinary team across multiple U.S. institutions to develop plant genetic and biological solutions that synchronize nitrogen supply and demand in corn agriculture, reduce synthetic nitrogen inputs, and lower greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining yield. The project manager will play a central role in coordinating scientific, administrative, and reporting activities across partner institutions, ensuring that project milestones, budgets, and compliance requirements are met over the four-year project period.
Postdoctoral Scholar-Fixed Term
Topp lab: The Topp lab is recruiting multiple postdoctoral researchers across complementary areas of root biology, phenomics, and translational crop science. The lab's mission is to enhance sustainable crop production and ecosystem services through the rational design and deployment of more efficient root systems. The lab integrates high-throughput phenotyping, advanced imaging, quantitative genetics, gene editing, and large-scale field experimentation to connect root system architecture to whole-plant performance and ecosystem outcomes. There are open postdoctoral positions in the following research tracks:
Molecular and Genetic Mechanisms of Root System Architecture: Focuses on identifying and functionally characterizing genes that regulate root development and plant–environment interactions
Computational, Quantitative, and Predictive Modeling of Root Systems: Emphasizes integration of phenomics and other -omics data into predictive frameworks
Field Translation and Agroecosystem Function: Focuses on scaling mechanistic discoveries to field performance and ecosystem outcomes
Rhee lab: The Rhee lab seeks to recruit a highly motivated and skilled postdoctoral researcher to investigate how nematodes respond to chemical and environmental cues, with the goal of advancing plant resilience through improved understanding of plant-nematode interactions and stress tolerance mechanisms. This position supports two research initiatives: the Center for Sustainable Plant Innovation and Resilience through International Teamwork (C-SPIRIT) and the Water and Life Interface Institute (WALII). In collaboration with researchers from C-SPIRIT, the successful candidate will investigate the effects of plant-derived compounds on nematode physiology, behavior, and survival, with the goal of discovering natural products that protect crops from parasitic nematodes such as root-knot nematodes. A second focus will be on understanding the molecular mechanisms of desiccation tolerance in the model nematode C. elegans, particularly in the dauer stage, in partnership with WALII.
Research Assistant
Rhee lab: Dr. Sue Rhee is looking for a talented and enthusiastic research assistant III to join the Rhee lab, which combines computational and experimental approaches to reveal molecular mechanisms underlying adaptive strategies in plants. The successful candidate will support collaborative projects related to molecular and cell biology and collaborative, international, and transdisciplinary projects, in addition to carrying out lab management and supervisory duties. Please note this posting will close April 21 but may reopen in late April or early May. If the application is closed, interested candidates may email Dr. Rhee to request more information.
Equal Opportunity Statement
In compliance with the law, Michigan State University is an equal opportunity employer. University programs, activities, services and facilities are provided without regard for a persons age, color, gender (including gender identity and gender expression), genetic information, disability status, ethnicity, height, marital status, national origin, political persuasion, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation), military or veteran status, or weight, or any other status protected by applicable federal or state law. In carrying out this commitment, the university is guided by the applicable federal and state laws and regulations and policies adopted by the Board of Trustees.
The Office for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion oversees MSU’s affirmative action and equal employment opportunity compliance with respect to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
For information about applicable laws and university policy, please see the Michigan State University Notice of Non-Discrimination, Anti-Harassment and Non-Retaliation.
Why MSU?
Michigan State University is a member of the Association of American Universities and is listed among the 100 most distinguished research universities in the world. With over $750 million dollars in research expenditures annually, MSU is a Top 50 research university nationally. Nearly 1,900 tenure stream faculty and 17 degree-granting colleges including Engineering, Natural Science, Agriculture, three Colleges of Medicine (Human, Osteopathic, and Veterinary), Education, Humanities, Social Science, and the MSU/Department of Energy Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, create diverse and countless opportunities for collaboration.
