Opportunities

M.E.N. Lab is now recruiting a PhD student. A research background/training in biochemistry/microbiology is preferred.

Dr. Yujie Men, from the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), is looking for a PhD student to join her research group (the Microbe-Environment Nexus). The PhD position starts in Fall 2027 and includes full financial support (tuition, other fees, and salaries for graduate researcher appointments).
About M.E.N. group:
Dr. Men earned her BS and MS degrees in Environmental Science and Engineering from Tsinghua University, then her PhD degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Before she started her independent academic career, she worked as a postdoc at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag). Her research focuses on interactions between environmental microorganisms and emerging organic contaminants. Current projects include biotransformation/bioremediation of emerging organic contaminants, the occurrence, fate, and transport of emerging contaminants in natural and engineered environments, and the impact of emerging organic contaminants on the development and transmission of antibiotic resistance. The M.E.N. group currently has six Ph.D. students and several undergraduate researchers working at the frontiers of environmental microbiology and looks forward to welcoming new members. For more details about the M.E.N. group, please check the website: https://profiles.ucr.edu/yujie.men
About the project:
The successful PhD candidate will work on an ongoing project investigating the impact of emerging organic contaminants in agricultural environments on the development and transmission of antibiotic resistance, using microbiology, molecular biology, genetics/genomics, and analytical approaches.
Selection Criteria:
1) Applicants should have a B.S. or M.S. degree in one of the following areas: Environmental Science, Environmental Engineering, Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, Microbiology, or Molecular Biology.
2) Applicants should be enthusiastic and self-motivated about scientific research, good at teamwork, and have critical and independent thinking.
3) Applicants should have the background knowledge and research experience in microbiology and molecular biology. Applicants with skills in synthetic biology, genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, and microorganism cultivation and isolation are preferred.  

How to apply:
Interested individuals should send emails to Dr. Men (yujiem at ucr.edu) with CVs and transcripts (including BS and MS, unofficial will work). 

About CEE@UCR and Riverside:
UCR is one of the few universities with a department that combines Chemical and Environmental Engineering. CEE department has ongoing projects incorporating expertise in Environmental Chemistry, Environmental Microbiology, Chemical Engineering, Biological Engineering, and Advanced Nanotechnology. It also has established collaborations with other departments on campus (e.g., the Department of Environmental Science, the Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, the Environmental Toxicology Program, and the Genetics, Genomics, and Bioinformatics Program), the USDA-ARS Salinity Lab, as well as nearby universities, such as UC, Los Angeles, and UC, Irvine. Riverside is in southern California, close to Los Angeles and Irvine, and has a lower cost of living. It has warm weather with lots of sunshine, so there are plenty of outdoor activities for leisure time.

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