Research Project Support Officer/research Assistant

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**The opportunity**:

- **Great part-time opportunity to gain practical lab experience**:

- **Assist research teams with various lab-based operations and work on key industry projects**:

- **Work closely with our leading research teams in CSIRO Agriculture & Food Business Unit**

At CSIRO, we are working hard and collaboratively with government, industry & community sectors, to solve the greatest challenges through innovative science and technology, and to build a profitable, productive, trusted and sustainable agrifood sector for the future. Our ‘CSIRO Synthetic Traits’ research group is at the forefront of translating cutting-edge plant biotechnology into real impact for Australian agriculture. Some of the group’s high achievements include the development of commercial high-oleic safflower and omega-3 canola, achieved through close collaboration with key industry partners.

As a Research Project Officer, you will be part of the ‘Synthetic Traits’ group, and work closely with our dynamic, multi-disciplinary research teams. You will bring your general knowledge of lab operations and data & records management, to efficiently support the research teams with a range of laboratory and glasshouse activities. Primarily supporting 2-3 projects, the role will be based in our labs at Black Mountain site, and you will be responsible for assisting with a variety of day-to-day operations such as, managing the continuing supply of Nicotiana benthamiana plants for leaf infiltration assays, taking care of plants in the glasshouse and growth cabinets, media preparation for tissue culture, insect rearing for RNAi toxicity assays, and more.

We are ideally looking for someone with basic knowledge and understanding of the laboratory environment, good data management skills, and who can be a great team player Specific experience or knowledge in the plant science domain would be desirable but not compulsory. Therefore, if this sounds like you, and you are looking to gain practical lab experience with a leading R&D organisation, this part-time role would be a great opportunity for you. So, we would love to hear from you

**Your duties will include**:

- Supplying and maintaining plant material in growth cabinets and glasshouses, sampling plants, and data recording.
- Under general supervision, performing routine experimental or operational tasks requiring skills, which have been developed through experience or training.
- Assisting in establishing experiments, monitoring, summarising and recording results, and typically maintaining a record of experimental results.
- Working as part of a multi-disciplinary research team and assisting other staff to complete allocated tasks and activities, as required.

**Location**: Canberra (Black Mountain), ACT

**Salary**: AU$56K - AU$68K pa (pro-rata for part-time) + up to 15.4% superannuation

**Tenure**: Specified Term of 12 months; Part-time, 3 days per week

**Reference**: 95381

**To be considered you will need**:

- Certificate of Y12/high school education, and/or demonstrated relevant work experience in plant science.
- Knowledge and understanding of the steps required in the laboratory, and the ability to encourage safe work practices within a team environment.
- Demonstrated good practice in record keeping in relation to samples and scientific data.
- Capability of working effectively as part of a multi-disciplinary research team, and carrying out tasks under the direction of senior staff.
- _Desirable_: Experience in working with plants and/or in PC2 laboratory environment would be highly desired.

For full details about this role please review the **Position Description**.

**Eligibility**:
**Flexible working arrangements**:
We work flexibly at CSIRO, offering a range of options for how, when and where you work.

**Diversity and inclusion**:
We are working hard to recruit people representing the diversity across our society, and ensure that all our people feel supported to do their best work and feel empowered to let their ideas flourish.

**About CSIRO**:
At CSIRO Australia's national science agency, we solve the greatest challenges through innovative science and technology. We put the safety and wellbeing of our people above all else and earn trust everywhere because we only deal in facts. We collaborate widely and generously and deliver solutions with real impact.

CSIRO is committed to values-based leadership to inspire performance and unlock the potential of our people.

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