Opportunities

Graduate Assistantships and Post-Doctoral Research Associateships 

The USDA-NIFA-funded Center for Low-Moisture Food Safety (2020-2025) seeks highly motivated candidates for graduate and post-doctoral positions across the eight institutions collaborating to improve low-moisture food safety systems via an integrated, transdisciplinary approach. Opportunities exist for unique collaborations across institutions and disciplines, with appointments in disciplines including agricultural economics, biosystems/biological engineering, food science, and consumer sciences. The participating institutions are:  

  1. Michigan State University 
  2. Illinois Tech  
  3. Ohio State University  
  4. Purdue University 
  5. University of Arkansas  
  6. University of California, Davis 
  7. U.S. Food and Drug Administration 
  8. Washington State University 

Specific project opportunities span four Themes: (1) human factors (health, consumers, economics, and culture), (2) pathogen behavior and control, (3) extension and education, and (4) integrated risk and sustainability analysis. Graduate students and post-docs on the project team will have unique opportunities to engage in transdisciplinary research, cross-institutional collaborations and exchanges, and direct engagement with a Stakeholder Advisory Group and broader network of project partners.  

Interested candidates are encouraged to directly contact the appropriate members of the project team, who are listed on the project website: lowmoisture.msu.edu, or to submit a general statement of interest and resume or C.V.

CLICK HERE

Committed to attracting and retaining a diverse workforce, the Center for Low-Moisture Food Safety will honor your experiences, perspectives and unique identity. Together, our community strives to create and maintain working and learning environments that are inclusive, equitable, and welcoming.  

Guest Scholars Program

Our Guest Scholars Program will support up to six early-career faculty (assistant professors or postdoctoral researchers) members per year (nationally), who are interested in low-moisture food safety, to travel to and participate in our annual in-person project meetings, for professional development and an opportunity to diversify collaborations.

Guest Scholars will have the opportunity to share their research activities and vision with the project team and Stakeholder Advisory Group, engage in potential collaborations of mutual interest, and build professional networks for future project planning. 

Interested candidates should submit a brief statement of interest and C.V.

CLICK HERE

Training for graduate students

Our team will offer two in-project professional development members for graduate students each year. These webinars will cover topics such as project management; data integrity and management; diversity, equity and inclusion; adult learning (for Extension and training programs); and undergraduate pedagogy (for associate-level course development). The goal is to prepare graduate students for teaching associate-level courses and/or teaching portions of our workshops to industry stakeholders. 

Summer Fellows Program

It's been proven that deep and effective multi-institutional collaborations are most successful when graduate students build strong relationships across institutions. 

In our Summer Fellows Program, two to six graduate students across the project will swap places for approximately 1 month to access specific equipment, acquire cross-disciplinary training, and enhance direct face-to-face collaborations on specific tasks.

Center for Low-Moisture Food Safety

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