Why Work Here?

The Schnable Lab@UNL has an outstanding record of trainee success. The typical PhD student in our lab graduates in slightly less than 5 years while being an author on an average of eight papers and first author on between two and five papers. The average postdoc who remains in the lab for at least two years will be an author on than nine papers, including roughly three as first author.

Our final goal isn’t papers but making sure trainees end up with good jobs that make them happy. We ensure students and postdocs gain domain expertise skills in genetics, genomics and/or phenotyping, data science skills in statistics and computer science, and soft skills in how to effectively participate in and lead multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams. This combination of skillsets makes trainees competitive for future roles in academia, industry or entrepreneurship.

Our alumni are employed as professors at nine universities across four countries and at all three of the major seed companies.

Postdoc Positions

Openings for postdocs without their own funding fluctuate based on the availability of grant funds. Please include the phrase “Codeword Pineapple” in the subject line of your e-mail when e-mailing Prof. Schnable.

Several postdoc fellowship programs are available within the USA:

• The Plant Genome Postdoc Fellowship offered by the National Science Foundation as part of their Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology program.

• The USDA NIFA postdoc fellowship program. This link describes both pre-doc (grad student) and postdoc fellowship programs.

PhD Student Positions

The Schnable Lab currently accepts PhD students through two PhD programs: Complex Biosystems (Integrated Plant Biology) and Agronomy and Horticulture (Plant Breeding and Genetics). If you apply to either program and are interesting in joining our lab, send Prof. Schnable an e-mail after you submit to let him know to look for your application in the online system.

If you are interested in discussing the potential to do graduate research in the lab before applying including both potential funding sources and potential research projects you can e-mail Prof. Schnable including the phrase “Codeword Pineapple” in the subject of your e-mail. Read more about ongoing projects in the lab.

Several PhD fellowship programs are available within the USA:

• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. US Citizens and Permanent Residents. You can apply for this your last year of college/undergrad.
• Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research Fellows Program. Open to PhD students regardless of citzenship. You can apply for this the year before you join the lab, whether you are completing your undergraduate degree or masters degree.

Opportunities for Undergraduates

The Schnable Lab is always recruiting promising undergraduates who either wish to gain experience in computational or molecular biology techniques working as paid assistants on existing research projects, or who wish to develop and carry out independent research projects within our areas of investigation through the University of Nebraska’s UCARE program.

During the summer the lab also hosts undergraduates through two NSF Research Experience for Undergraduate programs: Bioenergy Systems and Plant and Microbiome. Selection for both of these programs is performed by a committee, but if you are really interested in specifically working in the Schnable Lab, send an e-mail to Professor Schnable after you submit your application talking about why you’d like to work with us.