Postdoctoral Fellowships
Department of Health and Human Services
National Institutes of Health
National Institute of Mental Health

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Division of Intramural Research Programs, a major research component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is recruiting a Postdoctoral Fellow to join the Unit for Synapse Development and Plasticity, in the Genes, Cognition and Psychosis Program. This Unit will use molecular and cellular biology, live imaging, and electrophysiological approaches to investigate the mechanisms underlying synaptic plasticity in development, cognition, and psychiatric disorders, especially schizophrenia. This organization is housed at one of the premier research sites in the U.S., the 300 acre Bethesda campus of the NIH, near Washington, D.C.

The applicant should have a M.D. or Ph.D. degree (or foreign equivalent) in neuroscience, developmental biology, or cell biology. Research experience in molecular biology, culture of dissociated neurons and brain slices, confocal and two-photon microscopy (dissociated neurons, brain slices, or live mice), or in vitro recording of brain slices is desired.

NIMH is a major research component of the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services, which have nationwide responsibility for improving the health and well being of all Americans.

Interested applicants should click on the button below or send curriculum vitae, bibliography, together with three letters of reference to:

Dr. Zheng Li
Building 35, Room 2C1010
35 Convent Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892
Phone: (301) 594-2269
Fax: (301) 480-2561
E-mail: lizheng2@mail.nih.gov

DHHS, NIH and NIMH are Equal Opportunity Employers.


The NIH is dedicated to building a diverse community in its training and employment programs.

To apply:

The NIMH mission is to reduce the burden of mental illness and behavioral disorders through research on mind, brain, and behavior. This public health mandate demands that we harness powerful scientific tools to achieve better understanding, treatment, and eventually, prevention of these disabling conditions that affect millions of Americans.

To fulfill its mission, the Institute:

• conducts research on mental disorders and the underlying basic science of brain and behavior;
• supports research on these topics at universities and hospitals around the United States;
• collects, analyzes, and disseminates information on the causes, occurrence, and treatment of mental illnesses;
• supports the training of more than 1,000 scientists to carry out basic and clinical research; and
• communicates information to scientists, the public, the news media, and primary care and mental health professionals about mental illnesses, the brain, behavior, mental health, and opportunities and advances in research in these areas.