Research Technician, Bpsc Program

Staff - Union

Job Category

CUPE 116

Job Profile

CUPE 116 Salaried - Research Assistant /Technician 2

Job Title

Research Technician, BPSc Program

Department

Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Sciences Laboratory Support | Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Compensation Range

$4,426.00 - $4,845.00 CAD Monthly

Posting End Date

May 31, 2025

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.

Job End Date
- Please note this is an _ongoing _position. This role is expected to start at _Step 1_ of the salary scale._

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.

Job Description Summary
The primary responsibility of the BPSc Research Assistant/Technician 2 is to provide technical support in the teaching laboratories for the Pharmaceutical Sciences Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Sciences (BPSc) courses PHAR 203, 304, 307, and any other courses as directed by the Program Director; Associate Dean, Academic (ADA); or the Dean. This is a full-time position directly supporting lab courses over the winter terms (September - April) and performing lab optimizations and offering support to summer student researchers during the summer terms (May - August). This requires theoretical and practical knowledge of common techniques used in molecular biology (cloning, PCR, mammalian cell culture, gel electrophoresis, western blotting, recombinant protein production, etc.) to prepare materials for the teaching laboratories, and troubleshoot problems with laboratory experiments with guidance from the Laboratory Instructors. Tasks will be assigned and discussed regularly with the Laboratory Instructors; however, the technician will be expected to plan and schedule their own work. The technician requires good organizational skills to coordinate and complete all required tasks each week for multiple sections of different courses.

Organizational Status
The position reports to directly the laboratory instructors for teaching and technical related matters, and to Laboratory Head for all other matters.

Work Performed
- Prepare materials for teaching labs, including but not limited to stock solutions, reagents, media, bacterial culture, mammalian culture, restriction digests, DNA ligations, PCRs, purified recombinant protein.
- Set out materials, reagents, and equipment for the teaching labs as requested by the course instructor, and clear and clean materials and equipment after student labs, including cleaning and disposal of materials as needed, within safety guidelines.
- Organize and maintain inventories of chemicals, biological materials, consumables, and other stocks and reagents.
- Receive goods and shipments and maintain a receiving logbook.
- Participate in routine purchasing of laboratory consumables and reagents.
- Clean and prepare all glassware for teaching labs (glassware washing machines available).
- Autoclave and dispose of biowaste according to UBC and Faculty protocols.
- Ensure all safety obligations are met and maintain safe lab practices.
- Routinely clean and maintain proper operation of common lab equipment and apparatus such as pipettors, analytical and top-loading balances, magnetic stirring hot plates, incubators, water baths, vacuum pump, and pH meters. This includes the routine calibration of pH meters.
- Assist Laboratory Instructors in relaying technical and safety information to course GTAs.
- Provide technical support for BPSc Students in PHAR 203, 304, and 307 as required.
- Provide technical support and safety oversight for summer student researchers engaging in laboratory research in the summer, as needed.
- Assist Laboratory Instructors in developing and maintaining course syllabi, experiments, and laboratory manuals as well as maintaining up-to-date course information in the University's learning management system (Canvas).
- Assist Laboratory Instructors with testing, validating, optimizing, and troubleshooting new and existing experimental procedures and preparing materials to support the lab courses.
- Assist in housekeeping chores for the teaching labs, including but not limited to, racking pipette tips, refilling containers of microfuge tubes, peroxide safety testing, and maintaining stocks of various cleaning solutions.
- Create and maintain a respectful and inclusive environment.
- Perform other related duties as required.

Consequence of Error/Judgement

The BPSc Research Assistant/Technician 2 is expected to work with a great deal of independence, with guidance and oversight provided by the Laboratory Instructors and Laboratory Head. However, it is critical that the work be performed with accuracy and precision. Errors and incorrect decisions may ha