Student Co Op Undergraduate Student Research Assistant (USRA)

Vitacore Industries is looking for a keen USRA undergraduate student who wants to work with an award-winning, globally recognized R&D team comprised of scientists, PhDs, and engineers. This student will have an appetite and aptitude for all things biochemistry and wants to gain real-life lab experience. The term length will be either 4 months or 8 months (depending on the Co-Op term) and will require in-person laboratory attendance.

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Role Details:

• May 2026 to end of August 2026 (4-month placement) or May 2026 to December 2026 (8-month placement)
• $23.00 per hour
• 10 paid days off, prorated for the calendar year
• 9am to 5pm PST, 40 hour per week for 4 months or 8 months
• Location - 3001 Wayburne Drive, Burnaby BC

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• Must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or have refugee status (at this time due to IRCC regulations, international students with either a student or work visa are not eligible).
• Be willing to work in-person at the Burnaby laboratory.
• Post-secondary student currently in a Bachelor of Science program.

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• Design, optimize, and execute PCR and qPCR experiments for short primer systems in low-literature or exploratory contexts, using systematic iteration of cycling parameters.
• Optimize PCR/qPCR conditions including annealing temperatures and durations, touchdown strategies, cycle numbers, and extension times to achieve robust and specific amplification.
• Develop and optimize qPCR assays targeting a range of viral and bacterial DNA sequences.
• Prepare and run agarose gel electrophoresis to validate PCR/qPCR products, including troubleshooting amplification and visualization issues.
• Analyze qPCR and gel electrophoresis results to confirm amplicon specificity, efficiency, and reproducibility.
• Maintain meticulous experimental records, including reagent preparation, tube mapping, cycling conditions, run outputs, and troubleshooting observations.
• Support assay development through methodical experimentation, data review, and iterative refinement of protocols.
• Contribute to the laboratory knowledge base by documenting optimized protocols and experimental learnings for future research and development efforts.

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