Join Our Team!
If you came directly to this page and want to learn more about our research topics, look at videos of some of our presentations, or our YouTube channel.
POSTDOCS: click this link for new postdoc fellowship openings in our lab!
STUDENTS/TRAINEES: We are actively seeking new undergraduate and graduate students to join our research group! No computational experience required!
Currently we are only considering students for in-person, year-round research (not summer-only or virtual experiences).
How to apply:
Interested students should email carlos.simmerling@stonybrook.edu after reading all of the information below.
Make sure to mention in your email why you’re interested in our lab in particular, and describe any experience that you have with chemistry, computer programming (Python, C, etc), Unix/Linux, and/or biomolecular structure. These aren’t strictly needed to work with us, but it gives us an idea of your interests and where you’d be able to start.
Please attach pdf files for your resume/CV and transcript (unofficial is ok).
Graduate students:
If you are already accepted to a Stony Brook graduate program, contact us as outlined above, and also provide your graduate program, information about rotation start/end dates, and info on any undergraduate research experience that you have had.
If you want to work with us but have not yet joined a graduate program at Stony Brook University, there are many options and you should choose the one(s) that are the best fit to your background. Students in our lab have earned their PhD through many graduate programs such as Chemistry, Molecular & Cellular Pharmacology, Biochemistry & Structure Biology, Applied Mathematics & Statistics, and Molecular & Cellular Biology. More information are requirements and application procedures can be found by clicking the names of the graduate program above.
Be aware that there are several fellowship opportunities with deadlines much earlier than the graduate application deadline, so you want to apply early! For an example, see the IACS graduate fellowship here. If you are interested in these fellowships, contact Prof. Simmerling in addition to submitting your application to the SBU graduate school.
Be aware that all students do several research rotations of ~ 10 weeks each before a decision is made about joining a lab for the PhD. We cannot provide guarantees of funding or acceptance prior to a successful research rotation. The rotations also give you an opportunity to learn more about the lab. Contact us if you have questions about ongoing research in our lab after reading the information on our web site.
There are many research labs at Stony Brook working in similar areas of computational structural biology. You can see a list of some of them at the Laufer Center faculty page. You should also consider them as possible mentors for your graduate work, or if you join our lab, they can provide additional training and mentorship. The following faculty carry out biomolecular simulations as part of their research:
Ivet Bahar, Department of Biochemistry (bridging molecular structure/dynamics and cell/systems behavior)
Ken Dill, Departments of Chemistry and Physics (protein folding, cell networks, water, evolution, and more)
Robert Rizzo, Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics (protein-ligand docking)
Maria Nagan, Department of Chemistry (RNA structure and function)
Dima Kozakov, Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics (protein-protein interactions)
Iwao Ojima, Department of Chemistry (medicinal chemistry)
Markus Seeliger, Department of Pharmacological Sciences (kinase structure and function)
David Green, Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics
Dan Raleigh, Department of Chemistry (protein folding and misfolding)
Troy Wymore, Department of Chemistry (functional plasticity of enzymes)
Jin Wang, Department of Chemistry (nonequilibrum statistical mechanics)
Christian Aponte-Rivera, Department of Chemistry (polymer properties of protein )
Qun Liu, Brookhaven National Lab Biology Department (membrane protein structural biology, technology development)
The following faculty do computational chemistry, but not necessarily on biomolecules:
Ben Levine, Department of Chemistry (electronically excited materials)
Nav Nidhi Rajput, Materials Science and Chemical Engineering (materials design)
Marivi Fernandez-Serra, Department of Physics (computational condensed matter physics)
also look at other faculty in the SBU Institute for Advanced Computational Science
Undergrads:
You probably don’t need as much background as you think - students in our group come from a variety of majors, with some from Biology or Chemistry, and others from Engineering or Physics. There are lots of things you can do - we’ve had over 50 undergrads work with us, many starting in their freshman year! See the Alumni tab for a list. Many of our undergrads have co-authored research journal articles from our lab.
We usually have several undergrads working with us, and our students from the past few years have gone on to medical schools, STEM jobs, and PhD programs at Yale, U Chicago, UCSF, U Pennsylvania, U Washington and more!
If you’re interested, contact us following the info above, and also provide your major and year, and how much time you would be able to devote to research each week.
For information about earning SBU undergraduate course credits for doing research, see this page. Note that undergraduate students in our lab typically register for research credit only after their first semester in the lab, when they can do some tutorials and learn more about what we do. This gives you a chance to try out our work and see if it’s a good fit before you commit to a graded course.
For information about undergraduate research opportunities in labs other than ours, look at the URECA site and their bulletin board.
High school students: we accept students that are affiliated with specific Stony Brook programs, such as the competitive Simons summer program at SBU. Students need official SBU status in order to work with our team.