To submit your application, scroll to the bottom of this opportunity and click APPLY.

A complete application consists of:

• An application
• Transcripts – Click here for detailed information about acceptable transcripts
• A current resume/CV, including academic history, employment history, relevant experiences, and publication list
• One educational or professional recommendation

All documents must be in English or include an official English translation.

If you have questions, send an email to ORISE.FDA.NCTR@orau.org. Please include the reference code for this opportunity in your email.

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*Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis.

FDA Office and Location: A research opportunity is available immediately with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), The National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR), Nanotechnology Core Facility, Office of Scientific Coordination, located in Jefferson, Arkansas.

The National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR), is the only FDA Center located outside the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. The one-million square foot research campus in Jefferson, Arkansas plays an important role in the missions of FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services to promote and protect public health.

Research Project: This fellowship is designed to provide advanced, hands-on regulatory science training for recent doctoral graduates interested in nanotechnology and polymer research relevant to FDA’s public health mission. The Nanotechnology Core Facility supports FDA mission by developing and applying state-of-the-art analytical approaches to understand the characterization, safety, biocompatibility, and performance of nanomaterials used in regulated products.

Learning Objectives: You will engage in structured research training under the mentorship of FDA scientists and will collaborate within a multidisciplinary research environment. The training program focuses on building technical experience, methodological rigor, and an understanding of regulatory science applications. Key hands-on training components include:

• Development of novel methods and methodologies for the detection of real world microplastics and nanoplastics is regulated products
• Stability measurements using various degradation techniques including thermal, UV degradation and cryo-milling
• Separation techniques include tangential flow filtration, size exclusion and asymmetric flow field flow fractionation
• Spectroscopic techniques including UV-Vis, FTIR, Raman, Mass, NMR, diffraction techniques
• Participation in high-quality, high-impact research projects aimed at standardized method and methodology development leading to publications

Mentor: The mentor for this opportunity is Anil Patri (anil.patri@fda.hhs.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research, please contact the mentor.

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: 2026. Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.

Appointment Length: The appointment will initially be for one year, but may be renewed upon recommendation of FDA and is contingent on the availability of funds.

Level of Participation: The appointment is full time.

Participant Stipend: The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience. 

Citizenship Requirements: This opportunity is available to U.S. citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR), and foreign nationals. Non-U.S. citizen applicants should refer to the Guidelines for Non-U.S. Citizens Details page of the program website for information about the valid immigration statuses that are acceptable for program participation.

This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and FDA. The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. Participants do not become employees of FDA, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits.

Completion of a successful background investigation by the Office of Personnel Management is required for an applicant to be on-boarded at FDA.  OPM can complete a background investigation only for individuals, including non-US Citizens, who have resided in the US for a total of three of the past five years.

FDA Ethics Requirements

If an ORISE Fellow, to include their spouse and minor children, reports what is identified as a Significantly Regulated Organization (SRO) or prohibited investment fund financial interest in any amount, or a relationship with an SRO, except for spousal employment with an SRO, and the individual will not voluntarily divest the financial interest or terminate the relationship, then the individual is not placed at FDA. For additional requirements, see FDA Ethics for Nonemployee Scientists. 

FDA requires ORISE participants to read and sign their FDA Education and Training Agreement within 30 days of his/her start date, setting forth the conditions and expectations for his/her educational appointment at the agency.  This agreement covers such topics as the following:

• Non-employee nature of the ORISE appointment;
• Prohibition on ORISE Fellows performing inherently governmental functions;
• Obligation of ORISE Fellows to convey all necessary rights to the FDA regarding intellectual property conceived or first reduced to practice during their fellowship;
• The fact that research materials and laboratory notebooks are the property of the FDA;
• ORISE fellow’s obligation to protect and not to further disclose or use non-public information.

Applicants should have earned or be currently pursuing a doctoral degree in organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, physics or related fields. Degree must have been received within the past five years or anticipated to be received by 12/31/2026.

Preferred skills:

• Prior experience with environmental chemistry, analytical instrumentation for the isolation and characterization of organic materials, polymers, obtaining and analyzing spectral data, and a track record of research publications solving complex problems

• Degree: Doctoral Degree received within the last 60 months or anticipated to be received by 12/31/2026 11:59:00 PM.
• Discipline(s):
  • Chemistry and Materials Sciences (12 )
  • Communications and Graphics Design (2 )
  • Computer, Information, and Data Sciences (17 )
  • Earth and Geosciences (21 )
  • Engineering (29 )
  • Environmental and Marine Sciences (14 )
  • Life Health and Medical Sciences (51 )
  • Mathematics and Statistics (11 )
  • Physics (16 )
  • Science & Engineering-related (1 )

I am a U.S. citizen, or I have lived in the United States for at least 36 out of the past 60 months. (36 months do not have to be consecutive.)
AND
I have read the FDA Ethics Requirements.