Professor, research emphasis

This section deals with positions at major universities and private research institutes, the places that rake in the bulk of federal grants. You probably got your Ph.D. or did your postdoc at one of these institutions, as just about all rely on graduate students and postdocs to do the lion's share of the hands-on work. Outside funding is a requirement and may have to provide all of the professor's salary. Lose your grant, you're out of a job... But, if doing cutting-edge research, making important discoveries, doing "big science," or having prestige and maybe someday fame are what matters most to you, then these positions are the place where all of that can be found.

Information and Advice:
Landing an Academic Job: the Process and the Pitfalls. Jonathan Dantzig's essay is packed with useful information for the would-be faculty member: what should be in your CV and application letter, how to handle the interview, how to structure your job talk, how to negoitate your start-up package, and more.

Tomorrow's Professor: Preparing for Academic Careers in Science and Engineering. This book is designed "to help you prepare for, find, and succeed at an academic career in science and engineering." Includes chapters on research and teaching preparation for professorships, how to get a faculty position, and insights on the tenure process. A sample chapter can be found at the web site.

Contemporary Problems in Science Jobs. Essay by Art Sowers discussing today's job market for scientists and the many roadblocks along the path of the traditional research-oriented professor.

Scientific Productivity: Waning Importance for Career Development of today's Scientists? Graeme Eisenhofer looks at recent tenure decisions at a major biomedical research center and relates outcomes to scientific productivity. The bottom line: high scientific productivity did not correlate with whether individuals received tenure.

How To Ask The Right Questions In Assessing An Academic Job Offer. Article by Karl Lanks from The Scientist (Oct 95).

Funding Research with NIH Grants: a Losing Battle in a Flawed System. The NIH granting system is reviewed and its strengths and weaknesses evaluated in this commentary from Art Sowers in The Scientist (Oct 95). Good reading for those seeking or already holding NIH funds or for those contemplating a research career in which NIH funding in essential.

Faculty Salary Database. Enter the name of a university and get back average professor salaries.

Navigating the Postdoc to PI transition: Getting funded by NIH. Contains information specific for new faculty who will be applying for grants from the National Institutes of Health. This resource is an outline of a talk/workshop presented by faculty in 1997 to the UCSF Postdoctoral Scholars Association. Includes some sample sections of successful grants and some advice on what to avoid in writing that first NIH grant.


Job Listings: (more links coming soon)
Science Professional Network. The on-line job listings of Science Magazine. Searchable.

Cell "Positions Available." On-line job openings from Cell. Tends to be list mainly research-oriented positions, but some small colleges do advertise here. Searchable.

Nature International Science Jobs. Job listings from Nature magazine. Searchable.

Academic Position Network. Database of academic positions primarily from around the U.S. Not limited to science lisitings. Searchable.

Please send additional links to mtbrown@geocities.com.

  Back to The Scientist's Guide to
Traditional and Alternative Careers.
  Back to home.

This page was last updated on August 6, 1998. 1