Helpful Resources

Shared by workshop speakers & panelists

Finding and attaining the right fit: understanding faculty roles at US academic institutions and overview of the faculty job search process

• Carnegie Classifications of US institutions of higher education
• Academic Career Readiness Assessment (ACRA) – developed at UCSF, ACRA is a rubric to help trainees understand expectations of faculty at different types of academic institutions and assess their readiness to pursue these jobs.
• NIH faculty recruitment website
• NSF list of federally funded R&D centers
• ASBMB article about research careers at independent research institutes, many of whom are members of the Association of Independent Research Institutes (AIRI)
• Myths and facts about getting an academic faculty position in neuroscience. Hsu NS et al. Sci Adv. 2021. PMCID: PMC8397261
• A survey-based analysis of the academic job market. Fernandes JD et al. eLife. 2020. PMCID: PMC7360372
• Slides from this session, by Kim Petrie and Kathy Gould (based in part on the UCSF ACRA tool)

Planning your independent research career

• Not discussed: the unspoken rules for a career in academic medicine research (book by Vanderbilt professor, Dr. Mike Stein; a print copy is available to check out from the BRET Career Development library in 340 Light Hall)

Writing a research statement

• How to Prepare a Compelling Research Statement by Dr. John Boothroyd for Stanford BioCareers

Applying for faculty jobs

• Advice for academics on preparing for video interviews by Ashley Brady and D’Anne Duncan for Carpe Careers at InsideHigherEd

Faculty interviews and job talks: communicating your value

• Preparing Your Academic Chalk Talk from ASCB
• How to design a chalk talk—the million dollar sales pitch. Snapp EL. Mol Biol Cell. 2019. PMCID: PMC6727636
• Ten simple rules for giving an effective academic job talk. PLoS Computer. Biol. 2019. PMCID: PMC6657819

Writing a teaching philosophy

• Teaching Portfolio resources from the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching (includes a section about Teaching Statements)
• Writing a Statement of Teaching for the Academic Job Search
• Teaching Philosophy Template
• Teaching Philosophy Sample: Benjamin-Harrison_biology
• Teaching-Philosophy Sample: Jamie-Peterson_psychology
• Teaching-Philosophy Sample: Marisol Brito_philosophy
• Teaching Philosophy Sample: Glene Mynhardt_philosophy
• Teaching Philosophy Sample: James Collier_philosophy

Writing a diversity statement (2022)

• Guide to Developing and Writing a Diversity Statement from the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching
• Best Practices for Faculty Recruitment from Emory University has terrific resources for search committees [checklists, guidelines, rubrics for evaluating diversity statements] that candidates may find helpful for understanding what to expect; this paper by Nguyen et. al. from Emory describes further how their institution designed an inclusive search process, including example questions used during the screening interviews.
• Slides from this 2022 session, by Ransford Pinto from Vanderbilt Center for Teaching

Negotiating your faculty compensation and start-up package

• Searchable database of faculty salaries by rank from the Chronicle of Higher Education, based on data from the US Department of Education
• Report on medical school faculty salaries. Division of Operational Studies, Association of American Medical Colleges. (n.d.). Association of American Medical Colleges. Available in the Eskind Biomedical Library.
• Summary salary survey data from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR), available from HigherEdJobs. (Note the date: HigherEdJobs has older data on their website. Newer data is available for purchase on the CUPA-HR website.)
• The Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, from the American Association of University Professors, lists average salaries for tenured and nontenured professors as well as average compensation per course for part-time instructors.
• NIH OITE video presentation by Dr. Sharon Milgram about Evaluating Positions and Negotiating Offers
• Considerations in negotiating your startup (2012 handout from UCSF; the numbers are outdated but principles still apply)
• Knowing Your Worth: How to Approach Negotiations in Academia by Jocelyn Olcott & Lori Flores for NCFDD
• Slides from Dr. Kathy Gould’s presentation

The search committee perspective: who would you choose? (2023)

• Slides from Dr. Kim Petrie’s presentation
• What Search Committees Wish You Knew by Allison Vaillancourt for Chronicle of Higher Education

CV review round robin (2022)

• CV review rubric
• Annotated CV examples from the UCSF OCPD
• Slides from this 2022 session, by Ashley Brady from the Vanderbilt ASPIRE Program

Vanderbilt Resources

The BRET Career Development ASPIRE program provides career and professional development support for VU and VUMC graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the biomedical sciences. We provide a range of programs relating to professional development for a range of academic and nonacademic careers, and we provide confidential individual advising services by request. Follow us on Twitter @VUbretASPIRE and @VUBRETPhDJobs.

• Our Path to Career website about Faculty Job Search is a compendium of our favorite articles and resources about navigating an academic job search.
• The BRET ASPIRE Program interviews alumni about their careers in the Beyond the Lab series; a range of faculty and other careers are included in the series.

The Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching promotes university teaching that leads to meaningful student learning. CFT is a terrific resource for any member of the Vanderbilt community who wants to improve their teaching practices. They have created over 80 fantastic teaching guides on topics ranging from course development to fostering inclusivity in the classroom, and their Certificate in College Teaching is excellent preparation for any graduate student or postdoctoral fellow who aim to be educators in colleges or universities. Sign up for their e-newsletter to stay up-to-date on their latest workshops and resources.

Other Resources

The NIH Office of Intramural Education & Training (OITE) has a YouTube playlist of their presentations about the Academic Job Search.

The Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) is a consortium of institutions seeking to enhance excellence in STEM undergraduate education through development of a national faculty committed to implementing and advancing evidence-based teaching practices for diverse learners. They offer online workshops and courses in pedagogy and faculty job search.

The CarpeCareers column at InsideHigherEd is written by graduate and postdoctoral career advisors at universities across the country. The series offers solid career and professional development advice from professionals who know the value of an advanced degree and all that grad students and postdocs have to offer.