The 2026 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List has 2 research/teaching positions.
On June 4, 2024, the 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 3 research/teaching positions and one teaching position.
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Godspeed everyone - hope this year is better than expected haha
ReplyDeleteAmen! So far (and the sample size is tiny) we're about 20% behind last year, which was about 15% behind the prior year (2024 cycle). Last year that 10-15% gap held for most of the cycle and was established early on, so maybe there is real signal there.
DeleteI have two industry offers i have to decide between this week. Government postdoc too unstable to stay in, especially with the number of faculty openings being potentially quite slim. Going from a $100k postdoc salary to $150k will sure be nice though. Good luck to all applying! If some schools in geographically desirable areas post openings I'll probably toss out some applications before my materials are all out of date.
I transitioned to an industry position last year from a faculty position at a PUI, joining a reputed company as a Senior Scientist, after not securing an opportunity at an R1/R2 institution during the 2023–24 cycle (obtaining funding at a PUI was nearly impossible). After spending a little over a year in industry, I am back this year. Unfortunately, the outlook does not appear much better this time. I am willing to leave my current role, even with a $150k salary, if I secure a position at a strong university in a better location.
DeleteI'll note that support and expectations for research at PUIs can vary dramatically, but at my "research active" PUI, folks have had substantial success securing external funding for their work from a mixture of PUI-specific and broader funding sources.
DeleteThis would probably not be the case if we were teaching 4 classes per semester rather than our current 2.
So this UIUC posting (https://illinois.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/1/home/requisition/14758?c=illinois) has replaced their "diversity statement" requirement with a "statement of past and potential future contributions to the department and to the field of chemistry on the topics of mentoring, collaboration, and other broader impacts".
ReplyDeleteIf I have a DEI statement that I was happy with from last year, do you suppose I can just drop that in there and call it a day?
It can probably speak to a lot of the same topics and ideas, but I'd be mindful about what language you are using (i.e. avoid DEI buzzwords) and make sure your statement speaks directly to what they request.
DeleteAgreed with above. Important to remember that the whole application is really to asses your fundability as a junior PI, and in this climate a re-hashed DEI statement isn't going to make you competitive. I'd try aligning it with the current NSF standards for "Broader Impacts".
DeleteI'd be looking to see that the applicant has some integrity. If it was important to you, and the accomplishments were things you are proud of, before Trump v2, then you shouldn't shy away. OTOH, if it was a bunch of empty platitudes then yeah scrap it.
DeleteThey're straight up asking for two different things though lol. Even if someone genuinely believed in/was proud of their DEI work, I wouldn't begrudge them trying to reframe it in whichever way they think will give them the best shot of landing a job.
DeleteWooo boy we're almost 50% down from the last couple years on number of postings
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested to see where things lie at the end of the week - the next two weeks are when R1s typically post their openings (obviously major exceptions to this...) but yes, things aren't looking positive.
ReplyDeleteYeah and I've heard some hypothesize that there will be a delay rather than (only) a depression in the number of postings, i.e., we may hit our peak rate of new postings later in the cycle. Also heard at least one colleague suggest that red state schools are going to use this as an opportunity to scoop up some talent in a leaner market for job seekers and they don't have to worry as much about funding cuts/catching the administration's ire.
DeleteSpeaking as a faculty member at a red state school, our hiring outlook this cycle is quite dire. I think our thoughts are that the funding uncertainties won't be sorted out until it is too late for this cycle so we (Arts & Sciences) barely got any allocations.
DeleteFaculty member at a Southern R1 - I believe all our planned searches for this year are being pushed at least to next year. We should have a better idea of what the NIH/NSF will look like by then.
DeleteTo clarify, these positions are not posted. We're not canceling searches. I know several departments want to hire but are being told to hold off on posting the openings.
DeleteWelp after 2 weeks and only a few more R1 postings... safe to say this is going to be a pretty lean year. To any candidates going out this year my advice is to take it as seriously as possible. Its good practice enough to get the app together, and should you have to go out again next year you'll be able to improve on it substantially having done it once!
DeleteI just checked my little app tracker thing that I make for myself and last year I had 26 jobs on my list that I was applying for by September 4. This year I have 8!
Deletefaculty at a midwest R2- we are hiring but everything was pushed back again this year. This may be the new normal.
DeleteWhen do you normally post jobs/when do you think this one might be up? Or are you waiting on some external trigger before you hit "go" on this?
DeletePI - our main issue right now is not that there's a hiring freeze but rather that there's an order to reduce department budgets by X%, and startup packages count towards department spending.
DeleteReposting this excellent resource that helped me apply in a previous year (note it's written from a biomedical science perspective): https://www.mckinleylab.org/_files/ugd/73faf8_d0c08c91b9344859973cf6bba4fc4368.pdf
ReplyDeleteVery few R1s so far... Maybe everything is pushed back this year?
ReplyDeleteI think hiring is going to continue be way down across the board and am fairly pessimistic that much will be pushed back. It is incredibly grim out there.
DeleteI think the "pushed back curve" idea is very wishful thinking at this point. Just gonna be a shitty(er) market this year. Unless you're in polymers, somehow they have as many specific postings as they've had any of the last several years.
DeleteUntil there is more concrete info on the budgets for NSF/ DOE/ NIH sinking 1-2 million into hiring an R1 assistant prof is not a good investment for large research universities. A bummer, but I would not expect it to get better until there is clarity on the federal budgets and what a new overhead model would look like.
DeleteNot to sound too pessimistic, but as a faculty member at an R01 school we don't really have a mechanism for pushing things back. For us, hiring decisions are made much earlier in the year. We have limited searches this year. If the new budget comes out and NSF gets a huge increase, we won't change our hiring targets. We'll just hire more next year.
DeleteWe'll probably never get "concrete info" on these budgets. We'll have a lot of shutdown bluster, get a continuing resolution until some time in 2026, and then have another shutdown scare and probably a further continuing resolution for the rest of the year leaving the budget flat the whole time but never more certain than it is now.
DeleteDo we think that we're at the point where approx 50% of the jobs that will be posted are posted? or are we nearing 100%
Deletehttps://bsky.app/profile/chemjobber.bsky.social/post/3lymhfwaxhk2u
Deletelooks like the traditional halfway point is mid-September (ie next week) and then the COVID year (application season fall 2020-spring 2021) it was mid-November. My feeling is that we're closer to 75% than 50%, but it's hard to say exactly (obviously)
To second 12:51, we decided to not post our position 6 months ago. The way fiscal years work, we're currently thinking about budgets for next fall, so any good news now will only be visible in a year.
Deletewe're going to find something!
ReplyDeletecurious if anyone can comment on if schools are getting less applications this year for their professor job postings – I've heard of people who got full offers last year in march/april and decided that becoming faculty was not for them in the current funding environment... and can imagine that there are some (maybe a lot) of people who might be thinking the same this year?
ReplyDeleteI'm at a PUI, and we have way more applications than normal.
DeleteWhile there might be some dip in applications, the more likely outcome is higher competition for fewer spots. Schools that had the foresight/resources to post positions this year will likely get to pick from a much deeper bench.
Deletethis past week has been a rough week - wising everyone the best of luck with submitting things this week
ReplyDeleteIs anyone applying Utah State's inorganic position? It seems the position was not filled last year. There are not many R1 positions this run so far. Any information on this position and the department would be appreciated.
ReplyDeleteWasn't the previous search canceled for budgetary reasons? Have they reposted it? I don't see it on the list. Also I don't see whomever their organic hire was last year on the faculty page yet
DeleteThe department has a "Temporary Assistant Professor" in inorganic. The guy left Drexel after 7 years as an Asst. Prof. and has stayed active in research–an internal promotion might be in the works.
DeleteHe's been there for over a year now. Unsure why it would take so long or why they'd have canceled last year's search to promote him /shrug
DeleteWe're now speaking about a single identifiable person and I am going to ask you all to stop. - CJ
Deleteinteresting
DeleteThere were good inorganic candidates from top universities for onsite last year. No one took the position. Rumors said they were scared by the experience of previous inorganic faculty. The inorganic position is now posted on its dept website.
DeleteFYI，here is the opening link for both organic and inorganic position this year. https://artsci.usu.edu/chem-biochem//resources/employment However, the link for “apply here” does not work.
DeleteThose both have a Fall 2025 start date listed though?
DeleteI saw discussions about this position last year here. It seems there have been issues in the department. You can look them up. Be cautious and make your own decision.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for your input! I was able to find the old discussions. Its P-chem position was also not filled last year. Seems a troublesome place…… It is a tough year to apply!
DeleteAny hear any updates on the UToronto position?
ReplyDeleteOnce I submit the contact information for my reference letter writers, do I need to send the letters myself if I don’t receive any notification from the university I’m applying to? When should I send the letters?
ReplyDeleteIf/when they want letters, they'll ask for them directly. We only ask for letters once we narrow down our initial applicant pool to zoom interview candidates.
DeleteNormally, when a university begins reviewing application materials, some universities mention that their initial review starts on 10/01/25. Does that mean they will start reviewing the materials immediately?
DeleteAs soon as the committee can. My institution will filter/triage apps as they come in and begin formally reviewing those deemed competitive after the final deadline. This process can take 1+ month depending on how many they have to go through, so be patient.
DeletePeople in departments who are hiring: how many of you know if your department take into account the $100k fee for new H-1B applications when posting openings? Are there thoughts on sponsoring other types of visa (e.g. green cards)? The lack of clear guidance on the applicability of the fee on new vs transfer petition and for-profit vs non-profit employers is making me nervous. Comments/insight from people on the applying side are also welcome.
ReplyDeleteHR are blocking even candidates that need to transfer sponsorship.
DeleteFor R1,R2 and PUI, they are all doing this filter?
Deletewe are being told to evaluate candidates WITHOUT considering visa status, but that before campus visits occur, that pool must be "approved" by admin/HR- I take this to mean we are doing sponsorships but can't afford it for too many positions, so it will depend on the hiring as a whole
DeleteThe broad filter was at 1 R1 but maybe true of others. I imagine even more so at PUIs.
Deletepotentially relevant to this discussion - CJ
Deletehttps://www.higheredjobs.com/faculty/details.cfm?JobCode=179275691&Title=Assistant%20Professor%20Chemistry%20-%20Notice%20of%20Filing
So, it seems on track that a few universities are playing it super safe and some are just conducting business as usual.
Deleteif a posting asks for a 5 page research statement, do you assume that to mean inclusive or exclusive of references?
ReplyDeleteFuturePI Slack typically assumes references are not counted.
DeleteThis has been my approach, and in my cover letter I indicates that my research statement has so and so pages excluding bibliographical information.
Deletewhat is this futurePi slack?!
DeleteIt's a biology-focused group pursuing faculty positions. You can google and find out more about them. If you're in biochem or bio adjacent it might be helpful, but otherwise not much use. THey have a tracker spreadsheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gL_avKF5rrFI-RY80cMvADEgH5OJOcBYPilVxu5UvZM/edit?gid=584457990#gid=584457990) but its non-bio traffic seems way down each of the last 2 years. In the fall 2023 cycle it was a good way to track ChemE and Materials Science positions but now those communities have their own tracking spreadsheet and there is very little presence on FuturePI Slack sheet for those.
DeleteHow strict are the page limits really? Different committees may view this differently but I've seen candidates with above the page limit get the position, and never really thought about it too much. Like why would an application with an extra 2 pages be rejected if its the best person? You could argue that showing you can follow a page limit, indicates you'll be able to do the same for a grant application - but I'm not sure how much it matters for TT packages, especially since different institutions have wildly different page limits. Maybe some faculty have more insight?
DeleteIn academia, you can get away with a lot of crap if you're the best... When I serve on search committees, we don't worry about it in cases where it's minor (a couple of refs over) or unclear (e.g. whether refs are included in the page total or not). Being two pages over would worry us, though as you noted, some may be willing to overlook it. My advice is to stick with the limit best you can, unless you're a true rockstar in which case you're likely already getting special treatment via back door phone calls (this is really only a thing at the most premier places).
DeleteVillanova University is currently hosting on-campus interviews. Has anyone heard anything about Marist University?
ReplyDeletehttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zZf5I43l4jXVUWsIUZVo7UeA9vrIszitGdkYA9XUBgY/edit?gid=974636285#gid=974636285
DeleteCan anyone comment if PUIs are not shortlisting candidates who need H1-B visa sponsorships?
ReplyDeleteI have had 2-3 PUIs in which my application did not go forward, but when I reached out they did not mention H-1B at all. So, hopefully this is not the case. It's been a mixed bag with some institutions playing it very safely and some being optimistic that it would not affect academia/non-profit and conducting business as usual.
DeleteI’m at a PUI, and we were told to proceed as normal about visa status. Basically, the school will figure it out and to NOT exclude based on that. But I agree with the above poster that it likely is very school/finances/optimisim dependent.
DeleteUSCIS posted an update yesterday clarifying that only H1B cases outside of the US will be affected. Most people are seeking a change of status from F1/J1 to H1B or simply an H1B transfer, so most people are not affected.
DeleteSaw the update and breathed a sigh of relief, but unfortunately the damage has already been done and I have definitely lost (at least) one opportunity this cycle because of this issue. Well, better luck next time then!
DeleteThe biggest damage is the uncertainty, not necessarily the H1B policy itself, but these are out of the control of job applicants or schools. The same applies for recruiting international students, it is not that they cannot get a visa for sure, but there is a higher chance they cannot get a visa than in previous years and no one really knows what the specific chance a student can get a visa or not, particularly for certain countries and some fields of study. On one hand, people dislike uncertainty and some may tend to avoid completely, but YMMV.
DeleteI'm the 12:01 pm commenter. Agreed, I still have a few places left in my list this year and I feel depressed and not very eager to put more effort into those applications... Because now I don't know if the reason I get skipped is due to my materials or my immigration status (and most places would not let me know anyway). Ah, well. I think what is interesting to me is that there are alternatives to H-1B (such as EB-1B or O-1) but it seems to not be taken into account.
DeleteReceived an email from FIU: "Thank you for your interest in joining Florida International University. We appreciate the time and energy you’ve invested in your application and the enthusiasm you’ve shown for becoming part of our academic community.
ReplyDeleteWe are writing to inform you of a recent change in federal immigration policy that directly impacts our hiring practices. On September 21, 2025, a Presidential Proclamation was enacted requiring a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa petitions.
After careful consideration and consultation with legal counsel and immigration experts, FIU will not be sponsoring H-1B visas for new hires at this time given the scope and financial implications of this directive. Applicants who are able to independently secure an alternative form of work authorization may still be eligible for employment consideration. We recommend consulting with an immigration attorney for further guidance on available options."
The email was sent to H1BVISALISTSERV@FIU.EDU, which likely includes all applicants requiring visa sponsoship when they applied.
I applied to the University of Maryland - College Park about 4 weeks ago and was recently invited to provide reference contacts to obtain their letters. Does that mean I passed initial screening?
ReplyDeleteYes. Probably being considered for a Zoom interview (my institution only requests letters at that stage).
DeleteDid anyone not receive this request?
DeleteOP: to the second person, I guess all people got it?
DeleteI uploaded reference contact info with my application, and I did not get this request.
DeleteHas anyone received a Zoom interview invitation for applications submitted before October 1st?
DeleteThe tracker has some listed. Are there particular schools you have in mind?
DeleteCould you please let me know where the tracker it is?
Deletethis is the chemistry job tracker https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zZf5I43l4jXVUWsIUZVo7UeA9vrIszitGdkYA9XUBgY/edit?usp=sharing
DeleteDo you have engineering tracker? Like chemical and bioengineering?
DeleteThere was one last year and it hasn't been resurrected yet, but I don't think that many engineering jobs have even had their priority dates much less sent zoom invites
DeleteAnyone please comment on WPI university hiring process… submit the application on Oct15 th and never heard anything from them.
DeleteIt is often 1+ month before you hear back, if you hear back.
DeleteOn the chemistry tracker (posted October 29, 2025 at 3:50 PM above) it says that they sent out phone interview requests on 10/22.
DeleteCould anyone please share how to update the tracker?
DeleteTo OP for UMD: I received the reference letter upload request on Nov 4, right after I submitted my application on Nov 2. I see they have a priority date of Nov 1.
Deletebelow is the tracer "https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gL_avKF5rrFI-RY80cMvADEgH5OJOcBYPilVxu5UvZM/edit?gid=1711743605#gid=1711743605" you mention? Do we have chemistry and materials science tracker?
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have any current information regarding the status of the positions at Emmanuel College in Boston? Specifically, their organic/biochemistry role?
ReplyDeleteI heard that phone/zoom interviews occurred a few weeks ago.
DeleteThis year feels much quieter than last week. Quick question, what is the usual decision deadline for an written offer from PUIs?
ReplyDelete*I mean last year
DeleteFor us, once a written offer is in hand, the candidate will typically have <2 weeks to make their decision. Negotiating the offer before the written offer is finalized can take an additional week or a bit longer.
DeleteAll in all, we try to complete our entire process from submission deadline to the candidate making their decision during the fall, which takes 2.5-3 months (usually).
Reply with "quack quack" if you're also feeling anxious about how quiet/slow this year has been
ReplyDeleteI think the year is going about as expected. Lots fewer openings, but the ones that are open seem to be moving at relatively normal timelines (if you account for the fact that they probably are getting an outsized number of apps compared to a typical year)
Deletequack quack
Deletequack quack quack quack
Deletequack quack
DeleteHamden Sydney has done a few on campus interviews for their analytical job. Any word on offers after that?
ReplyDelete