Tuesday, January 19, 2021

The 2021 Faculty Jobs List: 252 research/teaching positions and 31 teaching faculty positions

The 2021 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 252 research/teaching positions and 31 teaching assistant professor positions.

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

In 2020-2021, we will be adding teaching professor positions, targeting positions that demonstrate an intention to renew permanently, 3 year terms and a promotion ladder and/or are titled "assistant teaching professor" or "associate teaching professor." We are adding community college positions if they explicitly offer tenure.

On January 21, 2020, the 2020 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 521 research/teaching positions and 54 teaching faculty positions.

To see trending, go to Andrew Spaeth's visualization of previous years' list.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? This will be the fourth open thread at noon Eastern on Tuesday, January 19. Go to the third open thread. Click here for the second thread, which closed on December 22. Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

204 comments:

  1. Hope everyone is doing well during this tough cycle! To kick off the new thread: anybody hear from Penn St yet? Been over a month since their search closed.

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    1. I was told my direction does not match.

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    2. @9:09 Did you have a screening interview first, or was this a rejection without any other interaction?

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    3. @11:08 I had no interview. I tried to email them for some updates, then was told that. My field is biomaterials.

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    4. Interesting. So perhaps they are still screening but have narrowed the field?

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    5. lol @ direction does not match "All fields of chemistry."

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    6. still nothing on this one?

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  2. Going back to the discussion about the seminars scheduled at Yale: does anybody know if these are all seminars or just a subset of those scheduled? If the search was open to all fields and the scheduled seminars are all theoretical, it would affect the credibility of the search process and therefore of the department...

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    1. I made this last second reply on the other thread that I can put here again. This is simply a reality of the search process. A bad one, but it is how many searches are done. Open searches are highly likely to be "open" searches. My previous: It is indeed an unfortunate reality that the search committee cares not about wasting your time by doing an "open search" when it is not actually open to all fields. Sometimes this can stem from higher ups approving a hire and the department posting their search before deciding what needs they want met, but regardless it causes a lot of frustration and I wish this practice would be abandoned. The support system each applicant has prior to applying is different for everyone, so it probably is a surprise to some people. This is one of the many difficulties and unfair practices involved in academic hiring though.

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    2. That is the reality, unfortunately

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    3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    4. Sometimes they simply don't bother changing few words in their ad from the last year. In one of the old threads there was a discussion of some weird wording from Northwestern U's open field ad. Someone said that it was their standard annual search ad.

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    5. following up on 12:20 PM's point - there is definitely a certain "hype" factor behind this process where departments start chasing after a specific subgroup of candidates aggressively. it's obviously incredibly inefficient as these candidates will only accept one offer. The logical conclusion is that departments should actually be trying to widen their scope, interviewing a broader spectrum of candidates outside of the ones who are being interviewed elsewhere, in the hopes of identifying someone who is equally good but perhaps flying under the radar. However because there also seems to be a perception of very limited time, departments seem to prefer to do the opposite, limiting the number of candidates that they interview, and trying to direct those slots to who seem to be the most promising on the basis of these paper applications.

      However the obvious flaw in this logic is that it becomes clear that a department will not recruit their initial first choice, they are (understandably) fatigued by the whole process and are faced with a choice of sifting through the remaining pool or to roll the search over for the next year. I suspect that generally the departments would roll over unless there is a specific reason for them to be rushing searches (a rare case where they believe it's possible to get the university to approve searches repeatedly, for example).

      Overall, it is easy to see that this process is incredibly inefficient, and would result in a pile up of postdocs who are deserving and ready to advance but perhaps hard to spot amongst hundreds of other applications. A subgroup of candidates happens to have a slightly shinier overall application, which looks to move applicants into a special category of "extremely popular." Of course this is probably super demoralizing, and I feel very sad for all the applicants who have to experience this (I'm in this category too). But hopefully everyone here can look at their corresponding track records and realize that these negative outcomes are not necessarily reflective of any degree of inadequacy or incompetence, simply a deeply flawed and pretty toxic system of advancement.

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    6. "...realize that these negative outcomes are not necessarily reflective of any degree of inadequacy or incompetence, simply a deeply flawed and pretty toxic system of advancement."

      This is the perfect summary of this process.

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    7. I would like to also add that "star applicants" more often than not = those with extremely well-connected PhD and postdoc advisors. Not saying these candidates aren't good on their own, but obviously meritocracy is often lacking just like any competitive job market, and the old adage, "it's not what you know, it's who you know" comes into play.

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    8. @1.49PM. It's true. There are groups of star professors, where every postdoc and graduate student publishes at least one Cell/Nature/Science paper, even if not everyone is amazing as a researcher. And there are others, us, ordinary folks with advisors, who are happy to make it to JACS. When I told some postdoc at my university that I plan to apply, he asked me how many Nature/Science papers I have and then commented that I am wasting my time if I have none. Having a star advisor also makes a huge difference when it comes to letters. I have seen how not-so-impressive candidates got interviews because their super-influential advisors made some calls and how very impressive researchers with good but not star advisors were seriously overlooked.

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    9. I've seen what 12:20 said that "some schools think that a top candidate will reject offers from places like Princeton or Stanford" play out over and over. I've seen some outside the top-10 schools consistently bring in mostly candidates that are out of their league. The problem is that it makes the few "realistic" candidates they bring in look less appealing because of just how good these top candidates are. Then when all these top candidates take offers elsewhere, they decide not to make an offer to the realistic candidates and just kick the proverbial can down the road to the next year, then rinse and repeat. I know one school did this 3 years in a row and never ended up filling the position with a new faculty hire. I'm not sure how places don't realize that they are just a "safety school" for these candidates before they bring them in for an on-site. Some of these candidates have 10+ on-sites and 2-3 of the top 5 schools (pre-covid, a 10 min Google search could have told you this)...they aren't choosing you unless you back up a Brinks truck to their door.

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    10. Great discussion on this thread, thanks to all. @3:25, I am one of those "realistic" candidates that didn't get the offer at an "outside the top-10" school this year. Everything seemed like a perfect fit from the needs of the department to the students to my research program. While I can't say for sure who they made an offer to this year, I do know that in previous years they have ended up hiring no one after their offers were not accepted. I agree there are deep flaws to the hiring practices, not only with regards to the prestige-obsessed methods but also compounding issues resulting in very few candidates from underrepresented groups making it to on-sites. The sticking point here is that for us to make positive change, we have to actually get jobs!

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    11. A recent search I was in had their proposed start-up budget cut by half unexpectedly by the higher-ups. As one of the more expensive sub-fields, I was told that they couldn't afford me anymore, and if they knew this earlier, they would have modified the fields of their search. This could be going on at other institutions as well, particularly with Spring tuition numbers starting to become clear.

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    12. @7.25. Oh, I thought this type of situation was very rare, and I was just extremely unlucky. Last year I got a communication about the offer coming from a very good R1. I was happy at first. They were hiring two people though and they explained me that they started with startup discussion of the first hire who was doing some expensive experiments, and I am a theorist, so it should be easy to complete my part later. But later I was told that they cannot afford me anymore after negotiating the startup budget for the first hire (their Dean did not approve such budget).

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  3. @3:11PM. I really can't agree with the postdoc you talked to – not only because of the negative comment does no good to anyone but because "counting papers" is an ineffective approach becoming increasingly unpopular (sure, some NIH grant reviewers still judge applicants that way). It is simply a surrogate for assessing the problem solving skills of the candidate when 1) the committee doesn't know the candidate well; 2) when the letters don't fully address that aspect. Most faculty members want to have a colleague who can communicate well and be friends with, and they want their colleague to succeed so they want to make sure that the candiate "knows how" to publish papers with their trainees.
    Your second part is still true, but I think the responsbility then falls on the junior faculty (aka us), to write letters that carefully show the potential of the trainees, and to give them shoutouts whenever we can. I know it's easier said than done. But I really think being positive is the way to go.

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    1. Well, even if you write a great letter, it is not necessarily given the same consideration.
      Story #1. When I was a 5th year grad student, I attended some workshop panel at top10 school with senior faculty members who were answering questions regarding the academic job search. One of the professors expressed his view very straightforwardly saying that we cannot expect him to read carefully hundreds of letters, and he always start with letters and applications coming from well-known professors and sometimes don't go to others unless it is necessary.
      Story #2. I asked a professor whom I know very well (his school is ranked somewhere between #10 and #20 in different rankings) about the way they review the recommendation letters. He said in their search committee they sort the letters and give them weights. Your letter might be great and supportive but might come with a lower weight than a letter from a Nobel prize winner.

      I understand that such behavior is more typical for top schools that can afford being very picky, but it often happens in other schools as well.

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    2. what I heard is that the search committee don't pick candidates based on the letters, they filter the top candidates by looking for the red flag in their letters. Many letters do contain red flag. You never know.

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    3. Many searches unfortunately filter to top candidates by pedigree + number of papers then look at rec letters and proposals. In a potential sign of positive change, I have heard of > 1 university switching over to requiring proposals without identifying info and only screening by proposals to filter. This, imo, would be a positive change for all involved if more were to adopt this.

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    4. @9.37. This is what many engineering departments do. They first screen proposals and then ask for letters. I believe it is better too. Though the success of this endeavor depends on the specific sub field. It might easily work for biochemists, I assume. In theoretical chemistry, certain keywords and topics in your proposal can allow someone to identify candidates, as there are just few of them working on certain topics and only 1-2 of them are on the job market at a given time.

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  4. Any news from UC Santa Cruz Materials Theory position?

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  5. Did anyone apply for UPenn Materials Science? If so, any news?

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    1. They are doing screening interviews

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    2. Just to understand better, in the initial application no reference letters were asked. In December, the department requested the letters to the referees and I thought they would have ended up with the final shortlist after that process. If I interpret your words correctly, that is not the case and the department is instead calling a subset of those candidates to get to the final shortlist? Thanks!

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    3. Sorry, I don't know any information about their process. I just know that they are just now doing short screening interviews over Zoom.

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    4. If we are posting MSE stuff here now, has anyone heard from MIT DMSE or Berkeley MSE?

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    5. @ Jan 21 7.59: I received RL requests from MIT DMSE in early Jan. Not sure if they did the same for everyone, since I will be happily surprised if they are interested in me.

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    6. @9:30 my letters were submitted in November when I gave my referees the link to upload letters, so it's probably a good sign they asked you for them since they wanted them submitted by the application deadline.

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  6. Anyone heard back from USC Chemistry after the first round?

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    1. Been wondering this too...

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    2. I have not heard anything, but I asked them regarding their timeline in the end of my screening interview. They told me that it will take a while to decide, as they have 3 searches (ChemBio, Organic and Physical) for only one position and they expect some debate on whom to choose after having a lot of screening interviews for those three fields. I was told that their decision regarding full interview candidates will be ready in the end of January.

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    3. USC chem is scheduling full interviews

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  7. It seems that University of North Texas has removed the computational/theoretical chemistry position in their website:
    https://chemistry.unt.edu/job-openings
    Does this mean they already hired someone? Did anyone get any sort of interview?

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    1. I have not heard from them yet.

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    2. Not @4:43. Me neither!

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  8. Anyone know the status of UCLA's med chem search? I see they have interviews on their site for the other sub-searches...

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  9. I deleted a comment (1/20, 12:20 PM) because it contained sufficiently identifying information, and I was contacted about it.

    I remind the users of this open thread to have discretion, and to avoid the use of identifying information that narrows it down to an individual. It's not kind to talk about people on the internet.

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    1. Thanks for providing and moderating this community, as well as for the application list. They are invaluable resources.

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    2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  10. I guess you could add this one in Oxford, I think it is a re-advertisement:

    http://working.chem.ox.ac.uk/jobs.aspx?ID=1361

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    1. I'm surprised at how low the salary is.

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    2. Really? Salaries in the UK are much lower than the US. The posted salary range is considered VERY good in the UK.

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    3. Had a Zoom interview with university in UK. First question asked during the interview was why leave the USA to UK when pay is much higher in USA. They do all they can to compete with the USA but can only increase salaries before eyebrows are raised.

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  11. Any updates from Northeastern (green chemistry)?

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    1. Not sure if they even have collected recommendation letters

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  12. University of North Dakota just started scheduling first round interview

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  13. Any news from Rhodes College?

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    1. Nothing yet, still waiting to hear back after the first round interview.

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  14. Toronto quantum materials is scheduling screening interviews

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  15. Western Washington University is scheduling preliminary interviews.

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  16. University of Arkansas is scheduling first round interviews.

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  17. Anybody else in nail-biting mode?

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    1. I'm past that... I've transitioned into "I think I'll do more postdoc, ooofff" mode lol

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    2. In a 'normal year' I would give up in January, however, I have many schools on my list that I haven't heard any updates for. What to think this year? Is it over or are schools moving slower?

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    3. Not @10:41. I believe everything is different this year including the hiring process. I have also many schools in my list with no update. Good luck for all.

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    4. Not above but same here. Many schools in my list are up in the air still.

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  18. Keck Science Department (Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges) is scheduling preliminary interviews.

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  19. Anyone heard back from the University of Houston after the first round interview?

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  20. Any news from Bishop's University?

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    1. Received rejection letter from Bishop's University.

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  21. curious to hear from others who have done the academic cycle at least once already. I'm quite discouraged by what looks to be another not very promising cycle on my side. All my advisors keep telling me that COVID made this a bad year and I should think about trying again. At that point I'll basically have completed a second Ph.D... it sort of feels like I'm being tricked into staying on as relatively inexpensive but highly skilled labor. just seeking some outside guidance from people who might have found themselves in similar situations

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    1. I did not understand what you mean by second PhD but I believe you can try to get a postdoc position. It is much easier than getting an academic position.

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    2. It is true that COVID made this a bad year, but it is not easy to begin with in a normal year. Seems like you have been podsdoc-ing for a while, I just want to put it out there that industry life is not bad at all.

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    3. Might I suggest a different postdoc in a new area? This could help broaden your experience while advancing your CV. However, try to make certain that your next postdoc advisor is willing to let you broaden your expertise. That is, many postdoc advisors are hiring you because you're good at something, thus they may lure you in with the "new/different stuff they do" but really they'll make you continue doing "what you're good at only" (this happened to me and is very common).

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    4. "it sort of feels like I'm being tricked into staying on..." I definitely felt this way with my postdoc advisor. As soon as he learned I was applying for faculty he mentioned COVID and said it might not happen this year. Although he had a point it definitely made me paranoid about the quality of letter I was getting. In my experience, most PIs (and people) are only in it for themselves, fact of life. I would trust your gut and do what's best for you!

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    5. Have you been getting interviews? I find myself wavering between should I continue this and how can I get certain interviews and then end up not securing a position in academia? Starting to wonder if it's just a gambler's fallacy in action though.

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    6. I'm going to voice what might be a controversial opinion, but I would strongly caution you if you're thinking about doing a second postdoc right now, IF the only point of doing it is because you didn't land an academic position this year. If you start a new postdoc this year, it means that you will certainly be missing the next cycle of faculty apps (for a 2022 start), and depending on the sub-field you're in, you might not even be competitive for the 2023 cycle (when factoring in publication rate, proficiency in the new spot, etc...). So, a lateral move to a second postdoc won't help you advance to a faculty position any sooner, and in fact will most likely delay the start of your tenure-track position (which is still an exceedingly competitive arena, where sometimes second postdocs aren't looked favorably upon at some R1s). This is where you're going to have to be completely honest with yourself and figure out what it is in life that you value most, and whether continuing to put your life on hold for a position that MIGHT work out is a gamble you're willing to take. No one knows this answer but you.

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    7. I did two postdocs (3.5 years total) and my experience was bad. My second postdoc advisor wanted me to stay for at least 3 years (5 years postdoc total, no way!) and I think he submitted a bad rec letter (he is known for that) because I applied to faculty positions even when he did not want me to. I obtained 5 interviews last year with R1 universities but I did not land a job. Then, I decided to go to industry. I am getting paid >80k and I am getting a bunch of interviews for companies that pay >100k for senior scientists. Academia is overrated, and many times postdoc advisors will submit bad rec letters to keep you longer and longer, because you produce more than a first year postdoc. My advise is to try twice and let it go if you dont get a position in a university. Just ~5% (not lying) of the postdocs obtain faculty positions, from that number ~70% are green card holders or citizens.

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    8. I think you are being paranoid. "Bad" letters are extremely uncommon and I've never heard of someone getting 5 R1 interviews with a "bad" letter from their postdoc advisor.

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  22. I know most users of this board are interested in R1s, but for the PUI trajectory folks, has anyone heard from any of the following?
    University of Tampa
    Presbyterian College
    Utica College
    Cedarville University
    Indiana Tech
    Coastal Carolina University

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    1. University of Tampa is conducting on-sites.

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    2. Coastal Carolina is scheduling initial zoom interviews.

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    3. Presbyterian College is doing first round interviews.

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  23. @11:36 How much advantage does green card holder/citizens have in academic jobs? Does anyone put it on CV? I know it matters a lot in industry.

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    1. Some small universities do not have the infrastructure to sponsor VISAs. It is very expensive. Just think about it, every PhD is "equally" capable, why spend the money? This is the real world... Especially now with COVID when professors are getting laid-off. But do not put personal identifying information in your CV, they will figure it out during the interview.

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  24. Any news from UPenn Materials Science after the screening interviews?

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  25. St Jude Chemical Biology & Therapeutics is scheduling zoom interviews

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    1. May I ask when you applied?

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    2. are these prescreening interviews or full interviews?

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    3. African or European swallows?

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    4. @6:43 Listen, in order to maintain air-speed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings 43 times every second, right?

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    5. May I remind you good sirs that African swallows are non-migratory birds. But it may be possible two swallows at time.

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  26. Any news from Southwestern University?

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  27. Pacific Lutheran sent a rejection saying the position has been filled.

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  28. Kennesaw State is scheduling preliminary interviews.

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  29. Lehigh University is scheduling preliminary interviews.

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  30. Western Kentucky University is requesting recommendation letters.

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  31. Any news from Idaho State University?

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    1. They had preliminary interviews last week, but nothing since.

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  32. Any news from UT Arlington?

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    1. I emailed the assistant in the provost office few days ago. He/she told me that the position is still open.

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    2. i have been told that this search concluded

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    3. Did they hire someone? or they just canceled it?

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  33. Any news from Lawrence Technological University?

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  34. Oklahoma Inorganic Materials is scheduling interviews

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  35. UCONN atypical cluster hire in "Environment and Human Interactions" is scheduling screening interviews ("This cluster hire promotes meaningful engagement among physical, natural and social scientists through the potential for collaborative teaching, research, and outreach initiatives. Individuals should have research and teaching interests focused on one or more of the following areas: Analytical/Environmental Chemistry, Marine Sciences/Oceanography, Geography, Environmental Anthropology, Environmental Politics and Sustainability, Environmental Policy, and/or Environmental Inequalities and Justice.")

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  36. How much an assistant professor makes in a top 100 university?

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    1. I'm at a top undergraduate institution (small private college), and make 80,000 for a 10 month contract.

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    2. Top 100 is a pretty broad range of schools, but ^ is pretty typical with some room up or down depending on location and some other factors. If you're interested in specific places, faculty salaries at public institutions in the US are typically available online. Just search Univerisity X salaries.

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    3. ^ lol what assistant prof makes 180k?? That's insane. Starting salaries are also well below 100k in most areas in the US. I'd say 80k is much closer to the average than 100k.

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    4. Agree with 10:58. Even clinical assistant professors (who have M.D. degree), who generally start off with higher salaries than Ph.D. assistant professors, usually start off around 120k. 180k is above average/higher end even for fully tenured R1 faculty.

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    5. The best place to understand institutional salaries is the Chronicle of Higher Ed database: https://data.chronicle.com/

      The best place to understand academic salaries across chemistry in general is the ACS Salary Survey: https://cen.acs.org/careers/salaries/What-US-chemists-made-before-the-COVID-19-pandemic-according-to-the-2020-ACS-salary-survey/99/i4

      Anonymous internet comments are not a good means of determining academic salaries, which, for the most part, are quite transparent.

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    6. The initial proposed salary I got (from this cycle) is 120K, my friend got 170K three years ago.

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    7. @ 11:47 AM, is that figure for 9 month or 12?

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  37. Has anyone received an offer from an R1 institution yet?

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    1. I received and accepted one already

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    2. Any news from Utah Material Chemistry ?

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    3. I got rejected after a screening interview there, this was before the new year

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  38. How many times have you applied to faculty positions? I have applied twice and this year I did not get a single call.

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    1. I can't tell if you're trolling, but I'll take this at face value.
      Twice is not nearly enough to expect results. I applied to >25 to get <5 interviews and I didn't even apply to every one I could have. Since there's not always a good reason why you get rejected at some schools, apply as often as possible, only eliminating places you know you WILL NOT go even if they offered. If you're a superstar, you might get a result from only 2 applications, but if you really want results, apply more. You also might be surprised at how much you like a place you didn't initially think you would.

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    2. I think the OP was saying they applied in two different application cycles, not just to two schools.

      OP: talk to your advisor or other trusted faculty members and ask for their feedback. It's possible something could be greatly improved in your application, or one of your letters is bad.

      It may also be worth thinking about whether it's worth your sanity to try for a third year. This has been a rough year on the academic job market, though, so maybe it's worth it to try a third time.

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    3. Not 10.42, but guessing they meant this was their second year of applications. Not that they were expecting results from 2 applications in one year. @10.42: This is my first year one the market.

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    4. This is 12:42; I see that I definitely misread your comment to mean applications, not cycles. Apologies on that and sorry this has been such a rough time. I agree with 12:46 that you should talk to >1 faculty member you trust and see what they think about this and if they are surprised that you haven't gotten any offers. Early in the cycle, my PI put me in contact with some faculty members at schools that were in the same range as what I wanted to get a job at (and weren't hiring this cycle). Those faculty were able to give me valuable feedback on my materials and encouraged me to keep with it, because they felt I had the right credentials to get a position. We will definitely look back on this year as a massive abnormality, but I recognize that this doesn't help you in the here and now.

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    5. Not above. I understand that you got some offers last year but not this year and this might preclude the possibility of something wrong in your application! On the contrary, your application should be better this cycle! Did you change your references this year ? It is a tough year anyway!

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    6. I am 10:42, I meant two hiring cycles. Sorry for the confusion. Last year I applied to ~60 places and I got 5 interviews. This year I applied also to several universities and I did not get a single interview. Should I let it go? Is it that impossible to get a faculty position? I feel like a failure. I have worked so hard and I feel just used by my advisors now...

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    7. I'm sorry that you didn't get a position for these last two hiring cycles. I want to be sure to note that you're not a failure, and your self-worth should not be defined by if other committees did not decide to hire you.

      Best wishes with what is next. If I can help talk, my e-mail is chemjobber@gmail.com

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    8. For 10:42, if it is any consolation you are not alone in that situation. I applied to over 85 places and got no interviews at all till now! My only advice for you (and for me) is to plan ahead and not to give up! Best of luck for all.

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    9. This year is a tough year for sure and definitely an extraordinary situation outside the norm. My university had some financial issues related to last spring and I think that is the case across the board. We're still managing to hire this year, but some cuts had to be made and clearly many institutions in the same boat decided they couldn't hire this year. Financial numbers for us look pretty decent moving forward and there have also been significant numbers of retirements, this all bodes well for a strong cycle next year, so hang in there! (I'm at an R1 public university).

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    10. @6:36 5 interviews out of 60 applications last year sounds pretty good, so it seems like the terrible job market rather than your package. You may want to look into applying to something like the ACS Postdoc to Faculty Workshop (I would suggest Nextprof also but the deadline already passed, I missed it too) to get some outside feedback on your application package if you want to try next cycle--these deadlines are coming up soon. Good luck!

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    11. @Chemjobber (I am 6:36) Thank you for offering your support and thanks for this blog where we can share our experiences.

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    12. As another piece of anecdata, I also had 5 on-site interviews last year and zero this year. So you are not the only one in this type of situation, and I expect there are probably many others. It's hard to know what to take away from it since the hiring landscape has changed so dramatically. Hoping I can hang on for another year, and that the market improves somewhat by then.

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    13. It's also worth getting feedback from faculty at the type of school you want to be at. There may be weaknesses in your packet that you can remedy before next cycle. I second the ACS Workshop suggestion as well.

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  39. Has anyone heard of interviews for West Chester or Mt. St. Mary's University?

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    1. Mount St. Mary's is scheduling in-person on-site interviews.

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    2. West Chester already did virtual on-site interviews about 2 weeks ago.

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  40. Received rejection emails from OHSU (Physiology and Pharmacology) & Interdisciplinary Cancer Research at the EPFL - good day otherwise... :)

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    1. Received the rejection from OHSU (Physiology and Pharmacology).

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  41. UC Davis has filled up the organic chemistry position. It was announced on twitter yesterday.

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  42. For those of us still waiting on Penn St: A faculty member there posted something on twitter about attending a faculty search meeting a few days ago. So perhaps they are just moving super slow this year.

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  43. any info on UMass Boston?

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    Replies
    1. They are scheduling final interviews for inorganic.

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  44. Western Kentucky is scheduling initial zoom interviews.

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  45. I applied >50 R1R2 but got no offer. This year is really tough. I think of 3 reasons.
    1. The academic job market is already competitive in a normal year.
    2. There are only about 1/3 openings this year based on statistic in the Excel, probably more reduction in R1s.
    3. Quite some people's offers were withdrawn last year due to COVID, so they will likely be additional strong competitors that should not be in a normal cycle.
    I wish everybody including myself good luck.

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  46. Someone on here was asking about Penn MSE, they are holding virtual on-sites now

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  47. Any news from Carnegie Mellon U.?

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    Replies
    1. AFAIK they were still in the middle of formal interviews last week.

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    2. Do you know how many candidates are they interviewing?

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    3. I don't know how many candidates they interview (I would assume around 10), but they interview both experimental and theoretical chemists, but there is only one position according to the Department Chair. They decided to interview a lot (easy and cheap via Zoom) and then choose the best fit.

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  48. Anybody ever head from Kansas?

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  49. Any news from Berkeley after the interviews?

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    Replies
    1. I haven't received a post-interview final decision (yes or no) from Berkeley yet.

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    2. I understand that they have ranked their candidates and may have already sent out first-round offers, at least in the chem. bio area.

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  50. Canned rejections from a noreply-HR address received from Colorado Mesa University.

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  51. Any news from Lawrence Tech?

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  52. Any news from Idaho state and University of Southern Mississippi, School of Polymer Science and Engineering?

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    Replies
    1. Idaho State has scheduled at least some on-sites.

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    2. USM PSE held screening interviews over a month ago.

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    3. @ 1.26pm - Thank you! Are those scheduled for next week? Why did you say "at least some on-sites" ?

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    4. This is 1:26pm. Scheduled for this week and next. I said "some" because I could only speak for the one I was aware of and did not want to preclude that others could still be in the process of scheduling.

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    5. @ 1.26 pm. - Thank you for the response.

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  53. received rejection from UC Irvine Pharma Sci

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  54. Just received rejection from UCI for Assistant professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences position.

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  55. Rejection email received from UT Austin stating they have determined their finalists.

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    Replies
    1. I appreciate the notification from the search committee, that's a classy move.

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    2. +1, but I thought they had been interviewing candidates already a few months ago...

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    3. If I remember correctly, last year there was no rejection letter from UT Austin chemistry.

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  56. Anyone heard anything from Loyola University Chicago (Biochem/Inorganic chem)?

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    Replies
    1. Loyola has scheduled their onsites. You can see them posted in their seminar calendar.

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  57. Any news from TAMU-Corpus Christi?

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  58. When would it be safe to say that your chances are low if the committee hasn't contacted you after X weeks after the initial interview (what could be this X)?

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    Replies
    1. Different for different departments, and depends on whether you were one of the earlier interviews or not...

      If it's been a long time (especially if it's much longer than the timeframe they indicated in the interview) I think it's ok to email and ask about the status of the search

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    2. I had the same situation and emailed them twice but got zero reply...

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    3. Thanks, any ideas why they did not reply?

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    4. Unfortunately, if you emailed twice and no reply, your chance is fairly low.

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    5. It seems like it, although it would be nice to have an official rejection reply.

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    6. If the department doesn't reply, should that be a red flag about the department operates?

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  59. Any news for U Rhode Island? As an organic chemist I think it might be my last chance...

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    Replies
    1. Rhode Island is conducting first round interviews at the moment. Sorry this might be your last chance, been a very tough cycle

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    2. First round interviews for URI were done last week.

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  60. Ball State is scheduling preliminary interviews.

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  61. Rejection from the University of Connecticut for Environment and Human Interactions position.

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  62. University of Nevada, Reno is scheduling initial interviews.

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  63. For an institution that grants bachelor and master degrees, how much would the start-up be? Would that be similar to the top PUIs? Thanks!

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  64. Has anyone heard from Lehigh after the initial round of interviews last week?

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    Replies
    1. Lehigh are now scheduling second round interviews

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  65. This really varies! 50K for a small state school.

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  66. Has anyone heard from Texas State after initial Zoom interview in first week of Jan?

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    Replies
    1. Their have finished most "on-site" interviews.

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  67. Any news from U Kansas?

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    Replies
    1. KU is in the process of scheduling preliminary interviews

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  68. University of British Columbia (Chemical Biology position) has reached out to candidates for preliminary interviews.

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    Replies
    1. Anyone heard from the phys chem position?

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    2. I'm also curious about the experimental pchem status. Maybe they'll narrow that down now that they've been contacting chem bio candidates?

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  69. Anyone hear from Carleton University in Canada yet?

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  70. Penn State is scheduling onsite interviews.

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    Replies
    1. Was there a preliminary interview round?

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  71. The position at Yale has been filled. It was announced on twitter

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