The 2025 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 3 research/teaching positions and 1 teaching position.
Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.To see trending, go to Andrew Spaeth's visualization of previous years' list.
On June 6, 2023, the 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 6 research/teaching positions.
Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? This will serve as the first open thread.
Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread.
Will the chemical engineering one be happening this year too? I think it kinda fell off hard in January this past cycle.
ReplyDeleteThe Chemical Engineering List is independent of this blog. It is publicized here only. - CJ
DeleteHere we go again... and to think I was just recovering from the let-down that was the 2024 cycle...
ReplyDeleteWe got this!
DeleteRemember to check faculty salary expectations against the AAUP salary survey (https://www.aaup.org/sites/default/files/AAUP_2023-24_FCS_preliminary_results_appendices_corrected.pdf)
ReplyDeleteI mean this sincerely: Thank you to whoever posted this!
DeleteMy industry job is fine, and I am happier than I've been in years!
Difficult to see how academia attracts the "best and the brightest" these days given the abysmal salary level, especially ones in HCOL areas. You pretty much need to come from a privileged background, have a wealthy spouse, or live poorly/not raise a family with dignity in order to justify the choice.
DeleteWhat, generally, have people heard about this upcoming cycle? I had heard there was a lot of general optimism about the cycles in Fall of 2022 and 2023 because COVID-era hiring freezes were ending. By comparison I haven't heard much of anything about this cycle.
ReplyDeleteCan you help me understand this list more? I can't seem to find a key for the headings in that PDF. The numbers you're posting here aren't all from the same column (e.g. St. Olaf and USC are from the "AI" column but Utah State is from the "LE" column) so I'm pretty confused where to look for myself.
ReplyDeleteCorrection: Utah State University $82.4k (Thank you, Anonymous June 27, 2024 at 1:38 PM!)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anonymous June 27, 2024 at 1:38 PM. It is a little confusing the first time around! The main AAUP research website is https://www.aaup.org/our-work/research/FCS [noted on page 1 of the appendices pdf ]. The narrative report [https://www.aaup.org/file/ARES_2023-24.pdf] has a full list of the abbreviations. Here are some of the main abbreviations, including ranks:
ReplyDeleteNAME = name of institution (listed alphabetically by state)
NOTES = found on pdf pages 38-40 and 51 of the appendices pdf
CAT. = AAUP institutional categories
CTRL = institutional control (public, private, religious, etc.)
Ranks:
PR = full professor
AO = associate professor
AI = assistant professor
IN = instructor
LE = lecturer
And the list is across all colleges?
ReplyDeleteI got an assistant professor position a couple of years ago. For my institution (R1), the listed salary numbers are in the ballpark but a little low (I started >$15k higher than what's listed).
ReplyDeleteI believe it is averaged across all fields and pay in STEM fields will tend to be higher, occasionally a lot higher, than pay for faculty in the arts or humanities at some institutions (including mine), which may skew the listed numbers lower than what you'd be paid as a chem prof.
ReplyDelete@AnonymousJuly 3, 2024 at 12:37 PM &
ReplyDelete@AnonymousJuly 3, 2024 at 5:31 PM &
@AnonymousJuly 3, 2024 at 7:22 PM
WHAT IS THE DATA COLLECTION METHOD FOR THE FACULTY COMPENSATION SURVEY?
Data for the Faculty Compensation Survey is collected directly from colleges and universities, usually from an administrative office. Data is reported in the aggregate for the institution, by faculty rank, and gender. Currently, the Faculty Compensation Survey does not collect individual-level salary data or data at the discipline level. Data includes full-time and part-time instructional and instructional/research/public service faculty, with the exception of clinical or basic science faculty, medical faculty in schools of medicine, and military faculty. Data is collected for the current academic year, as defined by your institution, with the exception of part-time faculty, for whom data is collected for the prior academic year. All data for full-time faculty is for a total annual academic year base salary unless otherwise noted.
(from https://research.aaup.org/faq)
Is anyone else having the problem that google docs says there is a problem with the spreadsheet and it cannot load? I have tried firefox and chrome, both on private browsing mode, and it wouldn't load in either.
ReplyDeleteYes, someone on BlueSky reported this as well. Can you describe the problem?
DeleteAlso, send me your email (chemjobber@gmail.com) and I can send you a downloaded attachment.
Just opened fine for me.
DeleteI have also been unable to open the google sheet for some time now. It gives an error message (copied below) that just keeps coming up if I try to reload. I have tried using firefox and safari and multiple computers (all macs, different IP addresses). I don't really need the attachment, I just like to follow the postings and don't know why google docs is all of a sudden not working for me with this file.
ReplyDeleteGoogle logo
Google Docs encountered an error. Please try reloading this page, or coming back to it in a few minutes.
To learn more about the Google Docs editors, please visit our help center.
We're sorry for the inconvenience.
- The Google Docs Team
When you see a post list "materials" as focus, should that generally be assumed to mean inorganic materials or are polymers/soft matter often under consideration too?
ReplyDeleteIf there is no explicit clarification in the full job posting, I think it would be reasonable to apply as someone working in polymers/soft materials. Looking at the Texas Tech post (for example), the position is listed as Materials/Energy, but it explicitly notes Inorganic Chemistry in their full listing.
DeleteIt's rumored that the Yale chemistry open search favors senior candidates.
ReplyDeleteAny idea what areas of chem will be given preference?
Deleteby "favors senior candidates", I assume this is code for they have a very specific senior hire that they wish to make?
DeleteSome places use this as code for you have to have external funding to be considered.
DeleteProbably pchem
DeleteCould be computchem, they just lost a big name
DeleteI haven't personally heard about senior candidates, but a faculty member here told me they are looking for a physical chemist (source: I'm a postdoc at Yale)
DeleteIt looks like Tori Barber updated the 2024 search status tracker document with a separate sheet for 2025. There's not much in the way of activity on it yet, though.
ReplyDeletehttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zZf5I43l4jXVUWsIUZVo7UeA9vrIszitGdkYA9XUBgY/edit?usp=sharing
FWIW I'm pretty sure she isn't updating it anymore (If you look at it in google drive, I've never seen "last edited by [Tori's email]"), but yes it is up.
Deletelooks like people are using it since it is editable
DeleteNew Mexico State University are not recommended, departmental leadership has created an environment that is toxic beyond description.
ReplyDeleteI was told the department is quite conservative
DeleteStarting pay is also abysmal, even by (generally abysmal) assistant prof. standards
DeleteThere is ongoing litigation against the chair - according to the complaint the chair is on record saying she would rather be at an institution with less Hispanics. Oh my, a racist as dept chair!
DeleteJust saw Utah State had an inorganic position come up. I suppose it bears mentioning that they had a professor (Tianbiao Liu) who was there when I interviewed last fall for the physical posting. He has since been removed from the website and has pending litigation (https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/53650241/Liu_v_Utah_State_University_et_al) against the University
ReplyDeleteWhoa any idea what this is about? Always enjoyed his papers
DeleteApparently in Utah you can't access any court filings electronically without paying, and I'm stingy so I do not have any idea. From that link it looks like it involves the Dept Chari, Provost, and Title IX coordinator, and it falls under a Civil Rights Act lawsuit. Probably some juicy details.
DeleteDid Utah State hire anyone for the computational position last year?
DeleteNobody is on their faculty page. I got ghosted and have checked periodically to see when new hires popped up. They put up the organic guy about a month and a half ago maybe?
DeleteNow, I am very curious to know. I follow his papers regularly. Someone please find out!
DeleteWas able to find an archival posting of the court filing (https://archive.org/details/gov.uscourts.utd.148465) so people can read for themselves and decide. Not sure if there is more from either side on this, doesn't look like a clear cut issue.
DeleteNow, I am very curious to know. I follow his papers regularly. Someone please find out!
ReplyDeleteAs a faculty member currently on a search committee, please submit all of the requested application materials. If the job ad requests a CL, CV, transcripts, teaching philosophy, research proposal, and DEI statement, then include them all. And, if the ad specifically mentions being able to teach organic, and your background is inorganic or analytical, don't be surprised if you don't get an interview.
ReplyDeleteSo true! If all the documents aren't submitted, we aren't even allowed to look at the application.
DeleteHow much does the committee care about page requirements? The usual 3 pages for 3 proposals with a 1 page summary seems to becoming less common. Will apps be thrown out if this is used over a requested 7 page or 5 page document? Engineering seems even more intense with some only requiring 3 pages.
DeleteNot on a committee, but honestly so few suggest anything close to 10 that my "base" was 5 pages + references. Then I have another 2 pager that I use for ones that want something shorter.
DeleteThe advise I've been given from multiple senior faculty at prestigeous schools (Caltech, Berkeley, MIT, et al.) is that your executive summary needs to be tip top shape as well as figures throughout the prop package. Chances are they won't read beyond that, regardless of what the page "requirement" is. Given them a fully cooked idea rather than a half-baked but shorter version.
DeleteIf the rec letters arrive a bit late, is the application also considered incomplete and not considered?
ReplyDeleteI had one recommender (actually their admin) not send in several letters by one deadline and I was never evaluated by those schools. It's often a hard cutoff.
DeleteThat's why I like schools that ask for them later once you pass the initial triage. You don't need letters to tell who is competitive or not, and it motivates recommenders to actually get them in on time if you're at the Zoom stage with clear interest from the school.
DeleteHow do you know you weren't evaluated by those schools?
DeleteAs a counterexample, our department treats the deadline as a soft deadline and will look at applications as long as they're submitted before we decide on zoom interview candidates. If there was someone we agreed on as a preferred candidate that was missing a letter, we'd likely let them know.
DeleteI know because I contacted the search committees and they said they hadn't received my app. It was still stuck in the application system because it was marked as incomplete. It will vary with the system each school uses. Some are more strict than others with regard to the committee being able to see all initiated vs. only completed apps.
DeleteIs it just me or does this cycle feel substantially lighter than last year in terms of R1 openings? I've checked the analytics, but it "feels" different to me. Maybe just my perseption?
ReplyDeleteMight just be your subfield? This is another brutal year for polymer-specific positions unfortunately.
Delete@1:13 pm. Sadly I am a polymer chemist T_T
DeleteSame bro, same. I've been applying to a decent number of organic openings too, unless they specify something decidedly not polymer-y (medicinal etc.)
DeleteIt does feel lighter I think; feels like a lot more PUIs this cycle. Would be curious to see the breakdown of R1 vs PUI/Masters over the years
DeleteThis isn't very scientific of me, but if I ctrl+F for "PhD" in each of the last several years' sheets I get: 2025: 196 hits/334 postings (59%), 2024: 291 hits/558 postings (52%), 2023: 316 hits out of 628(!!) postings (50%), 2022: 300 hits out of 594 postings (51%), skipping 2021 because COVID weirdness, 2020: 315/557 (57%)
DeleteAlso worth noting that, over the years, I've kept a better eye out for R1 biochemistry positions at medical schools than, say, the 2016-2018 time period. - CJ
Delete@127 pm. Interesting. How many of those PhD programs qualify as R1 vs. R2, I wonder? Maybe this might just be a projection of specific subfields onto the whole cycle?
Delete@247 pm -- I've also been applying to ChemE and MatSE as polymers *could* fit into either of those camps. Granted, I think like a chemist, not an engineer.
ReplyDeleteSame, I'm stuck in a painful kind of hell where my research is very applied so, historically, a lot of chem departments have been turned off by that, but my degree is in chemistry which I understand probably gets me filtered out from a lot of ChemE/MSE searches. Here's to better luck this year!
Delete@409 pm - I'll cheers to that. It's all a black box anyway, with too many candidates, too few positions. Shrug. I guess we do the best we can do, and let the rest sort itself out.
DeleteJust as an FYI (chair at R1 institution) - we get so many excellent applicants for our openings that when triaging, we look for reasons to discount an application, whether this is totally fair or not is an issue for another time. So if it is missing components or does not follow the instructions precisely then you're out of luck. Don't assume that because your application is strong in other ways that you will be considered if it is incomplete or doesn't meet the job description. While exceptions exist for sure, don't assume it will be you. We can get more than 150-200 applications per opening, to expect some to read and fully evaluate all of these applications if some are incomplete is unreasonable.
ReplyDeleteCJ, any reason you haven't put in the Southern Miss positions? While it's a "polymer engineering" program, some of the best polymer chemists in America hail from that program in one way or another, such as Brent Sumerlin (who is a legit organic chemist of polymers). More broadly, I find it confusing that you're willing to put in (bio)chemistry positions, even from medical schools and biochemistry departments, but not polymer-focused materials/chemical engineering job postings. Similar last year with the UMass Polymer Engineering position. There are very legit chemists on that faculty (Todd Emrick, Todd Russell, Greg Tew) as well.
ReplyDeleteFor what it is worth, that position did make it onto the ChemE list. As a polymer chemist myself, I think we broadly fit into Chemistry, ChemE, and MSE. Therefore, we should check all three lists. I for one really appreciate all the hard work that CJ puts into maintaining the list. Let's please cut them some slack -- they are under no obligation to continue doing the community this massive service.
DeleteDear Professor:
DeleteFirst, the reason that I hadn't added the positions is that I was thinking about them, and that I was returning from a trip to Europe while working at my day job over the weekend on some work that is due tomorrow.
Second, your substantive comment is fundamentally why I draw a hard boundary for engineering department positions - I have no ability to judge (as you do) which engineering department have "very legit chemists" and which do not. Therefore, the rule (in my opinion) is that I either add all of them, or that I add none of them. Regrettably for you, I have chosen (and will continue to choose) the latter.
Third, my commitment to the job seekers of this list are: accuracy, speed and a high signal-to-noise ratio. There are many, many temptations adding institutions and departments, but I fundamentally feel that adding additional kinds of departments are a dilution of that signal-to-noise ratio.
Finally, I remind you: you are literally being paid to write me to request me to help you with your search. I remind you: I am *not* being paid to respond, and I do not take any money for running the Faculty Jobs List. I am doing this on my own time, adding over 500 positions a year, taking somewhere around 30 seconds (4.2 hours a year) to 3 minutes (a lot longer) to do so. I do not have unlimited time to curate this list, and this is where I have drawn the line. I hope you understand.
Respectfully, Chemjobber
Appreciate the thoughts! I was just curious, did not mean for that to come across combative (and I am not from that department fwiw, just an observer).
DeleteYou think we are going to see more R1 openings or large majority of them have already been posted already? Seems fewer than last year...
ReplyDeleteGiven that we are in mid october, my non-scientifically based guess is that most of them that will post have already posted. There probably will be some stragglers, but I agree that this feels like a slower year than last year or the year before. I'd love to get CJ's opinion given their experience curating the list for so long.
DeleteDon't know for PhD-institution openings, but it looks like to me we're running about 10% behind the moving average for October 16 (358 positions overall as of today, 381 is the moving average). The list usually ends up in the 550 range, so I would say that we still have a ways to go before we say this is entirely an off year. Still, I would be shocked at a catch-up rate.
Delete@CJ Thanks for your insight, as always! Bummer, but not much anyone of us applicants can really do about the worse market this cycle vs. last cycle. As you (jokingly) state on this blog, it's always bad.
DeleteIs there an updated Future PI Slack spreadsheet?
ReplyDeleteThere is. You should reach out to the admins to get the link as it's not supposed to be shared publicly.
Deletehttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HY0YQckvtSY-MeyiK39fczf6QG4JyIi0AP8igMd_-LY/edit?gid=1179836298#gid=1179836298
DeleteHas anyone heard from the Mount Sinai DPS chem bio/med chem search?
ReplyDelete