Sciences & Engineering Graduate Students Plan for Faculty Careers at 2024 Future Faculty Workshop

Rebecca Sausville, GradFUTURES

Sept. 24, 2024

At the third iteration of the GradFUTURES Future Faculty series for Natural Sciences & Engineering (July 29-31, 2024), nearly 70 Princeton graduate students and postdoctoral scholars immersed in activities and discussions designed to assist them in planning their faculty careers through systems thinking. The attendees, who came from fields of study across the Natural Sciences and Engineering, received an intensive primer on the diversity of higher education institutions and faculty experiences as well as the full range of skills and university resources leveraged by faculty members at various institutions.

Insights into diverse institutions and faculty experiences

A primary goal of the series was to give graduate students and postdocs insights into a broad array of faculty experiences and institutions. Two presenters focused on institutional categorizations and hiring metrics, while Princeton alums turned faculty members at a range of institutions (research intensive and teaching intensive) shared anecdotes and advice. Dean Sonali Majumdar started the program with an overview of American institutions of higher learning, focusing on the Carnegie Classifications that arrange universities by research output and degree types, among other considerations.

Dr. Chris Smith showcased the variable metrics of success and hiring by presenting data collected by his research group, Faculty Job Market Collaboration. The group collects and analyzes responses to a survey open to anyone seeking employment on the tenure-track or its equivalent. As Smith and his team reported in a 2020 article on survey results from 2018-2019, there is (unfortunately but unsurprisingly) no secret formula when it comes to landing a tenure-track faculty position. The strongest predictor of whether an applicant would receive an offer in a job cycle was the number of applications sent out by that applicant.

Two alumni panels offered participants a glimpse into faculty experiences at a range of higher education institutions. First, Prof. James Martin *19 (Molecular Biology) and Prof. James (Jaime) Martiney ‘85 shared what drew them to their current positions at (respectively) an R2 university and a community college, and described how their positions differed from what one would expect at an R1 institution.

Teaching – and not research – is at the core of Martin and Martiney’s positions. 80% of Martiney’s time is spent on teaching, and he frequently encounters non-traditional students at the community college, so it is critical to cultivate an understanding of and sensitivity to diverse student identities. Martin advised attendees considering R2 positions always to expect more teaching than advertised, and not enough time for research. Both speakers emphasized the considerable room for “good, positive impact” in their positions.

Katie VanderKam, a Ph.D. candidate in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, is primarily interested in pursuing teaching faculty positions, and she found Martin and Martiney’s conversation refreshing. “Specifically for the things I’m interested in, that was the highlight for me,” she said. “I think they had different things to say, which you weren’t going to hear the rest of the week.”

A group of people talk at a reception — Stephanie S. Lee *12 (CHE), who now is a faculty member at NYU, has served as an alum panelist at all three iterations of Future Faculty workshops. She is pictured here networking with students at the 2023 Future Faculty reception. *Photo: Sameer A. Khan / Fotobuddy*

The discussion of faculty life continued virtually in the form of a second alum faculty panel which focused on liberal arts and R1 institutions. The featured speakers were Noah Apthorpe ‘14, *20 (Computer Science), Leah Bendavid *13 (Chemical & Biological Engineering), and Stephanie S. Lee *12 (Chemical & Biological Engineering), who are faculty members at Colgate University, Vassar College, and New York University.

Skills for success in research-intensive institutions

Five Princeton faculty and staff members shared information on the foundational skills for a faculty member (including and beyond teaching), such as developing a research program, inclusive mentoring, contributing to DEI initiatives, and connecting your research to the wider world. Prof. Yael Niv of Princeton Neuroscience Institute (PNI) discussed giving and receiving feedback as part of a wider focus on evidence-based best practices in mentorship. Dean Abreeotta Williams-Jones of the Graduate School shared resources about supporting and advocating for holistic diversity, equity, and inclusion as a researcher, mentor, and faculty member. Prof. John Jimah of Molecular Biology shared his experience of establishing a lab at Princeton, which encompassed funding, team-building, and the significance of inclusive mentorship.

Two Princeton faculty members discussed how they built out their research programs and established themselves within their research spheres. Prof. Mariangela Lisanti, a theoretical physicist, talked about building and communicating her research profile given the relative newness of her area of dark matter theory. Lisanti’s work is based in both particle and astrophysics, and she recommends that interdisciplinary job applicants “need to have at least one foot firmly planted in each discipline.” To that end, an applicant's reference writers should be ready to speak about the applicant's preparedness in specific disciplines.

During another Q&A, Prof. Josh Atkinson, a new faculty member in Civil & Environmental Engineering, provided insights from his recent time on the academic job market. He addressed questions on topics including managing one’s time while teaching, researching, applying for jobs while living life, and trying to relax during campus visit dinners. Atkinson urged applicants to start with an application package “truly personal to yourself.” For Atkinson, this meant harking back to his youth in Flint, Michigan, where the ongoing water crisis propelled him towards the application space in which he conducts his research. He also urged attendees to incorporate relevant grant calls and potential collaborators into campus visit chalk talks, both to connect the applicant’s work to the wider research sphere and to show off their collaborative dexterity.

University resources to support faculty

Four university staff members gave presentations on campus resources available to support dissemination of research findings, grant writing, and teaching. Princeton University Library's Meghan Testerman offered suggestions on tools and best practices relating to open science. Testerman provided examples of successful citizen science projects such as SciStarter, which connects volunteers with scientists collecting data, as well as PNI’s mildly addictive brain-mapping game, Eyewire. In addition, Testerman gave overviews of data management plans (which all federal grants will require by 2025) as well as publishing formats such as registered reports, which are now used by over 300 journals.

Elizabeth Adams and Courtney Kohut of the Office of Research and Project Administration provided a primer on the funding landscape and grant life cycles at Princeton. Kohut recommended that researchers aim to diversify their funding portfolios between government, foundation, and industry sources. Given the difficulty of obtaining government funding – National Science Foundation applications have a 40% success rate – Adams urged attendees to investigate foundation funding. Dr. Ardon Shorr of the Princeton Writing Program (PWP) had much more to say about grant writing during his workshop on the topic, encouraging attendees to think like reviewers at every stage of grant writing: that is, to make feasibility and significance the cornerstones of proposals. For an expanded version of the workshop, graduate students and postdocs might consider enrolling in proposal-writing courses offered by the PWP.

Finally, Dr. Ransford Pinto picked up the thread of campus resources in his overview of the resources available to graduate students and postdocs through the McGraw Center for Teaching & Learning. The Center’s Pedagogy and Professional Development Workshops series covers topics of use to anyone considering a faculty career: fostering engaging and inclusive learning spaces, supporting student identities, and writing thoughtful teaching philosophies. Theo Greene, a Ph.D. candidate in Geosciences, identified Shorr and Pinto’s presentations as his highlights, noting that “both were excellently led and engaging.”

Takeaways and next steps for attendees

For the Ph.D. candidates VanderKam and Greene, the series provided new discoveries about their future faculty pathways. VanderKam is already a McGraw Graduate Teaching Fellow, and will deepen her skill-building there this fall while continuing to reflect about the community college and R2 pathways. She likewise began reading a book recommended by Niv, "Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well.”

Four people stand and converse at a reception — Nearly 70 graduate students and postdoctoral scholars attended a variety of panel discussions and events over the course of three days. Here, a group of attendees network at the closing reception of the 2023 workshop. *Photo: Sameer A. Khan / Fotobuddy*

Greene, meanwhile, saw the series as an invitation to further career explorations. “There were a lot of good pieces of information about different types of careers and institutions, but I think my main takeaway is that I need to spend a lot more time exploring these options to feel like I have a grasp on what I want to do,” he said. “Ideally I'll spend more time at other GradFUTURES events and with my advisor discussing those options, and this was a good way to jumpstart that process.”