Opening for a Microbiologist
The Biology Department at Barnard College is recruiting a microbiologist at the assistant professor level. Applicants should have a Ph.D. and relevant post-doctoral research training; experience in college-level instruction is highly desirable. Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae, research and teaching statements, and representative publications to: Microiology Search Committee, Biology Department, Barnard College, 3009 Broadway, New York NY 10027. Applicants should also arrange to have three letters of recommendation sent to the same address. Electronic submissions and inquiries regarding the position should be directed to biologyjob@barnard.edu. Review of the applications will begin November 1.
Barnard College is a undergraduate women's college providing a liberal arts education. Barnard is affiliated with Columbia University, but maintains its own faculty and administration. Primary instructional responsibilities of the science faculty at Barnard include teaching four courses per year and mentoring students in research which is considered an important part of our mission. For the advertised position, the central courses of instruction will be an upper-level lecture course and a laboratory course in Microbiology. The lecture course surveys microbial diversity and also covers basic aspects of microbial biology. The lab course, which is limited to 16 students, is related but runs independently, and we encourage our labs to be based on an active-learning model that encourages independent student research. This laboratory course can rely heavily on the successful candidates own technical expertise, and should introduce the students to modern methods and techniques in the field. Additional teaching responsibilities for the successful applicant will include a second upper-level course and possible participation in our Introductory courses. This additional upper-level course is likely to be a seminar course for seniors in the area of the individual's specialty, but may vary depending on the instructional needs of the department.
The Biology Department at Barnard College provides a broad-based undergraduate curriculum. The ten faculty members in the department cover a wide range of fields including molecular biology, cell biology, development, microbiology, genetics, physiology, behavior, evolution, and ecology. The organisms studied are equally diverse and include animals (vertebrate and invertebrate), plants, and bacteria. The majority of Biology majors proceed to post-graduate study; the upper-level advanced courses in the department are intended to provide insight for graduate study in a particular discipline. The upper-level microbiology course is also taken by students pursuing a pre-veterinary track.
For an undergraduate college, Barnard is heavily research oriented and is considered a "research college" by the administration. Faculty at Barnard are expected to develop and maintain an active research program. Many science faculty have external research funding and engage in research projects that incorporate undergraduate students. The microbiologist will have exclusive use of a roughly 500 sq. ft. research laboratory and share a second lab of equivalent size with two other faculty. Newly hired science faculty receive a start-up package, intended to provide the equipment and supplies necessary to conduct research prior to the acquisition of external funding; part of these start-up funds may be used to reconfigure the laboratory space.
The department also has a number of shared research facilities. They include (a) a new digital microscopy laboratory with four fluorescence microscopes; (b) a confocal microscope; (c) a transmission electron microscope; and (d) an autoradiographic darkroom, (e) constant temperature rooms, and (f) a greenhouse. The department also has a small animal care facility for housing limited numbers of rats and mice.
Barnard College also supports research by its junior faculty by providing course release time. Entering assistant professors are relieved of one course (from the normal four course load) during their first year of service and of two additional courses during their fourth, fifth or sixth years at Barnard. In addition, junior faculty may apply for a one-semester research leave following their third year of service.
Finally, the microbiologist at Barnard will be expected to contribute to and benefit from the intellectual environment provided by the research community at Columbia University including the Biology Department and the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology . In addition, there is significant microbiological research at Columbia's medical school (College of Physicians and Surgeons) located a quick subway ride away. The diverse array of research activities in the field is unusual at a liberal arts college.
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