The Department of Physics and Astronomy at Michigan State University (MSU) invites applications for a tenure-system faculty position in physics education research (PER). The search is open to all fields of quantitative or mixed-methods PER. The successful candidate will hold a PhD in physics, physics education, or a closely related discipline and will have demonstrated the ability to carry out forefront research and a commitment to building an equitable and diverse scholarly environment. While we expect the appointment to be at the assistant professor level, depending on the experience of the candidate, an appointment at the level of associate or full professor will be considered.
MSU has several strong physics education research programs in introductory engineering physics, computational physics, physics for the life sciences, laboratory courses, advanced physics courses, and informal physics programs. In addition, the PER group at MSU has productive collaborations across campus including with the broader discipline-based educational research community; researchers in the College of Natural Science, the College of Education, the College of Engineering, and the CREATE for STEM Institute; as well as with several researchers in Communications and the Humanities. MSU’s PER group contributes strongly to the physics program such as working on a variety of transformation projects, supporting and mentoring of Undergraduate LAs, and evaluating different aspects of the undergraduate and graduate curriculum.
To ensure a holistic assessment of candidates, we request that applications include:
(1)
a CV, including a list of publications, teaching and mentoring roles, leadership positions, contributions to the academic community, and efforts in public outreach;
(2)
a 2-4 page statement highlighting past research successes and future research interests; this statement should also list which one of your lead-author and/or anchor-author publications you would most like the committee to read.
(3)
a 2-page teaching statement describing the applicant’s educational priorities (including teaching and mentoring) and plans to address them, which should highlight the applicant's efforts to address issues of diversity and inclusion;
(4)
a 1-2 page statement of contributions to the academic community. Universities are complex institutions that rely on faculty to assume diverse responsibilities, including fostering student learning, advancing research, disseminating knowledge, and sustaining healthy inclusive communities. The applicant should describe how they have “given back” to their previous institutions and communities, and their interests and plans for enriching the MSU community.
(5)
a cover letter that frames the application in the context of this ad and MSU’s PER group.
Applications should be submitted through the MSU hiring website (http://careers.msu.edu),
posting #620069. At this website, applicants should also submit contact information for three references. While letters will not be solicited for the initial evaluation of candidates, references should be prepared to submit letters, which focus on the candidate’s research impact on the field, the candidate’s experience with mentoring and collaborating, and efforts to broaden representation (promptly upon request). The selection process will begin on December 15, 2019, and review of applications will continue until the position is filled.
Questions may be directed to Prof. Danny Caballero (caballero@pa.msu.edu) or to any other member of the PER group. Applicants are encouraged to pursue the MSU PER group website https://perl.natsci.msu.edu.
We actively encourage applications from -- and welcome nominations of -- women, persons of color, veterans, and persons with disabilities, and we endeavor to facilitate employment assistance to spouses or partners of candidates for faculty and academic staff positions. MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer and is committed to achieving excellence through diversity.
