Assistant/Associate/Full Professors Biomedical Engineering

About UMass Amherst

UMass Amherst, the Commonwealth's flagship campus, is a nationally ranked public research university offering a full range of undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University sits on nearly 1,450-acres in the scenic Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, and offers a rich cultural environment in a bucolic setting close to major urban centers. In addition, the University is part of the Five Colleges (including Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, and Smith College), which adds to the intellectual energy of the region.

As a campus with an increasingly diverse student body, we are looking for candidates who can operate effectively in a diverse faculty and student community, and who value collegiality, collaboration, achievement, and integrity. We encourage applications from women, minorities, LGBTQIA and individuals with a commitment to mentor under-represented demographics within engineering. We are also interested in candidates who have had non-traditional career paths, those who have paused their careers for family or pandemic reasons, or who spent time outside of academia. We are committed to helping all constituents reach their full potential, creating best-in-practice operations to support faculty scholarship and fostering excellence in student experiences inside and outside our department.

UMass Amherst is a leader in providing institutional supports for faculty to combine work and family/personal responsibilities, and was listed among the Chronicle of Higher Education's UMass is in the top 10% of public research-intensive universities in the COACHE survey for making having and raising children compatible with the tenure-track. UMass Amherst maintains a nationally recognized NSF-sponsored ADVANCE Institutional Transformation program that seeks to increase equity in STEM fields through collaboration (). For more information on work-life balance at UMass Amherst, see

Job Description:

The Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at the University of Massachusetts () is embarking on a strategic hiring program enabled by additional investments from the UMass Institute for Applied Life Sciences (IALS) (). The BME Department is seeking candidates for three faculty positions: one at the tenure-track Assistant Professor rank and two at the Associate or Full Professor rank. The projected start date for these roles is September 1, 2024.

The position is defined broadly across the entire scope of BME, including areas that overlap with and build on current research themes, as well as areas that do not currently exist in the department. Applicants working on areas with a strong clinical and translational focus, which will leverage collaborations with UMass Chan Medical School and Boston-area hospitals, are strongly encouraged to apply. The successful candidate is expected to teach existing graduate and undergraduate courses in BME and will be encouraged to develop new creative curricula in areas of their interest or across disciplines.

The Department of Biomedical Engineering currently has 13 full-time faculty members, approximately 28 graduate students, and 370 undergraduates. The department expects to significantly expand its BME faculty and student count over the next few years. Additional information about the Department can be obtained at bme.umass.edu.

Requirements:

Applicants must have a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering or a closely related field by August 31, 2024. Applicants to the tenure-track assistant professor position must demonstrate potential for scholarly excellence and for developing an externally funded research program. The successful candidate will be expected to maintain an internationally recognized scholarly presence. Applicants to the tenured associate or full professor position must have demonstrated scholarly excellence and developed an externally funded research program, and the successful candidate will be expected to maintain an internationally recognized scholarly presence. Candidates will also be expected to teach existing undergraduate and graduate courses in our curriculum in biomedical engineering in addition to developing courses in their area of expertise. Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Application Instructions:

Candidates must provide the following in their application package addressed to "BME Faculty Search Committee." Applications will be reviewed starting on December 1, 2023 and until the search is completed. Applicants should submit a single PDF file that includes:

1. A cover letter, addressed to "BME Faculty Search Committee". The cover letter should a) introduce yourself, b) briefly describe your research interests, and c) describe your vision for this position. Page limit: 2 pages
2. A research statement. Candidates should situate their past research in a broader scholarly context and give their research vision for this position. Candidates are specifically asked to describe the types of scholarship they will perform, how that scholarship will be disseminated, and the expectations for how that scholarship will be funded. Statements will be evaluated based on assessment of demonstrated excellence or demonstrated promise of future excellence. Page limit: 5 pages
3. A teaching statement. Candidates should describe their past teaching experience and articulate their teaching vision for this position. Candidates are specifically asked to highlight existing courses in BME they are qualified to offer and indicate classes they are interested in developing. Candidates should address both undergraduate and graduate classes. Statements will be evaluated based on assessment of demonstrated excellence or demonstrated promise of future excellence. Page limit: 2 pages
4. A statement of vision for the candidate's role in their academic responsibilities to respect and advance diversity, equity, and inclusion. Candidates should list past and planned future actions to support the diversity mission of the College of Engineering and UMass. Page limit: 2 pages
5. A current curriculum vitae. The CV should be ordered as follows: 1) education, 2) employment, 3) awards and honors, 4) sponsored research (if any), 5) peer-reviewed publications, 6) teaching, 7) service, and 8) other sections as considered appropriate by the candidate.
6. Contact information (name, title, email address, institution) for 3 professional references. References will not be contacted until the second phase of the search.

Process

The steps of the process are as follows:

• A minimally qualified pool is identified from the applicants.
• All remaining candidates are evaluated, and a "long list" is identified, which will be interviewed via video conference. Candidates invited to these interviews will be emailed at least one week before the scheduled date.
  • For candidates advancing to the long list: references will be contacted, and candidates will have an opportunity to submit 1 or 2 representative scholarly works.
• A "shortlist" is developed from the long list, and these candidates will be invited to interview on campus. While we anticipate interviews on campus in February 2024, we remain flexible in light of potential health concerns related to travel.

The University is committed to active recruitment of a diverse faculty and student body. The University of Massachusetts Amherst is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer of women, minorities, protected veterans, and individuals with disabilities and encourages applications from these and other protected group members. Because broad diversity is essential to an inclusive climate and critical to the University's goals of achieving excellence in all areas, we will holistically assess the many qualifications of each applicant and favorably consider an individual's record working with students and colleagues with broadly diverse perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds in educational, research or other work activities. We will also favorably consider experience overcoming or helping others overcome barriers to an academic career and degree.