Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in Experimental Physics

Position Type :

Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in Experimental Physics

Position Type : Regular

Regular

Salary Range :

The salary range for this position is $102,060 to $113,443, depending on the successful candidate's years of teaching experience at the college-level.

The position comes with generous benefits (scu.edu / hr / benefits), including medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, and university contributions toward retirement.

There are two housing assistance programs : Rental assistance to ease the transition into the local housing market, and housing purchase assistance for tenure-stream faculty.

Purpose : PURPOSE :

PURPOSE :

The Department of Physics at Santa Clara University, a Jesuit Catholic institution, seeks to fill a tenure-track (Assistant Professor) position in Experimental Physics beginning September 1, 2025.

We are particularly interested in the areas of condensed matter / low-temperature / quantum physics, but outstanding candidates with other areas of specialization will be thoroughly considered.

We seek a diverse applicant pool of exceptional candidates. The position requires teaching the equivalent of six undergraduate physics courses over three academic quarters, consistently maintaining a high-quality physics research program that will both secure external funding and involve undergraduates, and fulfilling service tasks appropriate to discipline and academic rank.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS :

Minimum educational requirement is a Ph.D. in Physics or a closely related field.

Candidates must have post-doctoral research experience.

Candidates must have the demonstrated ability to teach SCU lower-division physics courses to majors and non-majors, and upper-division courses to majors.

• The primary hiring criteria are : (i) evidence of or clear potential for excellence in teaching at the university level, including excellent oral and written communication skills;
• ii) evidence of a well-defined research plan that can successfully compete for external funding; (iii) a clear commitment to sustaining meaningful research activity while employed by SCU;
• iv) evidence of the ability and desire to involve talented SCU physics or engineering physics majors in research; (v) interest in and commitment to working effectively and collegially with diverse constituencies;

vi) ability to and interest in contributing to the University, College and Department priorities, which include increasing diversity on campus.

The successful candidate must be comfortable working in a diverse environment and must be respectful of others.

The successful candidate must be able to provide evidence of identity and legal authorization to work in the United States.

SCU is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer. Women and people of color are particularly encouraged to apply.

RESPONSIBILITIES :

Physics tenure track faculty members are expected to be collegial teaching-scholars who can successfully balance a commitment to both quality teaching and a sustained research program that typically involves undergraduates.

The successful candidate will also be expected to contribute service to the department, college and / or university as appropriate to rank.

More specifically, duties include but are not limited to :

TEACHING

1. Candidates must have the ability to teach lower-division lecture and lab courses in the Physics 11-13 and Physics 31- 33 series, as well as several upper-division courses for physics majors, as assigned by the chair.

While we would welcome the applicant to teach a course for non-majors (if interested), the bulk of the teaching assignment will be for courses in the major.

Applicants should provide syllabi and teaching evaluations, if available. Each candidate must demonstrate their teaching ability during the on-campus visit and must have the potential to effectively advise and mentor undergraduates from diverse backgrounds.

Candidates will be carefully evaluated for their ability to work effectively with majors on research projects and their ability to interact collegially and professionally with faculty, staff and students.

SCU is on the quarter system and a typical load is two courses per quarter. Teaching responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following :

a)Conducting and appearing at all assigned class meetings in a timely and prepared manner that demonstrates a command of the discipline and skill in presenting it effectively.

b)Assigning and evaluating written work, projects, and exams that align with course or core learning objectives and providing timely feedback to students.

c)Holding weekly office hours at times reasonably convenient to students.

d)Assigning and submitting student grades that are appropriate, accurate, and fair measures of student performance to the Office of the Registrar by the designated deadline.

e)Administering numerical and narrative evaluations in each section for all courses.

2. Develop and teach courses that contribute to curriculum development in the relevant degree program and / or the university core.

Faculty teaching university core courses should follow an approved syllabus or work with the chair to design an appropriate syllabus for submission for approval from the relevant Faculty Core Curriculum Committee.

3. Participate in assessment of student learning for courses in the department.

4. Provide informed advice and mentoring to undergraduate students.

5. Fulfill other instructional or academic duties as may be assigned by the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences or by the Physics Department Chair.

RESEARCH

Candidates must be able to describe how they will establish and maintain a strong research program in experimental physics at SCU.

The research program should be of sufficiently high quality that it will be competitive for continued support by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Energy (DOE), or a similar funding source.

Our preferred research areas are condensed matter / low-temperature / quantum experimental physics, but we are open to applications from a larger population of hands-on experimental physicists.

It is expected that candidates will have published peer-reviewed articles in top-tier scientific journals, will be interested in new collaborations both within and beyond SCU Physics, and will have written or directly contributed to at least one research grant proposal.

Publications must clearly demonstrate the potential for the candidate to establish a productive and scientifically meaningful research group as an SCU faculty member.

SERVICE

Candidates must show understanding and support of the University’s Jesuit mission and have the potential to become involved in College or University strategic goals.

Candidates should be able and willing to perform service activities at the department, College, University and professional levels.

Service contributions should be consistent with the overall goals and mission of the university, broadly interpreted. The candidate should have a demonstrated commitment to diversity, as well as a collegial and collaborative spirit.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION :

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS :

1. Cover letter specific to this particular opportunity, including a description of how the applicant could contribute to diversity at the department and university.

2. Current curriculum vitae

3. Contact information for three professional references who can speak to the candidate’s suitability for this position. External letters of recommendation will be requested for selected candidates after an initial evaluation is complete.

4. Brief statement of teaching philosophy

5. Proposed research overview that focuses on the quality, viability and sustainability of the proposed work. A clear indication of how undergraduates would be involved in portions of the candidate’s research is expected.

Candidates are encouraged to identify in their application any strengths or experiences related to increasing diversity.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

10 / 25 / 2024

COVID-19 Statement

The health and safety of the University community is a top priority. The University strongly recommends that all employees are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 as the vaccination and boosters are safe, effective tools that significantly minimize the chances of serious illness and hospitalization.

Please contact Human Resources if you have any questions.

Telecommute

Santa Clara University is registered to do business in the following states : California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and Illinois.

Employees approved to telecommute are required to perform their work within one of these states.

Work Authorization :

A foreign national who is appointed to a tenured or tenure-track faculty position is eligible for visa sponsorship assessment by Santa Clara University together with its legal counsel.