(no subject)

[steuard]

Well, here's the confirmation email from one of the last faculty applications I'm sending out this year. I don't know if they actually want a second "string theorist with a recent Ph.D. from the University of Chicago", but it can't hurt to ask. I've applied for quite a few other good positions as well, and I've been offered the option of staying here at Joint Science for another year if I'm not happy with any of the offers I get this spring, so I'm optimistic no matter what happens. But yeah, this one would be awesome^TM.

Dear Steuard,

We have received your application for a position in the physics department at Harvey Mudd College. After members of the department have had a chance to go through the applications, I will notify you as to where your application stands.

All applicants will be notified when the position has been filled.

Thank you for your interest in Harvey Mudd College.

Comments

[robbbbbb.livejournal.com]

Dude. Rock on. Good luck.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

*g* Well, at least said second string theorist would have a BS from a reasonably adequate institution.

Who's retiring?

(Oh, and congrats on the Joint Science extension. It's nice to be at liberty to turn things down if you hate them. :)

[stereotype441.livejournal.com]

Dude, awesome is exactly what that would be.

[chalgaryn.livejournal.com]

Petersen.

We heard that he was retiring about a month before they advertised the position, so we figured that they would specifically be looking for a biophysicist to replace him. We were pleasantly surprised when the ad said that the position is open to all specialties.

[beth_leonard]

I remember when I was working at the admissions office and we recieved about 1100 applications for the 500 students they planned to accept for the following freshman class. The physics department received 1200 applications for the 2 spaces on the physics department staff. It was, shall we say, competitive.

One idea to point out to them, if they already have a string theorist on staff, is that two people with the same speciality can often collaborate and get ideas from each other. Each is made better by working closely with the other. Brainstormed ideas can possibly spark key insights.

That would be so awsome if you can get a position at Mudd.

And speaking of Mudd, how close is your place to the campus? Do you have pets? We're planning to come for the reunion this year and it's never to early to start lining up crash space. I suppose we're at the place now where we could actually justify getting a hotel room, but staying with friends is more fun.

--Beth

[wrenb.livejournal.com]

Squee! That would be very cool. Good luck!

[kirin]

That would indeed rock on toast. Best of luck with everything!

Also, um, ditto to everything Beth said? ^_^;

[chalgaryn.livejournal.com]

We're about 2 1/2 miles from campus. We don't have pets at the moment, but we may give in to the urge for a cute kitty between now and then. Our place isn't very big and is the opposite of childproofed, so if you are all coming down then a hotel would probably be a better bet.

We're also thinking it would be best at this point to hold off on taking any futon reservations until we know if there is anyone for whom the decision to come might be dependent on free housing. I think we'll send out a mass inertial email after the holidays to see who is and isn't planning to come, but we're not thinking that far in advance until our classes are finished.

[chalgaryn.livejournal.com]

Hmm...I just had another thought. Amber lives about 10 miles away (an easy jaunt straight down the freeway) and should be out of town on her honeymoon that weekend. I wonder if she'd let me use her new house as a temporary Inertial dorm for a few people (especially those of you who she has already met through my wedding). She does have a dog so there would be the potential for allergies, but he would be kenneled away from the house at the time. It's a crazy thought, but she might go for it...doesn't hurt to ask.

[chalgaryn.livejournal.com]

Also, um, ditto to everything Beth said? ^_^;

I've responded to Beth's reunion weekend questions on her entry, so I'll let you go read them for yourself :)

[alpinebutterfly.livejournal.com]

Wheee! Good luck!

[steuard.livejournal.com]

The physics department received 1200 applications for the 2 spaces on the physics department staff. It was, shall we say, competitive.

Yeah, I fully expect it to be competitive: Mudd may have the best physics department at an undergraduate school in the country (or so suggested a recent external review of the department). It's likely that everyone on the job market this year will apply; it's even possible that some folks who already have jobs elsewhere will take a shot. I honestly have no idea how I stack up in that list (among other things, John Townsend mentioned the other day that quite a few other string theorists have already applied).

My one big advantage is that I'm on friendly terms with all of the faculty (and I see them pretty regularly these days when I attend the department colloquium): I'm a known quantity (and hopefully that translates into a good thing), and they know that I've always cared about teaching in addition to research. I'm hoping that that will be enough to at least nudge me onto a short list... but perhaps they'll decide that they really do want a biophysicist after all (or, for that matter, that they'd prefer a string theorist who's had a postdoctoral research position). We'll see.

One idea to point out to them, if they already have a string theorist on staff, is that two people with the same speciality can often collaborate and get ideas from each other.

A bit of that was already implicit in their job ad, actually: they said that people who could join in an established faculty research area were encouraged to apply (as well as people who would start an entirely new research program). It may not hurt that in my cover letter I pointed out that my first summer research project at the University of Chicago was a followup project related to Vatche Sahakian's thesis (he's the Mudd string theorist right now; we overlapped at Chicago for a year, though we didn't really get to know each other there). I haven't worked in precisely that area for a while, but there's a lot of room for good collaboration there.