AcademicJobApplicationWorkshopAugust30th,2016

AaronJohnson,PhDAssistantProfessor

BiochemistryandMolecularGeneticsaaron.m.johnson@ucdenver.edu

Overview• Decidingtopursueanacademicposition• Wheretofindjobpostings• TheApplicationPackage:Journeytothetopofthepile– CoverLetter– CV– ResearchProposal– Teachingstatement

• Thenextsteps– waiting– interview– negotiations

Decidingtopursueanacademicposition• Isthiswhatyouwant?• Timing– 2-7yearsintoyourpostdoc– recenthigh-impactpublication?– recentcareerdevelopmentaward?(Kaward,etc.)

• Support—Youwillneedit– postdocmentor– collaborators– connections– family

• Alwayshaveabackupplan,lotsofcompetition

Wheretofindjobpostings

http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org205(worldwide),187(U.S.)AssistantProfessorpositionsinLifeScienceasofyesterday

http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/science/

• ThePostdocOffice,especiallyforlocalfacultypositions

NowisthebeginningofanAug-Dec.PostingCycle

• Howmanypostingstoapplyto?– From1-200,averageof50percycle

• Doyoucarewhereyoulive?• Whattypesofinstitutionswouldyouconsider?–MedSchool– ResearchIUndergradCampus– ResearchInstitute– SmallCollegewithsomeresearchtimeprovided

Wheretofindjobpostings

TheApplicationPackage:Journeytothetopofthepile

• Thesearchcommittee:yourfirstaudience– asmallgroupwithoftenbroadinterests– screeningoftenhundredsofapplications– Ifyouknowsomeoneinthedepartmentyouareapplyingto,byallmeansgetintouchwiththemandseeiftheyknowanythingaboutthegoalsofthesearchormembersofthecommittee

TheApplicationPackage:Journeytothetopofthepile

• Writingtips– bebriefwhenyoucan– gettothepoint– avoidsloppymistakes– havemultiplepeopleproof-readaswellascommentonthescience

– ifyouarenotanativeEnglishspeaker,getadviceonthephrasingofthecoverletter,especially

– Usestronglanguage,forexample"Iwill..."ratherthan"Ican..."whenpossible

TheApplicationPackage:TheCoverLetter

• Basiccoverletterforyourdreamjob– Onepagetotal!– BasicInformation– Yourname,whatyouareapplyingfor,yourcurrentposition– Pastpostdoctoralresearch:• Short,Punchy,Exciting!• Addshortformatreferences�(Jonesetal.,2008Genes&Development)• Don’tbemodest(withinreason)!

DetailscanwaituntilCV/Proposal,etc.

TheApplicationPackage:TheCoverLetter(Cont'd)

– Futureplans�– Whyaretheynovel?– Specialcircumstances(grantmoneyyoualreadycanbringwithyou,specific,extendedtimelinetofinishyourpostdoc,the“twobody”issueofaspouselookingforafacultypositionaswellshouldbelefttoalatertime,unlessbychanceyouarebothapplyingtothesamejobposting.

TheApplicationPackage:TheCV

• Notthesameasaresume(youdon’tneedtodefineyourskillsetexplicitly,forexample.Everythingbelowshouldspeaktoyourskills).

• NameandWorkAddress,CurrentDepartment• AcademicHistory• Listallprofessional(andonlyrelevant)positions.Everyyearaftercollegeaccountedfor,ifpossible,withsomeprofessionalexperience.

• Listallhonorsandawards,startingwithcollege.• Currentfunding(pastgoesintheawardscategory)

TheApplicationPackage:TheCV(cont'd)• Publications

– Newestatthetop– Yournameinboldandunderlined

• Don’tswitchauthorposition(evenifco-firstauthors).Insteadnoteallcoauthorship designations.– NoteManuscriptssubmittedorinpress,includeacopyinapplication,whereappropriate

– Limitmanuscripts“InPreparation”tothosethatarenearsubmissionthatyouhavealreadypresentedthedatainpublic.

– Updateyourapplicationaftersubmittingtheoriginalbysendinginarecentlyacceptedpublicationthatisofmajorsignificancetoyourcareer.

•

TheApplicationPackage:TheCV(cont'd)

• Invited Talks(noposterpresentations)• Teachingexperiencelist(placethisinamoreprominentpositionforateaching-heavyposition,especiallyifyouhaveconcretecourseteachingtolist)

• Universityserviceduringgradschoolandpostdoc(committees,leadershipoforganizations)

• LettersofReference(3-5names,dependingontheapplicationinstructions.Don’tprovidenamesforpeoplewhoarenotsubmittingaletterforthisapplication).

TheApplicationPackage:ResearchProposal

• FollowPagelimit!!3pagemaximum(thisisalmostalwaysthecase).Don’tpackittoofull.Makeitdigestible.Thecommitteeisprobablyreadinghundreds.

• NoneedforaReferencesection.Limitreferencesingeneral(exceptforyourownwork)anduseshorthandin-textreferencingonly.

• ***Usecartoonsandsimplefigurestobreakuptextandletthepicturesspeaktoyourgoals.Agoodruleistwofiguresperpage,onaverage.Strategizingthisrightcanmakeyourspecificworkclickwithavarietyofcommitteemembersandgetyourapplicationnoticed.Makesomethingthatiseye-catching.***

SamplePage

Aaron Johnson AIM 2: Use reconstituted heterochromatin as a platform to comprehensively define a chromatin domain.

My postdoctoral work has uncovered a correlation between the structure of yeast heterochromatin and the silencing function. Can this chromatin superstructure be specifically recognized by nuclear machinery that contribute to its regulation? These questions will be tackled in the context of comprehensively analyzing proteins associated with yeast heterochromatin. The reconstituted yeast heterochromatin will serve as a platform to build a complete heterochromatic

domain and identify factors by comparative mass spectrometry that specifically associate with heterochromatin and not euchromatin (Fig 4). The heterochromatin structure will be disrupted by histone modification to determine if the proper superstructure itself is required to recruit such factors.

Proteins found to associate with the heterochromatic domain will be analyzed to

determine the specific role that they play in heterochromatic silencing. These analyses will determine: localization to heterochromatic domains in vivo by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), silencing defects when deleted, and contribution to in vitro SIR-dependent repression. AIM 3: Determine the mechanism and function of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) incorporation into human heterochromatin domains. (a.) Is a ncRNA-associated chromatin template sufficient to assemble a heterochromatin domain? Recent work has identified a host of long ncRNAs in humans that appear to associate specifically with heterochromatin factors. Some of these lncRNAs have been identified as contributing to cancer-associated pathways such as metastasis (Gupta et al., Nature, 2010) and the p53 response (Huarte et al., Cell, 2010). LncRNAs play an integral role in targeting of the factors in these pathways to genomic loci, far from the site of their transcription.

Presently, there are only hints as to the mechanism of action of these lncRNAs that work in trans. It has not been shown whether these RNAs physically associate with chromatin at the target locus and whether their presence is sufficient to trigger formation of a repressive chromatin domain. To address this question directly, work in my lab will construct lncRNA-associated chromatin domains in vitro and analyze the requirements for recruitment of heterochromatin factors and histone modifications from human nuclear extracts (Fig 5). After establishing the requirements of lncRNA-associated heterochromatin formation, efforts will begin to comprehensively characterize these domains as in Aims 1 and 2. (b.) Genomic profiling of lncRNA localization. The relative abundance of certain cancer-associated lncRNAs and the fact that knockdown has effects on gene

expression in multiple locations within the genome, suggests that they may be physically associated with many regions of chromatin to carry out their function. A lncRNA construct with an RNA tag will be transfected into cells and affinity-purification will isolate lncRNA-associated chromatin fragments which will be analyzed by high-throughput sequencing (Fig 6). This method will provide a powerful tool to identify the specific targets of lncRNAs, as well as provide

direct evidence of trans-acting lncRNA incorporation into heterochromatin. The tagged-RNA construct will be manipulated to determine the requirements of the RNA sequence and structure for chromatin incorporation and targeting. (c.) Identification of ncRNAs associated with different varieties of heterochromatin Many recent lncRNAs have been identified by their association with the PRC2 histone modifying enzyme (HME) complex that methylates histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27Me). Another silent mark, H3K9Me, is largely absent in developmental loci where H3K27Me is the dominant histone mark. H3K9Me-dependent silencing is thought to be mediated in some cases by lncRNA action. To identify new candidates of trans-acting lncRNAs that interact with H3K9Me-associatd heterochromatin, chromatin immunoprecipitation for H3K9Me will be performed and the associated RNAs will be sequenced. RNA hits will be compared versus transcription profiles to identify RNAs that are physically associated with a silent region of the genome, yet are derived from an open reading frame bearing histone marks of active transcription. Newly identified ncRNAs will be analyzed as in Subaim 3a and 3b.

TheApplicationPackage:ResearchProposal(cont'd)

• Intro(~20%)�– Excitethegeneralreader�– Showbroadperspective�– Openquestionsandchallengesinthefieldthatyouhavealltherighttrainingandideastoaddress– Medicalrelevance,e.g.

• Pastwork(~30%)�– Skipgraduateworkunlessitrelatestoyourcurrentresearch.Brief,andemphasizenovelty.Addreferencestoyourworkinthetext.Don’tforgetaveryinformativegraphictosummarize.

• FuturePlans(~50%).~3Broadaims.5yearplan:Creative,interesting,important,feasible(foryouinparticular).

• Mentionlong-termvision.

Makesureyoupaintabiggerpicturethanasinglegrantwould

Addressfeasibility,ifapplyingtoasmallschoolwithlimitedresources

TheApplicationPackage:TeachingStatement

• TeachingStatement- Thismayberequestedforanypositionwithateaching

component,thoughtheweightitwillbegivenvariesgreatly.- Halfapageformostapplicationsissufficient.Ifyouhave

extensiveteachingexperience,thiscanfillouttoonepage.- Ageneralteachingphilosophyispartofwhattheyareafter.

Demonstratingthatyoutakeclassroomteachingseriously.- Suggestafewtopics,generalandspecific(asinacourse

numberfromthecatalogoftheinstitution),thatwouldbeofinteresttoyoutoteach.Andsuggestacoursethatyouwouldbeexcitedtodevelopthatmaynotyetexistinthecatalog.