Assistant Professor of Biology - Neurobiology
- Employer
- Swarthmore College
- Location
- Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
View more categoriesView less categories
- Employment Type
- Full Time
- Institution Type
- Four-Year Institution
Job Details
Location: Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Open Date: Jun 5, 2026
DescriptionThe Department of Biology at Swarthmore College invites applications for a tenure-track position in Neurobiology at the Assistant Professor level, beginning Fall 2027. Teaching responsibilities include a team-taught introductory biology course, an intermediate-level Neurobiology course that includes weekly laboratories, and an advanced neurobiology seminar in an area of the applicant's interest. The current teaching load at the College is two courses a semester. The College offers competitive start-up packages to support faculty research and teaching, funds for travel to professional meetings, summer support of undergraduate researchers, and a generous sabbatical policy.
The Department of Biology currently has 10 tenure-track faculty, 7 laboratory instructors, and 7 support staff. The candidate will have a dedicated research and teaching laboratory and office space in a modern building, with access to state-of-the-art tissue culture and microscopy facilities, as well as a professionally staffed greenhouse and animal facility.
Located in the suburbs of Philadelphia and near Wilmington DE, Swarthmore College is a highly selective liberal arts college whose mission combines academic rigor with social responsibility. Swarthmore has a strong institutional commitment to non-discrimination and equal opportunity. We welcome applications from all candidates with exceptional qualifications, particularly those with demonstrable experience effectively supporting, teaching, and engaging a highly diverse student body. For more information available to all faculty at Swarthmore, see https://www.swarthmore.edu/provosts-office/welcome-to-provosts-office Qualifications
Applicants must have a PhD in biology or a closely related field. Post-doctoral experience or comparable professional work is desirable. The strongest candidates will be committed to combining teaching and research at a small liberal arts college and will be prepared to contribute to an integrative biology curriculum.
Application InstructionsPlease submit a cover letter, C.V., a research statement that includes how you plan to incorporate undergraduates into your research projects, a teaching statement which discusses your teaching philosophy and relevant teaching experience, and three letters of recommendation. We also request that job applicants submit a one-page statement explaining their experience with and plans to increase recruitment, retention, and the success of a diverse student body in our research labs, the major, the NSE divison, and for students interested in exploring science at Swarthmore.All application materials should be submitted using Interfolio at apply.interfolio.com/187410. Applications received by September 4, 2026 will receive full consideration. Applications received after this date will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
Questions regarding this position should be addressed to the search chair, Carolyn Bauer, at cbauer1@swarthmore.edu
Organization
Swarthmore College, a highly selective college of liberal arts and engineering, has supported thinkers and doers for more than 150 years. Since 1864, it has lifted students to their full intellectual and personal potential so they can apply their knowledge with meaning and purpose.
Located 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, Swarthmore has been co-educational since its founding by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Our Quaker founders believed in the practical application of knowledge for the common good. While Swarthmore is no longer a religious institution, these Quaker roots anchor and inform how Swatties learn and work.
The College offers two degrees: the B.A. in the arts and sciences and the B.S. in engineering. With a student/faculty ratio of 8:1, Swarthmore ensures that its students have close and meaningful contact with their professors.
Swarthmore’s alumni body is small (about 20,000 living alumni) but distinguished. Five Swarthmore graduates have won the Nobel Prize; Swarthmore is also among the top five highest producers of doctorate recipients in the humanities, life sciences, and all sciences combined, with 20 percent of Swarthmore graduates going on to earn a doctorate degree. Some prominent Swarthmore alumni are acclaimed artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby ‘04, novelist Jonathan Franzen ’81, Ashesi University founder Patrick Awuah ’89, Chris Van Hollen ’83, U.S. Senator from Maryland, fashion designer Joseph Altuzarra ’05, and noted sociologist Sarah Lawrence-Lightfoot '66.
As of June 30, 2016, the College has an endowment of approximately $1.7 billion. Swarthmore's robust financial aid program ensures the College’s commitment to providing access to an exceptional liberal arts education for all qualified students without regard to their ability to pay and allows the College to meet each admitted student's demonstrated financial need. With one of the most generous financial aid programs in the country, Swarthmore awards aid -- without loans -- to more than half of its students.
True to its Quaker heritage, Swarthmore maintains a commitment to service and the common good. Students find support for service projects through the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility and in the nearby communities of Chester and Philadelphia and around the world. In addition, Swarthmore is one of 10 charter members of Project Pericles, which supports students who propose and implement projects to identify issues and advance solutions.
Swarthmore's residential campus features more than 425 wooded acres, including rolling lawns, a creek, wooded hills, and hiking trails which are maintained by staff horticulturists as the nationally registered Scott Arboretum.
Swarthmore College, a highly selective liberal arts college located in the suburbs of Philadelphia, has supported thinkers and doers for more than 150 years. Swarthmore has a strong institutional commitment to excellence through diversity in its educational program and employment practices and actively seeks and welcomes applications from candidates with exceptional qualifications, particularly those with demonstrable commitments to a more inclusive society and world.
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