Tenure-Track Faculty Opening for Biochemistry Position at Winthrop University

(Official Vacancy Announcement)

The Department of Chemistry at Winthrop University invites biochemist applications for an assistant professor of chemistry position.  Application deadline is December 20, 2009. Materials received after the deadline will be considered if an acceptable candidate has not been found.

This is an opportunity to work in a growing department at a top tier regional university that focuses primarily on quality undergraduate education. The selected applicant will work with the Department’s two other biochemists and eight chemists to mentor undergraduate research and to teach courses in support of Winthrop’s ACS Biochemistry Degree Track.

The selected applicant will also become a target faculty member in Winthrop’s acclaimed NIH INBRE program for faculty development that provides funding for research supplies, for student and faculty summer stipends, and that reallocates a portion of the teaching load to focus on undergraduate research. We are particularly interested in applicants with a strong biochemistry experimental background who are passionate about undergraduate research mentorship.

The biochemistry curriculum currently includes a 500-level two semester biochemistry course sequence and a one-semester biochemistry laboratory techniques course.  Advanced biochemistry courses in areas of faculty interest are also taught.

Department full-time faculty include eight chemists, two other biochemists, four geologists and two physicists.  There are approximately 110 chemistry majors at Winthrop University; the size of the program has more than tripled over the past decade.  Approximately 40% of graduating chemistry students matriculate directly into chemical science PhD programs; another 20% continue on to dental, medical, or pharmacy schools, while the rest go directly into industrial or government positions.

Department biochemistry facilities include a biochemistry teaching lab, with an adjacent a large equipment room (800 sq. ft.) and a large preparation area, two 250 sq. ft. biochemistry research labs, an autoclave (100 sq. ft) room, a cell culture room (100 sq. ft.) with an adjacent 950 sq. ft. lab for incubators, cold storage, clean benches, and cell culture preparation work, an environmental cold room (120 sq. ft.) equipped with FPLC for protein separations, a lab to accommodate recently acquired bio-analytical instrumentation (1350 sq. ft.), and a molecular modeling lab with eight Linux dual quad-core workstations and a 16-node Rocks Linux cluster.

Department biochemistry equipment includes Beckman/Coulter and Genesis UV-Vis spectrophotometers, a Chemi-Imager, a Biotek Labs Plate Reader; a Labconco clean bench, several incubators for cell culture; Beta Star high capacity and New Brunswick benchtop autoclaves; a Pharmacia Biotech Akta Fast Protein Liquid Chromatograph (FPLC), a BioCad Perfusion Chromatograph, and a Waters UV/Fluorescence HPLC for protein purification. An Applied Biosystem Voyager-DE STR MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer is available for protein identification. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) Eppendorf thermocycler, Nikon microscopes, Forma Scientific low temperature (-80°C) freezer, Kendro Labs Incubators, New Brunswick and Lab-Line shakers, New Brunswick fourteen-liter Bioflo bioreactor, Sorvall, Beckman, and Eppendorf high speed/low temperature, benchtop, and vacuum centrifuges, and Milli-Q reverse osmosis and water deionizers are available in the biochemistry labs.

Winthrop University, located within the Charlotte metropolitan area, is a comprehensive regional university ranked among Top Public Southern Universities.   The Charlotte region is a diverse, rapidly growing, economic center that affords a multitude of recreational, cultural, and educational opportunities.  The Central Carolinas region provides access to a number of professional sports teams and concerts, a large array of golf courses, several large lakes, a central location between the mountains and beaches, and one of the most desirable places to live in the nation.  Rock Hill provides both convenient access to a major metropolitan area along with the affordability and friendly atmosphere of a smaller community.  The historic, tree-lined campus at Winthrop provides an ideal setting for close interaction among students, faculty and staff in an environment conducive to personal and professional growth.