For general information about research faculty, including research faculty titles, contract requirements, and PI eligibility, see COE: About Research Faculty.
For research faculty hiring process guidance, including PARs, see COE: Hiring Research Faculty.
For College policies related to faculty research, see COE: Research-Related Policies.
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Rationale
Research faculty make important contributions to education and health research. The College of Education is actively seeking to hire research faculty whose primary responsibilities center on research, including submitting grants and disseminating research in publications and presentations. The purpose of this initiative is to provide seed funding to College of Education Centers/Organized Research Units (ORUs) to hire Research Professors who are productive, funded scholars. Faculty interested in recruiting a Research Professor should do so through a research center in discussion with an academic department.
Research Professors are funded by the grants they and/or their colleagues generate. The College of Education will provide support to centers to launch national searches that will result in the hiring of research professors who have established or show potential for establishing a strong record of extramural funding. For this initiative, supported searches will be hiring at the Associate or Full Research Professor rank. Successful applicants will sign a three-year Fixed Term contract, with renewal contingent on performance and availability of funding.
The COE Research Faculty Initiative went into effect in November 2024.
College of Education commitment
For approved applications, the College of Education Dean’s Office will provide the following to the research center to support the hire:
Up to $4,000 for recruitment costs (e.g., advertise position, fund candidate interview travel, etc.).
$40,000 in one-time start-up funds, with a 3-year expiration date.
Up to .40 FTE for the researcher’s salary in Year 1; between .10 and .60 FTE is expected to be covered by the research center applicant and/or new/transferred grants led by the researcher.
Up to .30 FTE for the researcher’s salary in Year 2; between .20 and .70 FTE is expected to be covered by the research center applicant and/or the new/transferred grants led by the researcher.
Applications and review process
Center directors interested in applying to this initiative should discuss their proposal with the chair of the department. If the chair supports the application, the center director should submit a brief cover letter to the COE Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies (ADRGS). The cover letter should include the following:
Overview of the potential national job search including:
Research topic(s) of focus for the search.
Statement about the funding potential in topic area of focus including examples of possible funding agencies.
Statement describing how the position is expected to engage with the academic enterprise through teaching, mentorship, or supervision of students at some level, per Provost’s Office guidance on research faculty vs. research staff.
Expected hiring level (Associate or full Research Professor).
Proposed salary or salary range. Once an application is approved, the center will work with the ADRGS to determine the final salary to ensure equity across appropriate research professor titles.
Examples of national-level researchers who exemplify characteristics of potential candidates.
Plan for conducting the national search that includes expected outreach, proposed search committee membership, and search timeline.
Administrative processes - who does what?
All faculty positions live in an academic department, and all research faculty will have an appointment in an academic department. Administrative processes associated with the recruitment of research faculty are distributed as follows:
Interfolio posting: academic department
Recruitment, to include advertising, evaluating and communicating with applicants, campus visit arrangements and vendor payments, etc.: research center
PAR: academic department
See additional information on department vs. center administrative responsibilities associated with research faculty at COE: About Research Faculty > Managing research faculty appointments.
Please send suggested additions to this page and notifications about broken links to COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu.