The Chemistry Department at Washington University in St. Louis seeks a fulltime, teaching-track faculty member at the rank of Lecturer or Senior Lecturer to spearhead teaching in critical advanced laboratory courses for undergraduate Chemistry majors. The position requires excellence in laboratory instruction, course and laboratory experiment development, instrument maintenance, and laboratory safety. The courses taught will provide capstone advanced laboratory experiences that engage students in semi-structured and independent inquiry and complement traditional undergraduate research experiences.

As a member of the Teaching-Track Faculty in the Department of Chemistry, the person in this position will participate in regular faculty meetings and other department service, and with opportunities for promotion according to the Arts & Sciences Teaching-Track Faculty policy.

Specific course assignments as the Advanced Teaching Lab Director will include the following:

Instrumental Methods in Physical Chemistry Laboratory

The Instrumental Methods in Physical Chemistry Laboratory course is taught one semester per academic year, with an average enrollment of approximately 20 students. The course integrates hands-on application of basic principles of physical chemistry (quantum, thermodynamics, kinetics, and spectroscopy) using research grade instrumentation and analysis, and construction of a comprehensive electronic laboratory notebook. Experiments include electronic absorption/emission, NMR, EPR, FTIR, DSC, electrochemistry, speed of sound, bomb calorimetry, and laser kinetics. The course provides a writing-intensive option for students, giving them the ability to fulfill this university requirement through scientific writing via preparation of reports in publication format.

Advanced Biochemistry Laboratory (to be developed)

The Chemistry Department seeks to develop an Advanced Biochemistry Laboratory course in order to offer a more inclusive and accessible path for undergraduate Chemistry majors with an emphasis in Biochemistry. Curriculum may include a range of techniques from biochemistry and biophysics, including PCR, gel electrophoresis, protein expression and purification, enzymatic assays and spectroscopic analysis. Ideally, the lab will be structured as a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE). The Department plans for this course to be developed during the Fall 2024 semester and offered one semester per academic year beginning in Fall 2025.

Chemical Laboratory Safety

The Chemical Laboratory Safety course is offered as a one-credit course required for all first-year graduate students in the Chemistry Department every Fall semester. This course is critical to ensuring that entering graduate students are instructed on proper safety practices and encouraged to adopt positive safety culture as they begin their research career at the university. Thus, topics span a range of disciplines including biohazards, working with toxic, flammable, or explosive materials, laser and electrical safety, radiation safety, NMR and MRI safety, and handling compressed gasses. In the teaching of this course, the instructor collaborates closely with personnel from WU Environmental Health & Safety.

In the courses taught, the Advanced Teaching Lab Director will deliver a weekly lecture to the enrolled students on the fundamental concepts, details of the lab experiments, and safety considerations, and will employ evidence-based pedagogy in all components of their course(s). Daily oversight of laboratory instruction includes consulting and working with students during and outside of laboratory periods. Additional components of the teaching assignments include supervising graduate student AIs, maintaining accurate chemical inventories, troubleshooting and maintaining laboratory instrumentation, strictly adhering to lab safety practices and proper waste disposal, and participating directly in the grading of lab notebooks and reports to elevate the scientific writing skills of students. The Advanced Teaching Lab Director will work collaboratively with other faculty members to ensure the content and sequence of the experiments and material presented to students in the laboratory courses is supportive of the corresponding lecture courses. In addition to the courses taught, the Advanced Laboratory Director is expected to aid faculty instructors of other advanced laboratory courses in equipment maintenance and chemical inventory, providing an umbrella of support for all advanced lab courses.

The Lecturer and Advanced Teaching Lab Director is expected to attend professional-development workshops and conferences to remain up-to-date in current pedagogies and to continue to implement curricular innovations in our advanced laboratories. This individual will join a collaborative group of Teaching-Track Faculty and Educational Professionals in the Department and the WU STEM teaching community, as they actively engage in the integration of pedagogy and new technologies and educational practices in the Advanced Laboratory courses. Additionally, the Advanced Teaching Lab Director will hold a leadership role within the Chemistry Department Safety Committee, collaborating with faculty, staff, and graduate students to advance safety initiatives and ensure departmental compliance.

Above all, the Advanced Teaching Lab Director is expected to remain passionate about student learning and compassionate toward student needs, and to work to create a laboratory experience that is equitable, inclusive, and supportive of students’ professional development. This includes establishing policies and procedures to enhance student belonging and self-confidence, student sense of success and comprehension, student competency, and student performance in the advanced laboratory courses.

Qualifications

Successful candidates for this position will have a PhD in Chemistry, preferably with a specialization in Physical or Biophysical Chemistry or a related field, and experience with some of the instrumental methods noted above. Applicants for the rank of Senior Lecturer will need to demonstrate excellence in teaching and pedagogy during the equivalent of at least six years of fulltime teaching as a faculty member.

Application Instructions

Please submit your application, including cover letter outlining your interest in the position and relevant experience, curriculum vitae, statement of teaching experience and philosophy, statement outlining commitment to and actions toward increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM, and the names of three references who can provide recommendations concerning laboratory and teaching skills by April 28, 2023, to apply.interfolio.com/121772 .

Washington University in St. Louis is committed to the principles and practices of equal employment opportunity and especially encourages applications by those underrepresented in their academic fields. It is the University’s policy to provide equal opportunity and access to persons in all job titles without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or genetic information.