Current Openings

The Division of Science also offers postdoctoral opportunities.

Posted 9/28/2023
Full-Time Teaching Faculty Position in Engineering Science
Brandeis University - Waltham, Massachusetts

Brandeis University invites applications for a full-time teaching faculty position in Engineering Science,
starting in the Summer or Fall 2024 (pending budgetary approval). Faculty rank is open, and will depend
on experience and qualifications; the position is outside the tenure structure and will have an initial
appointment of up to three years, with the potential for renewal.

About Brandeis University: Brandeis University's suburban campus in Waltham, MA is situated in the
high-tech corridor along I-95, close to the academic and technology centers of Boston and Cambridge.
Brandeis combines the best traditions of an R1 research university with a strong emphasis on teaching,
characteristic of a liberal arts college. As part of our ongoing commitment to interdisciplinary excellence,
we are launching a new program to embed Engineering faculty within our world-class Science
departments, fostering research, education, collaboration and innovation at the intersection of
engineering, the sciences, and the liberal arts.

Position Description: The successful candidate will play a major role in the development of a new
undergraduate Engineering Science major, preparing students for graduate studies or careers in diverse
engineering and professional fields. They will teach introductory courses in Engineering Process, as well
as upper-level courses in their area of interest. The role will also include undergraduate advising and
participation in ABET certification, and extensive collaboration with faculty from diverse disciplines to
enrich the curriculum. The candidate will be embedded in a Science department close to their area of
teaching interest, and integrated into a highly valued community of teaching faculty who contribute to
and benefit significantly from the vibrant academic life of the department and program. Brandeis offers a
promotion track outside the tenure structure, with clear criteria and a paid sabbatical semester leave
program for eligible full-time faculty.

Qualifications: We seek candidates with a Ph.D. in any engineering discipline who demonstrate
excellence in teaching engineering at the university level, and enthusiasm for collaborative teaching with
colleagues across the sciences, liberal arts, and business. We are particularly interested in candidates
with expertise in areas that synergize with Brandeis priorities, including but not limited to
bioengineering, materials science, and environmental engineering.

Opportunity and Impact: This position offers a unique opportunity to shape a new and impacful
undergraduate Engineering Science program, which integrates engineering with the natural sciences,
arts, humanities, social sciences, and business. Brandeis is committed to fostering interdisciplinary
approaches that address complex global challenges and prepare students for careers as engineers,
scientists, entrepreneurs, policy makers, and more. Join us in shaping the future of engineering
education at Brandeis University!

At Brandeis, we believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential components of academic
excellence. Brandeis University is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer that is committed to
creating equitable access and opportunities for applicants to all employment positions. Because
diversity, equity, and inclusion are at the core of Brandeis’ history and mission, we value and are seeking
candidates with a variety of social identities, including those that have been underrepresented in higher
education, who possess skills that spark innovation, and who, through their scholarly pursuits, teaching,
and/or service experiences, bring expertise in building, engaging and sustaining a pluralistic, unified, and
just campus community.

Application Process: Applicants should submit the following at
https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/25745

• Cover letter.
• CV.
• Statement covering teaching philosophy and engineering experience and interests. Please
include one paragraph describing each of two courses you would teach:
(1) “Introduction to Experimentation” for first or second year students
(2) an upper-level Engineering Science course in your area of interest, incorporating elements of
social responsibility, human-centered design and entrepreneurship, and highlighting
opportunities for collaboration with faculty across the university.

• Diversity statement. To prepare your diversity statement, please use the guidelines provided by
UCSC: https://www.brandeis.edu/diversity/dei-recruitment-hiring/contributions-to-diversity-
statements.html.
The statement will be evaluated by the UCSC rubric:
https://www.brandeis.edu/diversity/dei-recruitment-hiring/rubric-for-evaluating-diversity-
statements.html

• Contact information for three letters of recommendation.
Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is filled; first consideration will be
given to applicants submitted by 10/29/2023

Posted 9/14/2022

We seek four postdocs to join a multidisciplinary, tightly integrated team of five investigators (Ben Rogers, Seth Fraden, Mike Hagan, Greg Grason, and Bing Xu) within the Brandeis Bioinspired Soft Materials Research Center (MRSEC) to design and synthesize new DNA-origami building blocks, elucidate the mechanisms of their assembly into self-limiting architectures, and model the assembly pathways using theory and computer simulation. Our team of students, postdocs and faculty will work together across groups and disciplines to achieve our goals. This position offers ample opportunities for professional development, including participating in exciting cutting-edge science, gaining mentoring experience, and initiating your own research directions.

The team will build upon recent successes in developing a versatile class of DNA-origami building blocks to elucidate the fundamental physical principles for engineering components that self-assemble into large, but finite-size, superstructures. The self-assembly of size-controlled architectures is prevalent in living systems. The adaptive functions of biological materials, including viral shells, cytoskeletal filaments, and photonic nanostructures of bird feathers arise from the regulated finite size of self-assembled architectures. In this project, we will advance two complementary paradigms for bottom-up assembly of size-controlled  architectures: one uses curved building blocks that assemble into self-closing structures; the other uses ill fitting blocks that accumulate distortions upon assembly to form structures with open boundaries. 

This research addresses many fundamental questions in self-assembly: How do shapes, interactions, and  flexibilities of building blocks control the assembly size? How can self-limiting assembly be adapted to  distinct morphologies, like ropes, fibers, sheets or shells? Are there fundamental or practical limits to the  sizes of controllably assembled structures? By answering these questions and more, we aim to develop  engineering principles to create size-controlled architectures with high yield. 

(1, 2) Design and self-assembly of DNA-origami building blocks.
Qualifications: Experience in experimental soft-matter physics or DNA nanotechnology.
Tasks: Design and characterize DNA-origami  building blocks and their subsequent higher-order assemblies. Individual building blocks will be  characterized with electron microscopy (EM), including single-particle cryoEM. Assemblies will be  characterized using EM, optical microscopy, and light scattering. The goal is to understand mechanisms  by which components self-assemble into large, but finite-size, superstructures.
Supervisors: Profs. Rogers  and Fraden (Brandeis). 

(3) Joint experimental & computational studies of DNA-origami assembly pathways.
Qualifications:  Experience in computational physics and experimental soft matter. Applicants are sought with interests in  fields such as soft matter, thermodynamics, and materials science.
Tasks: Work jointly with Profs. Rogers  and Hagan to perform experiments and computer simulations to elucidate the dynamical pathways of DNA-origami assembly. Develop theoretical predictions of target assemblies and design rules, and test  those predictions in experiment.
Supervisors: Profs. Rogers and Hagan. 

(4) Computational modeling of protein-filament assembly.

Qualifications: Experience in atomistic  simulations and enhanced sampling methods. Additional desirable skills include data-driven approaches,  and/or implementation of large-scale parallelized/GPU-enabled simulations.
Tasks: Simulate assembly of  finite-sized filaments assembled from protein subunits in the lab of Bing Xu. Experience in collaborating  with experimentalists and working with protein structures (e.g. electron microscopy data) are strongly  encouraged.
Supervisors: Profs. Hagan, Grason, Rogers, and Xu (Brandeis). 

Women and minority candidates are encouraged to apply. Brandeis University is an Affirmative  Action/Equal Opportunity employer M/W/D/V. 

Start Date: October 2022.
Location: Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA 

Submit applications to MRSECpostdoc@brandeis.edu and specify the position you are applying for. 

For more information see our individual group websites: 

www.rogers-lab.com 
www.fradenlab.com
www.brandeis.edu/physics/hagan/index.html
https://sites.google.com/brandeis.edu/xu-lab