The George R. Brown School of Engineering has named 10 Future Faculty Fellows from eight departments to support Ph.D. and postdoctoral researchers who are applying for tenure-track faculty positions this year.
Among the fellows is Soumyabrata Roy, a postdoctoral research fellow in materials science and nanoengineering (MSNE) at Rice since 2019. He earned a B.S. in chemistry from Presidency College in Calcutta in 2011, an M.S. in chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur in 2013, and a Ph.D. in chemical science from the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research. He works in the research group of Pulickel Ajayan, the Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor of Engineering and chair of MSNE.
The fellows will attend faculty panels, workshops, one-on-one coaching sessions and a mock interview designed to support them as they prepare for faculty interviews. A monetary award of $1,000 will support each fellow for attending conferences and university seminars.
Renata Ramos, associate dean for academic affairs, and Tracy Volz, director of the school’s ACTIVATE Engineering Communication Program, scheduled 17 Future Faculty Fellow events for the 2022-23 academic year.
Volz and the Engineering Communications Program will run most of the workshops to assist the fellows in preparing their job talks, written statements, and cover letters. One workshop will be led by the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE), focusing on teaching statements, and another will be led by the assistant director of diversity, equity, inclusion and outreach in the Engineering Dean’s Office, Dr. Cecilia Fernandez, focusing on diversity statements.
The panels, hosted by Ramos, will feature some of the School of Engineering’s professors and alumni. There will also be a panel to discuss the different types of institutions and faculty positions, where professors from other institutions will be sharing their experiences.