Assistant Research Professor Position

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to secure potential Cornell mentors before I apply?

YES. We will only review applications that include at least one mentor (ideally 2) and their reference letters.

Do Cornell mentors need to be from a particular department on campus?

NO. Cornell mentors can be from any department that is relevant for the applicant’s research agenda and allow for collaboration in the advancement of data science applications and methodologies within the particular domain of research.  The strongest applicants will have mentors in two different departments – one within the applied field (this could be anything from linguistics, law, business, communications etc.)  and one within the methodological domain (ie. computer science, information science, operations research and information engineering, math, statistics, economics etc. )

How do I secure a potential Cornell mentor?

Use your professional network to identify faculty that align with your research objectives and reach out to them via email letting them know you are applying for the position of Assistant Research Professor for the new Center for Data Science for Enterprise & Society and need to secure mentors who will act as a reference on their behalf, will be a part of the interview process should you be granted an interview, and will collaborate with you on your research objectives should you be awarded a position.

Can I be based in either the Ithaca, NY main Cornell campus or the NY, NY Cornell Tech campus?

You may either be 100% based at Cornell’s Ithaca, NY campus or you can SPLIT your time between campuses with at least 50% of your time based in Ithaca.

What is the application cycle?

We accept applications biannually, usually with deadlines in November (to start either during the following spring or fall semesters) and February (to start either during the following fall or spring semesters).  If you miss the fall cycle or don’t have all your materials and mentor letters together, you should apply for the February deadline.

Is there flexibility on start dates?

YES. These are ongoing, rolling searches with positions starting in both the Fall and Spring semesters. Ideally, we would prefer a candidate start before the semesters begin. Fall semester starts approximately the week before Labor Day. Spring semester starts approximately the third week of January.

Are there specific domains of application in data science that are targeted for these positions?

The profile sought in these searches is to identify faculty who are simultaneously advancing the state of the art in an application domain while also contributing to the advancement of data science methodological foundations. The primary emphasis in these searches is in domains in which the source of data is generated by human activity (in contrast, for example, to biological phenomena such as genomic data).