faculty-application-drafter

name

faculty-application-drafter

description

Drafts faculty application documents—research statements, teaching statements, DEI/diversity statements, and cover letters—tailored to a specific job posting, department, and institution. Use this skill whenever the user mentions faculty applications, academic job market, research statement, teaching philosophy/statement, diversity statement, cover letter for a professor position, or anything related to applying for tenure-track or teaching-focused academic positions. Also trigger when the user asks to tailor an existing application document to a new department or posting, or when reviewing/editing drafts of these documents.

Faculty Application Drafter

Purpose

Help the candidate draft, revise, and tailor faculty application documents. Each document should be specific to a vacancy and institution. Generic documents that could be sent anywhere are a red flag to search committees.

Before You Begin

1. Read the candidate's CV (either in knowledge or ask for a reference) to understand their experience,research, teaching, publications, mentoring, and service record.
2. Read the job posting (user will provide or paste it).
3. Read the relevant reference files in references/ for the document type being drafted.
4. Ask the user what they want to draft and for which position/department.

Document Types

Research Statement

See references/research-statement-guidelines.md for detailed guidance synthesized from multiple sources (Cornell, MIT, UPenn, ACS, UCR, Bonnecaze, Resasco).

Key principles:

• Structure: Past → Current → Future, but weight toward the future (~50% research areas, ~25% intro/vision, ~25% departmental alignment)
• 2–4 pages typical in engineering; check posting requirements
• Define 2–3 core research areas that support a unifying vision
• Each area: motivation → your prior work → future direction → expected impact
• Differentiate from advisor's work; show independence
• Forward-looking language ("My lab will...") not retrospective
• Accessible to committee members outside your subfield; minimize jargon in intro
• Tailor departmental alignment: mention specific faculty collaborators, facilities, funding programs, and student opportunities at the target institution
• Include 1–2 figures if they clarify your research vision
• Include short-term (1–3 year) and long-term (5+ year) goals
• Mention funding strategy (specific agencies/programs) where natural
• A safe project, a high-risk/high-reward project, and one in between is a sound portfolio
• The 20-second / 2-minute / 10-minute reader test: structure so the vision is clear at each level of engagement

Teaching Statement

See references/teaching-statement-guidelines.md.

Key principles:

• Teaching philosophy + concrete experiences + future plans
• ≤2 pages
• Mention specific courses you can teach (core + electives)
• Propose 1–2 new courses you would develop
• Describe your mentoring approach for grad students, undergrads, postdocs
• Connect teaching to research where possible
• Be honest and specific, not generic
• Tailor: reference the department's curriculum and any gaps you'd fill

DEI / Diversity Statement

See references/dei-statement-guidelines.md.

Key principles:

• NOT about how you are diverse; it's about what you have done and will do
• Structure: Knowledge of DEI → Track record → Concrete future plans
• 1–2 pages
• "Show, don't tell"—specific, actionable commitments, not vague platitudes
• Reference existing programs at the target institution you'd join
• Concrete > ambitious. Small, believable actions beat proposed large-scale initiatives.

Cover Letter

See references/letter.tex for the LaTeX template.

Template & Assets: The cover letter uses a branded LaTeX template located in references/. The three files work together:

• letter.tex — Main LaTeX template with UT Austin Cockrell School letterhead formatting
• UTexasSeal.jpg — University seal used in the header
• image.png — Candidate's signature image used in the closing

When drafting a cover letter, produce a new .tex file based on the template. The parts to customize for each application are:

1. Recipient block (lines 99–101): department name, university, and mailing address
2. Salutation (line 102): e.g., "Dear Selection Committee Members," or "Dear Search Committee,"
3. Body paragraphs (lines 105–120): the substantive content — see Key Principles below
4. Conference/meeting paragraph (lines 113–118): update or remove the AIChE session details depending on timing and relevance

Do not modify the preamble, header macro, sender information, margin settings, font choices, or closing/signature block unless the candidate requests it. These provide consistent branding across all applications.

Key principles:

• 1–1.5 pages
• Open with the position you're applying for and a 1–2 sentence research vision
• Briefly summarize research, teaching, and fit
• This is where you make the strongest case for fit with the specific department
• Reference the posting's language and priorities
• Close with enthusiasm and availability

Body structure (as modeled in the template): Paragraph 1 — Lead with the essentials. State the position you're applying for, where you found it, and your most compelling qualification in 1–2 sentences. The reader should immediately understand why you're worth reading further. Don't bury the lead with pleasantries. Paragraph 2 — Why you fit the role. Connect your specific experience and skills to what the posting asks for. This is evidence, not a restatement of your resume — pick 2–3 concrete examples that demonstrate you can do what they need. Mirror the posting's language and priorities. Paragraph 3 — Why you want this role. What draws you to this organization, team, or mission specifically. This signals you've done your homework and aren't sending a form letter. Genuine specificity matters more than flattery. Paragraph 4 — Brief closing. Restate mutual fit in one sentence, express enthusiasm, note availability. Keep it short. A few cross-cutting principles: the whole thing should be one page. Each paragraph should do exactly one job. And the document should answer three questions in order of importance — can you do this job, will you do this job well, and do you actually want this job.

Tailoring Checklist

For every document, before finalizing, verify:

• Does it reference the specific department, institution, or posting?
• Does it mention potential collaborators, facilities, or programs at the institution?
• Is the level of detail appropriate for the audience (R1 vs. PUI vs. teaching-focused)?
• Does the research statement differentiate from advisor's work?
• Are future plans forward-looking, not just extensions of past work?
• Is length within the posting's requirements (or conventions if unstated)?
• Is jargon minimized in introductions and summaries?
• Would a 20-second reader get the vision from the first paragraph?

Candidate Context

The candidate's CV and research notes are in the project knowledge. Key details to pull:

• Research interests, projects, publications, talks
• Teaching and mentoring experience
• Service and outreach
• Industrial experience
• Advisor names and institutional affiliations
• Unique strengths and differentiators (per advisor feedback in project knowledge)

Process

1. User provides or describes the target position
2. Search project knowledge for CV, research areas, and relevant guidelines
3. Draft the requested document, following the appropriate guidelines
4. Present the draft for review
5. Iterate based on user feedback
6. Produce final version:
   • Cover letters → .tex file based on references/letter.tex template. Copy UTexasSeal.jpg and image.png into the same output directory so the template compiles.
   • All other documents → .docx file (use the docx skill)

Important Caveats

• These are the candidate's documents. Claude drafts; the candidate owns the voice and claims.
• Flag anything Claude is uncertain about rather than fabricating.
• Different sources disagree on some points (e.g., whether to mention advisors by name, exact page length). When in doubt, note the disagreement and let the user decide.
• Each posting may have specific instructions that override general conventions. Always check the posting first.