• The department has launched the “Mentoring in Integrative Immunobiology for Success” (MIIBS) program, which aims to provide structured mentoring for all faculty at the Assistant Professor level. MIIBS also provides detailed onboarding, complementing the New Faculty Orientation provided by the School of Medicine, to facilitate rapid integration into the department and university.
• Junior faculty will assemble a formal mentoring committee within three months of their arrival composed of senior faculty selected by the junior faculty member in consultation with the chair and the vice-chair for faculty development. Meetings will be held biannually for the first three years and annually until tenure is conferred. Written feedback from these meetings will be provided after each meeting. Our culture of integration and collaboration also connects our junior faculty with faculty in other departments and schools, who also participate in faculty mentoring formally or informally. We encourage and provide opportunities for frequent informal mentoring from peers and senior faculty.
• Training in mentoring is provided by the Office for Research Mentoring in the School of Medicine. Additional resources are available through the Office of Biomedical Graduate Education.
• Each junior faculty member is encouraged to participate in leadership and grantsmanship training provided by Duke (e.g. Faculty Advancement, Faculty Development, Leadership Development, Faculty Coaching, Grants & Writing, etc.).
• During their first year, Junior faculty will not be required to participate in formal classroom teaching or committee activities so that they can focus on establishing their research programs.
• The Chair will identify early career development fellowships suitable for each faculty member and work with the Advisory committee to provide support during the application process.

• New faculty members are first nominated by IIB to be members of the Graduate Faculty of the Duke Graduate School. This is a prerequisite to be able to train PhD students.
• IIB faculty participate in the Immunology Graduate Training Program, which is the department-based program offering a PhD degree in Immunology. Students apply to the Immunology Graduate Training Program and participate in 4 laboratory rotations during the first year. Our class sizes average ~6 new students per year.
• Many IIB faculty also hold secondary appointments in other departments and degree-granting graduate training programs, providing additional opportunities to recruit students.
• The Office of Biomedical Graduate Education (OBGE) unites all biomedical PhD programs in the Duke University School of Medicine. They provide support, resources, and training to enrich the PhD experience, enhance our curriculum, and expand professional development opportunities. OBGE empowers Duke students to develop their full potential as independent scientists and pursue all careers in science and technology.

• IIB faculty primarily teach in graduate classes and journal clubs. These are often small, discussion-based, and team-taught with several faculty. Most of the teaching performed by our faculty is the form of overseeing PhD thesis projects.
• IIB offers one advanced immunology course that is often taken by senior undergraduate students.  In addition, opportunities are available for undergraduates to participate in research in IIB labs, either through work-study, independent study, or summer research internships.
• IIB faculty also provide post-doctoral training. There are many NIH-funded postdoctoral training grants, and the Chair and advisory committee will work with you to identify suitable training programs to join.

• The cover letter should state your motivation for applying to IIB and describe how your prior and proposed research integrates with and complements current research in the department. Also briefly describe potential future contributions to our educational, training, equity, and service missions. 
• The cover letter is typically 1-1.5 pages in length and should not extensively duplicate information on your CV or in other parts of your application.

• The research statement allows the search committee to understand your motivation for pursuing a career as an immunobiologist. We are keen to learn how your training honed your research interests, what are your key accomplishments, and your vision for your future research directions. Devote ~1 page to summarize past accomplishments, and ~2 pages to your future research plans and their significance.
• The future research plans section of the research statements is important as it conveys what are your big ideas and what will distinguish your program from others.
• We encourage you to use figures that summarize and tie together concepts.  Resist the urge to incorporate a lot of primary data.
• The research plan will be evaluated by the following criteria:
  • Does it apply a unique approach to an important immunological problem?
  • Does it bring new skills or vision to the department?
  • Does it complement and/or enhance existing research strengths in IIB and Duke?
  • To what extent does the research plan integrate immunological concepts and/or provide new opportunities for interdisciplinary thinking?
  • Is there a strong potential for securing extramural support for the proposed research activities?

• You can describe the significance of your own work and how it impacts your field. You can also describe how any of your published work shaped your  future research goals.
• This is where you can highlight your specific contributions in collaborative manuscripts.
• Limit the description of key papers to 2-3 sentences. These descriptions allow the search committee to better contextualize the significance of your work independently of where it was published.
• Pre-prints are acceptable as publications. 
• The format for this section is flexible. You can highlight the key publication in a separate section or directly under the relevant references in your CV .

• The one-page diversity statement should address why creating equitable, diverse, and inclusive environments is important to you.
• Describe any previous experiences, lived, or practiced, that contribute to your values of equity and service.
• Describe any plans for future contributions to achieve equity, to promote diversity, or to contribute to an inclusive atmosphere at IIB and beyond. For instance, plans for scientific outreach, service to the field and to the community are welcomed.
• Include any formal educational or training you have completed regarding equity, diversity, and inclusion.
• In a separate section, describe any teaching and mentoring experiences you’ve had and how you applied principles of inclusivity to any such activities
• The diversity statement will be evaluated on the following criteria:
  • Does it convey an understanding of the importance of equity in research?.
  • Does it demonstrate a motivation to foster diversity and inclusion in teaching and research?
  • Does the candidate describe their opinions, experiences, and priorities in a personal way (i.e not just use stock language)?

• We will solicit letters of support shortly after the first phase of review in November. Please communicate in advance with the names of reference letter writers.
• The letter should describe the applicant’s strengths and qualifications for becoming an independent faculty member at Duke.

The search committee members are listed here. Their full profiles are listed at the bottom of this page.

• Stacy Horner, PhD (Chair)
• Carolyn Coyne, PhD
• Jose Conejo-Garcia, MD/PhD
• Mike Krangel, PhD
• Ed Miao, MD/PhD
• Ashley Moseman, PhD
• Georgia Tomaras, PhD

• The search is primarily focused on hiring new assistant professors.
• We will review applications from exceptional senior investigators. Decisions will be made based on their accomplishments, their potential to integrate into and elevate our existing research portfolio, and their motivation to become part of IIB.

• October 15, 2023
  • Application window closes. The review process starts that same week.
     
• November/December 2023
  • Candidates will be selected for a virtual symposium in late November or early December.
      
• January 2024
  • Our top candidates will be invited to visit campus to meet in person with IIB faculty and give a “chalk talk” about their future research plans. Candidates will also meet with students and postdoctoral fellows.

• The Duke Office of Faculty Advancement and the School of Medicine provide a variety of resources to support faculty at Duke.
• Please also see the newsletter “Working at Duke” to learn more generally about Duke.