Guide to Cover Letters | OITE CAREER SERVICES | Office of Intramural Training & Education | National Institutes of Health
COVER LETTER SAMPLE 3:
Postdoc Applying to Faculty Posion with a Focus on Teaching
March 1, 2015
Faculty Search Committee
XXX College of Arts and Sciences
Division of Math, Science and Technology
X University
1234 College Lane
Anywhere, MD 12345
Dear Search Committee Members:
I am pleased to respond to the posting for the Faculty of Biology position in the XXX College of Arts and Sciences at X
University. I am currently a postdoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute and will serve as an Adjunct Professor
for the undergraduate microbiology course at X College in the spring semester. I received my Ph.D. in Microbiology
and Immunology from the University of XX and have experience with teaching and mentoring elementary-through
graduate-level students from diverse backgrounds. The courses I am interested in teaching include but are not limited to:
microbiology, general biology, genetics, immunology, anatomy and physiology for both majors and non-majors.
Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to be able to combine my passion for science with my love of teaching.
During graduate school, I taught an undergraduate microbiology laboratory course for three semesters. The format of the
class allowed me to integrate different learning techniques including active, collaborative, and problem-based approaches.
By teaching the same course several times, I realized that each group of students was unique, and therefore, I needed to
adapt my teaching style to t their style of learning.
During my postdoctoral training, I have sought opportunities to gain teaching experience via attending teaching work-
shops, mentoring a high school student in my laboratory, participating in elementary outreach programs, and teaching a
course at a local college. These experiences have been rewarding and have strengthened my desire to pursue a career in
academia. As a researcher, I do a lot of reading to keep up to date with the literature in my eld. I design experiments for
both myself and my student and am constantly learning new computer programs to run equipment needed for experiments.
I plan to take these practices into the eld of teaching by staying current with the latest teaching methods, designing
experiments for laboratory courses and learning the latest technologies that aid in class interaction and active learning.
My overall research interests have been focused on ABC and the regulation of XYZ factors. My graduate school research
contributed to the understating of XXX. As a postdoctoral fellow, I am conducting research on the role of the stringent
response in the pathogenesis of ABC, an infection that can lead to cancer. In the future, I would like to combine my
graduate and postdoctoral research and study the role of the stringent response in YYY pathogenesis. Specically, I would
like to focus on XXX, all of which have been shown to play a role in the pathogenesis of several species of bacteria, but
have not been characterized. I have access to XXX and my research could be done at X University and would be very
well-suited for undergraduate researchers.
I hope to be a professor at X University so that I can share my personal and professional experiences with students and
help them achieve their academic and career goals, as so many mentors and teachers have done for me. In addition, I feel
that being an active member in the college community is important. Participating in faculty meetings, serving on commit-
tees, inviting guest speakers, etc. are all ways I would like to make a contribution to the growth of the College of Arts and
Sciences, Department of Math, Science and Technology at X University.
I would welcome the opportunity to expand upon my qualications in person.
Thank you in advance for your consideration.
Sincerely, Name, Ph.D.
6