BMCB Current Student & Faculty Resources

Cornell tenure-track faculty can apply to become field members by emailing DGS, carolyn.sevier [at] cornell.edu (Carolyn Sevier). 

General. The Field of BMCB welcomes faculty members who are strong scientist and are capable trainers of students, who do research and train in an area broadly relevant to BMCB, and who are willing to commit time and effort to the Field. 

The Field of BMCB has its traditional and administrative home in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics (MBG) and most of the courses for BMCB grad students are taught by MBG faculty.  However, the Field is open to applicants from any department at Cornell.  For applicants from outside the MBG Department, they will already have a “primary” Field, and thus BMCB would be a “secondary” Field.  Primary and secondary BMCB Field members have exactly the same rights and responsibilities. All BMCB faculty have equal access to grad students and to competitive slots for BMCB students on the NIH Training Grant in Cellular and Molecular Biology (CMB).  All faculty are expected to participate equally in administrative activities, Field committees, and graduate student recruitment and mentoring. All faculty are expected to teach key BMCB courses (Proposal Writing course, Careers course and Foundations & Frontiers course) on a rotating basis.

Membership in the BMCB Field implies a commitment to participate in Field activities. Those who already have multiple Field associations should make a convincing argument in their application that they will devote time and energy to BMCB.   

Publications and invited talks.  Applicants are expected to have an outstanding publication record in their research area, which should fall under the rubrics of biochemistry, molecular or cell biology, as sketched above.  Publications should include first authored papers (or for senior faculty, corresponding authorship) in the most highly respected journals with wide readership in BMCB.  Publications that are not in journals with a wide readership but are relevant to an application should be in the top ranked specialty journals that have editorial boards with expertise in BMCB.  Applicants also should have been invited regularly to present their work at other universities and major conferences. The Field of BMCB is looking to raise the stature of the Field by recruiting faculty with research programs that surpass in excellence the present average of the Field membership. 

Research funding.  Applicants in their first year as independent investigators are expected to have a detailed plan for seeking research support from the NIH or other agencies, and the outlook for such support should be excellent.  Applicants in their second year are expected to have received at least minor grant support and to have pending applications for major funding. Applicants in their third or later years should have a fully funded research program, with at least one major grant. 

Training record.  If they come from an academic background, senior faculty applicants to the Field are expected to have a record of training grad students and post docs who have been very successful in the next step in their careers.   

Engagement with the BMCB community at Cornell.  All applicants to the Field of BMCB are expected to be engaged with the Cornell community of research scientists in biochemistry, molecular and/or cell biology.  Evidence for such engagement could include regular attendance at relevant seminars (for example the Friday 4pm series in the Biotech Bldg, sponsored in part by the Field of BMCB), or existing or planned collaborations with BMCB labs. For applicants who have recently arrived at Cornell, the probability of active engagement will be evaluated by the BMCB advisory committee. 

Mechanism of application.  Applicants should submit the following to the BMCB Director of Graduate Studies: a letter of intent including research plans for the future, a CV, and two letters of support from BMCB Field faculty (at least one of which should be from someone outside the applicant’s department).  The letter of intent and letters of support should discuss (a) what significant contributions the candidate has made and (b) how their research fits the BMCB training program.

The BMCB advisory committee will review the application in an expeditious manner.  If the committee judges the research area and qualifications of the applicant to be suitable, the DGS will arrange for a Field seminar (normally in the Friday 4pm seminar series), and the CV will be circulated to all the Field members. Immediately after the seminar the Field will vote.  The Graduate School requires that 2/3 of all Field members must vote “yes” for the applicant to be admitted to the Field.  In cases where an application is submitted by a newly-arrived faculty member at a time that does not permit a Field seminar to be scheduled immediately, the DGS may nevertheless make special arrangements for that person to give a “rotation talk” to the first year BMCB class, before the applicant has been formally admitted to the Field.

For faculty new to Cornell who gave a job seminar within a year of applying for membership in the Field of BMCB, the requirement for presenting a seminar may be waived at the discretion of the DGS, if approximately two thirds or more of the Field is likely to have attended that seminar.     

Financial commitment implied by Field membership.  BMCB faculty members have agreed to share the costs for recruiting the first year BMCB class, and for supplementing the first year stipends to the university-mandated level.   Those faculty who take a BMCB student at the end of the student’s first year are required to contribute this amount to the Field of BMCB account.  The costs may be reimbursed either by the individual faculty member or by his/her department.  Until reimbursement is made, the faculty member in question will not be able to take further BMCB students.

Renewal of membership. The BMCB Advisory Committee will evaluate each Field member every seven years. A non-participating field faculty will be asked to resign.  Criteria for non-participation: (1) the faculty has not mentored a student for thesis research or rotation, or served on a student special committee in the previous seven years; and (2) has not participated in any Field related committee nor taught a mini-course in the previous 7 years; and (3) has not participated in voting at least 50% of the time in the previous 7 years.

All Field members are expected to:

• Serve as advisors on student's Special Committee representing BMCB;
• Teach key BMCB courses (Proposal Writing course, Careers course and Foundations & Frontiers course) on a rotating basis;
• Serve on BMCB field-related committees (such as the Admissions or Recruitment Committee);
• Participate in BMCB Recruitment annually, whether actively seeking a student or not;
• Occasionally host a speaker for the Friday Seminars.

Field members must meet annually with every BMCB student whom they advise, along with the rest of the student's Special Committee. This meeting usually takes place immediately after the student’s seminar (or soon thereafter).  The student completes a Progress Report before the meeting.  The major professor should go over this report with the student and then write an independent letter evaluating the student’s progress. This letter becomes part of the student’s file.