DSCB Faculty Membership

DSCB currently has over 70 faculty in the program. You can view them in the contact list above or online at the DSCB website.

Applying for DSCB Faculty Membership
There are two ways faculty can join DSCB – through a DSCB sanctioned search or by applying to membership once they have already joined UCSF.

DSCB Sanctioned Search – A DSCB sanctioned search is a search conducted by a department that adheres to certain requirements and is approved by the DSCB program PRIOR to the search being conducted. To initiate a DSCB-sanctioned search, please complete the DSCB Sanctioned Search Form. Return the completed form to Meredith Miner. the request will be forwarded to the DSCB Program co-Directors for review and approval. Once approved, a signed copy will be returned to you. Please retain this for your records. Following conclusion of the search, please submit your final candidate’s CV and projected start date to the DSCB program along with a copy of the approved search request form for review by our Executive Committee prior to a formal appointment as a DSCB faculty member. It is the responsibility of the hiring department to contact the DSCB program once the search has concluded.

Search Guidelines

  • Permission to do a search with DSCB must be forthcoming from either the DSCB director or its Executive Committee before appointment of the search committee.
  • 50% of the members of the search committee must be from DSCB faculty, and the composition of the committee must be approved by the DSCB director or DSCB executive committee.
  • During the search, as candidates come through they should meet not only with the search committee but also with members of the DSCB Executive Committee so that wider opinion about them can be formed.  The earlier in the search this happens, the better.
  • If a candidate’s mentor is serving on the search committee, the mentor should recuse himself or herself from the committee.

Candidate Criteria

  • Research relevant to DSCB in at least one of the following areas: stem cells and cell differentiation; organogenesis and tissue regeneration; pattern formation and morphogenesis; and evolutionary developmental biology.
  • Confidence that the individual would be a suitable mentor for a graduate student. This may include such considerations as time devoted to research if the candidate will have clinical responsibilities, publication record, funding resources, training record, etc.
  • Membership in the UCSF Academic Senate (no adjunct or clinical appointments).
  • The job should carry with it space assigned to the recruit (i.e., no hiring lieutenants appended to others' laboratories).
  • The location and extent of this space should be made known to the search committee and to the DSCB director prior to the start of the search process.

** Once an employment offer has been accepted by the final candidate, the DSCB Executive Committee must review the candidate's CV, a letter of support from the department Chair and a letter of support from a DSCB faculty member to ensure the above criteria have been met before a decision about membership can be made. It is the responsibility of the hiring department to forward these materials to the DSCB Program Coordinator once a hiring decision has been made so that a review can be scheduled. Membership depends on the applicant receiving a majority 'in favor' vote of the DSCB Executive Committee.

Non Sanctioned Faculty Membership – Requesting DSCB faculty membership is fairly simple. We will need a letter of support from a current DSCB faculty member (a list is available on the DSCB website) and your department chair, and a copy of your current CV. The letters should attest to the items in the criteria list below, and the letter from your chair should also describe available lab space and grant support. These will be reviewed by the DSCB Executive Committee, and your membership will be voted on at the soonest quarterly meeting. In some cases, prospective faculty members will be asked to give a seminar to the DSCB community before admission is approved.

Basic criteria for inclusion in the DSCB Graduate Program faculty includes:

  1. Research relevant to DSCB in at least one of the following areas: stem cells and cell differentiation; organogenesis and tissue regeneration; pattern formation and morphogenesis; and evolutionary developmental biology.
  2. NIH R01 support to ensure external peer review and support for a student's project.
  3. Confidence that the individual would be a suitable mentor for a graduate student.
  4. Membership in the UCSF Academic Senate.

The letter and CV need to be forward to the program manager at [email protected].

Criteria & Review Policy for Continued Membership
We recognize that UCSF faculty members participate in multiple programs and that there is increasing pressure on all of your time. Belonging to this program will require some of your time, but we feel that the time spent is greatly offset by the stimulating interactions with students and faculty in the program.

DSCB membership is reviewed every three years and renewal is contingent upon demonstration of a substantial commitment to the DSCB program through one or more of the following activities: teaching; regular attendance at retreats, journal clubs, recruiting events, and other program activities; service on qualifying exam and thesis committees. Of these, teaching is by far the most important and most urgent need. The success of our core courses depends on a large number of faculty participating in course organization, lecturing, and discussion group and workshop leadership. In addition, we consistently need additional faculty to organize and teach spring DSCB Mini-courses. As a general guideline, we expect DSCB faculty members to contribute at least 10-20 hours per year contact time in graduate program activities, exclusive of the hours spent mentoring students who are rotating or doing thesis work in an individual lab.