Insights on Professorship at PrimarilyUndergraduate Institutions
- Eva Agostino
- 16 hours ago
- 10 min read
As graduate students at a large research institution, we are most familiar with the requirements, expectations, and workload typical of an R01 faculty position. As such, many CAMB students may be unaware that an alternative career path to professorship exists. Here, we’ve talked with two newly-appointed faculty members at primarily-undergraduate institutions (PUIs) whose job description and goals differ greatly from that of our own R01-funded principal investigators (PI). With more emphasis on teaching and largely undergraduate-driven research, students interested in academia with more focus on teaching and undergraduate mentorship may want to consider a career as a professor at a PUI.
Both Dr. Egan and Dr. Shahi completed their postdoctoral fellowships at CHOP through the PennPORT IRACDA Program. Part of the NIH-funded IRACDA program, PennPORT aims to provide postdoctoral fellows with pedagogy training and experience alongside the traditional research experience. Fellows get “protected” time during their post-doc to teach undergraduate classes at local colleges/universities partnered with IRACDA-affiliated institutions.
Tell us a little bit about your scientific journey. What was your path like, from graduate student to postdoc to PI?
Dr. Shahi: I started graduate school not really knowing what I wanted to do with my PhD. I toyed with the idea of becoming a PI at an R01 institution, but became less interested the more I learned about what an R01 PI job entails. I did however, love benchwork and wanted to continue with research. I realized somewhere around my third year of graduate school at NYU that I would love a career similar to my own undergraduate PI at Mount Holyoke College (a small liberal arts school) that combined both undergraduate teaching and research in a much more integrated way than an R01 position. I like the idea of being able to get the instant gratification I get from teaching while waiting for the more “delayed” gratification of research results. Of course, I had never really taught a full undergraduate class when I reached this decision and was basing my love for teaching on small scale tutoring positions. Since teaching is so important to PUI positions, I applied to IRACDA postdoctoral positions to get formal pedagogy training and undergraduate teaching experience alongside postdoctoral research. The things I learned as a PennPORT IRACDA scholar and a postdoc made me, I believe, a highly competitive candidate and really helped me approach interviews for the Bates College faculty position with the confidence and preparedness I did not have even a year ago!
Dr. Egan: Ever since I was an undergraduate student, I knew that I wanted to be a professor who could use her research to inform her teaching and even her teaching to inform her research. With my mom being a clinical professor and family physician, I grew up witnessing the impact that teaching has on people, especially in medicine. I was fortunate to have an inspiring and formative undergraduate experience at Saint Joseph’s University (a PUI), where I received an incredible liberal arts education and discovered my passion for scientific research and teaching. I learned fundamental microbiology skills working as an undergraduate researcher which launched my interest in microbiology and motivated me to pursue a PhD at Penn. During my PhD, my PI (Dr. Sunny Shin) helped me pursue opportunities to teach and mentor students, which ultimately solidified my passion for science education. I’m grateful to have amazing teaching mentors, like Dr. Mecky Pohlschroder, Dr. Kurt Engleka, and Dr. Ian Petrie at Penn’s Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Innovation (CETLI). They all helped me gain invaluable teaching and mentoring experience, which set me up for my faculty position today. After my PhD, I was grateful to be part of the PennPORT IRACDA Program for my postdoc with Dr. Joe Zackular at CHOP. Joe was very supportive of my career goals, helping me prepare for my transition to a PI from my first day in his lab! Truly the mentors and role models in my life starting with my mom and continuing at Saint Joseph’s University, Penn, and CHOP are the reason why I am where I am today; they made my scientific journey enjoyable!
Why did you decide to pursue undergraduate-driven research over the more traditional graduate- and postdoc-driven research?
Dr. Shahi: I remember the feeling of being an undergraduate student and having newly discovered my love for biology research. While research as a graduate student and a postdoc feels (to me) to be more results-driven, my time as an undergraduate researcher seemed to be more interest-driven where I was just as fascinated by every new simple technique or research factoid I learned as I was by my experimental results. I would like to recreate that experience for more students, to really absorb the excitement and passion of science before they become more jaded older researchers! I think this ties in to my love of teaching – the gratification of seeing a student learn something new and be captured by it. Because science is so amazing, and I think the older and more experienced we get with it, the more we forget to marvel at it.
Dr. Egan: My undergraduate research experience at Saint Joseph’s University was transformative. It helped me to solidify my career goals, identify my academic passions, and explore what excited me most about science. Because of this experience, I knew I wanted to dedicate my career to giving students a similar experience during their undergraduate career. Also, I truly enjoy working with undergraduate students! They are refreshingly curious, dedicated, and enthusiastic about science. It has always been such a pleasure and a privilege to work with them… and to learn from them!
What are you most looking forward to / have enjoyed the most in your new position?
Dr. Shahi: I am really excited to start setting up my new lab, and to start teaching several new (for me) undergraduate classes! It also all feels slightly terrifying - but in a good way.
Dr. Egan: I have truly enjoyed working with the incredible faculty, staff, and students, especially in the Biology Department at Swarthmore! During this past year, I have met such supportive colleagues and inspiring students - they have made me absolutely love my transition into my faculty position. I am blown away by the department’s commitment to enhancing student learning and supporting student success in creative ways. Moreover, the students are genuinely passionate about their courses and come to every class excited to learn! They are a joy to mentor and teach.
What excites you about your research? How heavily did knowing this work would be primarily conducted by undergraduate students impact your research plan?
Dr. Shahi: I have worked on bacterial virulence factors for many years now - first in the form of toxins during my PhD, and now as bacterial pili contributing to pathogenesis. I love working with bacteria and made an effort to find a postdoc lab that would help me learn new skills while staying within the bacterial pathogenesis field. That being said, I did always keep in mind that I wanted to start an undergraduate lab down the road, and therefore stuck to research questions that could be investigated easily in at least some (if not most) PUIs. It is tricky to do that because all PUIs offer different resources – some only have BSL-1 spaces, while others have elaborate animal facilities. Not knowing what kind of PUI I might end up at, I constantly adjusted research questions in my head for how I might pursue them after my postdoctoral stint. For example, I knew I did not want to compromise on doing BSL-2 research, but I was okay not doing animal work in my undergraduate lab. When looking for faculty job openings, I researched what resources each institution had and whether that would fit my research. I also had an open and honest conversation with my PI (Dr. Joe St. Geme) when I started at my PennPORT postdoctoral lab, so that we were both aware of the future I envisioned for my research. Joe’s support in helping me tailor research towards a future undergraduate-focused lab was therefore also instrumental.
Dr. Egan: I’m really excited that my research program integrates aspects of research that I became interested in during my undergraduate, graduate, and postdoc journeys. It really feels like a full circle moment for me. I would say I focused a lot of my research program on ensuring undergraduate engagement. My top priority is offering undergraduate students a meaningful hypothesis-driven research experience. So, I have tried to really consider how to involve undergraduate students at every level of my research program, from how to safely work with bacteria to giving them the experience of designing their own experiments.
What advice would you give to current CAMB students interested in pursuing more undergraduate-focused teaching at a PUI?
Dr. Shahi: I have heard that more and more that PUI positions are becoming competitive and PUIs are really looking for relevant experiences nowadays. So I would suggest trying to get any sort of teaching and science outreach experience you can. It doesn’t have to be teaching a full class of undergraduates or even high school students – I spent a lot of time with programs that went to elementary school classrooms to do simple science experiments or paired graduate students with local high school students for one-on-one mentoring through a full school year. Mentoring rotation students or summer students in your lab is also great. The IRACDA program is fantastic, and really makes postdocs competitive for PUI job positions. Many institutions around the country are part of the IRACDA program, so it’s worth applying to those places for postdoc positions. If you don’t join an IRACDA program, it’s also worthwhile to try to find part-time adjunct teaching positions (even for just one semester) at local community colleges or other institutions during your graduate or postdoctoral period.
Dr. Egan: My first piece of advice would be to reach out to faculty members at PUIs to get a sense of what their daily lives are like! I think networking is invaluable. Every PUI is different, and every faculty member’s experience is unique. So, it’s important to hear about those differences when considering if this type of career is the best one for you!
My other big piece of advice is to get teaching and mentoring experience! To me, the most important part of the career path is teaching and mentoring undergraduate students in the lab and in the classroom. So, it is important to have some level of familiarity with teaching and mentoring to develop your own teaching philosophy (which of course will change with each experience) and understand your mentoring style (this, too, will change as you learn and grow as a mentor). It is also important to see if you truly enjoy these experiences. The best way to do that is to practice teaching and mentoring in any way possible - mentoring an undergraduate student in the lab, being a teaching assistant for an undergraduate course, or even giving a guest lecture!
Any interested students can reach out to Dr. Shahi at ifrahshahi1@gmail.com or Dr. Egan at megan1@swarthmore.edu. For more first-hand accounts of experience as a PUI professor, please refer to this recent article published in Cell Reports Physical Science.
Article addendum:
We are very sad to report that funding for the NIH-IRACDA programs has been terminated as of early April 2025. The future of IRACDA-affiliated programs such as PennPORT are in flux as programs respond to the tumultuous funding landscape. While PennPORT is still recruiting new postdocs as of April 2025, these postdocs can no longer be supported by IRACDA funds, and will need to secure funding from their postdoctoral PI or another independent source to participate in the program.
Given the uncertain future of IRACDA-affiliated programs, CAMB students interested in pursuing teaching careers in academia can turn to other resources for training.
Many of the pedagogy workshops offered through CHOP and Penn that are part of the PennPORT curriculum have always been open to postdocs outside of the PennPORT program. Both Dr. Shahi and Dr. Egan found these workshops to be invaluable resources for securing a faculty position and preparing for a career as a professor.
For additional teaching experience, CAMB students can explore opportunities to be a teaching assistant in undergraduate courses or complete the CETLI Teaching Certificate during their PhD.
Part-time adjunct teaching positions at or nearby your postdoc institution can informally recreate the IRACDA-based teaching-focused postdoctoral experience. Institutions that had IRACDA-funded programs like PennPORT may maintain their partnerships with neighboring PUIs and be able to advocate for their postdocs to fill those adjunct positions.
Any CAMB students with questions concerning the future of the PennPORT program, teaching resources, and general advice on alternative ways to pursue a career in teaching independent of IRACDA can reach out to PennPORT leadership and/or CETLI.
Differences between Professorship at a PUI versus an R01 Institution | ||
Summary | PUIs pay lower salaries and a PUI lab would produce less/smaller publications than at an R01 institution; however, PUI salaries are more fixed, the position/research much less dependent on grants, and the day-to-day job more teaching-focused and undergraduate-driven than an R01 institution. | |
Primarily Undergraduate Institution (PUI) | R01 Institution | |
Mentees | Mainly if not entirely undergraduate students in both laboratory and classroom settings. | Mostly graduate students and postdocs in the laboratory. |
Teaching Expectations | Depending on the PUI, teaching undergraduate classes can consist of 50-90% of job expectations or even 100% with no research expectations. | Minimal. Tenure expectations are more driven by research output and grants. |
Grant Expectations | Reduced or negligible grant expectations from the faculty. Therefore, salary and research output are much less or even completely independent of earning grants. Often offer a separate fixed salary and sometimes limited research funds. Faculty at more research-oriented PUIs can still apply for small grants as an additional bonus, but not required. | The number and value of grants earned are pivotal considerations for tenure. Research is largely or entirely funded by grants earned by the PI to fund their own research. |
Research Output and Impact | Lower output and less high-impact since mostly or entirely conducted by less-experienced undergraduate students who work part-time at a slower pace than graduate students or post docs. | Higher output and increased ability to conduct high-impact research given a more experienced, full-time workforce and access to more and better resources. |
Resources | Fewer resources (both financial and physical) available for research. This impacts how and what research can be conducted. Important considerations:
| More financial and physical resources at the institutional level. |
Salary | Significantly smaller compared to R01 faculty salaries. Starting salaries are rarely above $90,000/year, at even the wealthiest and most highly-ranked PUIs and are lower at many other PUIs. | Significantly higher with a much higher ceiling. However, salary level is influenced by the amount of grant funding the PI is able to bring to the institution and the amount/impact of research conducted in the lab in addition to other factors. |
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