EMBL Fellows' Career Service Handout: Interviewing for, and negotiating, a group leader position

Interviewing for, and negotiating, a group leader position EMBL Fellows’ Career Service Handout: Faculty interviews Page 2/15 V1.0 | December 2025 Interviewing for, and negotiating, a faculty position Preparing for the interview ................................................................................................................................................ 3 The job talk ........................................................................................................................................................................ 4 The chalk talk ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Appendix I: Questions to expect in GL interviews ............................................................................................................. 8 Appendix II: Questions you can ask ................................................................................................................................ 10 Appendix III: Negotiating your position .......................................................................................................................... 12 Imprint ............................................................................................................................................................................ 15 EMBL Fellows’ Career Service Handout: Faculty interviews Page 3/15 V1.0 | December 2025 Preparing for the interview Faculty interviews can involve different types of talks and discussions with a range of stakeholders. Components of an On-Site Faculty Interview: • Job talk – A research seminar focused on your past research, and with some slides on future research. • Panel interview and/or chalk talk – A closed session where you discuss or present your research proposal in detail. Expect scientific questions as well as broader inquiries on lab setup and institutional contributions. o Guidance for a chalk talk is available on page 5. o A list of common interview questions can be found in Appendix I. • One-on-one meetings – Discussions with faculty members and search committee representatives. • Additional meetings – For example, with students or postdocs. • Teaching demonstration – Sometimes required. Preparation Checklist: If you have not already prepared these points during your application, you can: • Research the department – Understand its focus and how your work aligns with its research themes. • Find out more about your interviewers: look up their work and prepare questions for them. • Prepare your interview talks • Get ready for potential questions (see appendix I for full list): o What subprojects will you develop? o How many students and postdocs do you expect in 3–5 years? What backgrounds will they need? Which projects suit PhD students vs. postdocs? o What kind of lab culture do you want to establish? o What resources (budget, equipment) are essential to launch your lab? Where will your funding come from? o Potential challenges/risks in your proposed research and mitigation strategies Resources for Understanding Search Committees' Expectations: • Key publications: • Clement, Laurence, Jennie B. Dorman, and Richard McGee. 2020. “The Academic Career Readiness Assessment: Clarifying Hiring and Training Expectations for Future Biomedical Life Sciences Faculty.” CBE Life Sciences Education 19 (2): ar22. • Fernandes JD, Sarabipour S, Smith CT, Niemi NM, Jadavji NM, Kozik AJ, et al. A survey-based analysis of the academic job market. eLife. 2020;9:e54097. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.54097 • Hsu NS, Rezai-Zadeh KP, Tennekoon MS, Korn SJ. Myths and facts about getting an academic faculty position in neuroscience. Sci Adv. 2021 Aug 27;7(35):eabj2604. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abj2604. • Other resources: • Recorded webinars from other organizations: ASBMB (‘Inside a faculty search committee’) and elife (focus on interviews). • Blog post from Arjun Raj with tips – including for the interview and chalk talk • Our small survey of faculty serving on search committees, and our careers and skills survey • The Chicago Guide to Landing a Job in Academic Biology. C. Ray Chandler, Lorne M. Wolfe, and Daniel E. L. Promislow. University of Chicago Press. • Blog article from Jeremy Fox on his experience of sitting on a search committee • Applying for Junior Faculty Positions as a Research Scientist | S. Lesage and A. Liston. Stroke 2021;52:e360–e363. https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.121.035332 • Making the jump: Expert guidance on transitioning to academic independence Saez, I., Berry, A.S., Elie, J.E. and Santacruz, S.R. (2020),. Eur J Neurosci, 51: 1515-1525. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.14484 EMBL Fellows’ Career Service Handout: Faculty interviews Page 4/15 V1.0 | December 2025 The job talk The job talk is your opportunity to highlight your research achievements and outline your future plans. Unlike a typical research seminar, you should present both past research and future directions. Possible structure for a 60-Minute Job Talk Aim for 45–50 minutes of presentation time, ensuring you finish on time. • Introduction (5–10 minutes) o Provide the big picture of your research. o Explain its relevance to the broader field so that non-specialists can grasp the significance of your past work and future plans. o Consider including a career overview slide to highlight key achievements, especially if there is a common theme connecting your work. • Past Research (20–30 minutes, including conclusion slide) o Focus primarily on your major postdoctoral project or present 2–3 related projects that form a cohesive narrative. o Ensure most of the talk is accessible to a broad audience, but select a few aspects to explain in more detail. • Future Research Plans (approx. 10 minutes) o Outline the research programme you aim to establish as a group leader. o Demonstrate how your experience positions you to tackle these questions effectively. Preparing a strong job talk – our tips: • Attend job talks at your institution to see how different people present / weight the different sections in different fields (job talks are often included in the institute’s seminar list, and open to other scientists in the institution). • Polish your presentation skills: if needed, take time to explore content on best practices and apply these to your presentation. [at EMBL, slide design and presentation training is offered in the complementary skills programme] • Clarify your contributions - make it clear what your contributions were, but acknowledge collaborators and any students you worked with (experience of collaborations and mentorship is positive). • Seek feedback – Practise with colleagues from within and outside your field Resources: • Job Talk Guidance o Ten simple rules for giving an effective academic job talk. Sura SA, Smith LL, Ambrose MR, Amorim CEG, Beichman AC, et al. (2019) PLOS Computational Biology 15(7): e1007163. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007163 o Faculty job talks: tips from the faculty (MIT EECS) o Video: How to give an academic job talk (Mattias Rillig) • General tips on scientific presentations • How To Give a Good Talk – Alon U. Mol Cell. 2009 Oct 23;36(2):165-7. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2009.10.007. • iBiology Video: Susan McConnell (Stanford): Designing effective scientific presentations (particularly from 12min:20sec onwards). EMBL Fellows’ Career Service Handout: Faculty interviews Page 5/15 V1.0 | December 2025 The chalk talk The chalk talk is a research discussion that focuses on your approach to a current or future project. This format encourages interactive discussion and challenges you to present your research at a conceptual level. Key Features of a Chalk Talk • You use a whiteboard and markers (or chalkboard) rather than pre-prepared slides1 and focus on explaining and defending your future research plans. • Sessions typically last 45–60 minutes, and are attended by faculty members. Occasionally, students or postdocs may also be present. • The audience will interrupt with questions. • The audience will assess: o The depth of your thinking and feasibility of your project. o Your ability to synthesise and communicate ideas clearly. o Your openness to discussion and adaptability under pressure. Due to the more interactive nature of the talk, you should plan content for only about 50% of the allotted time. Preparation suggestions • Clarify logistics – if it is not clear, ask whether there will be time to set-up the board before your session; and whether it will be a white board or chalk board (or if in fact, slides are expected). • Watch the example chalk talks, and review our suggested structure below • Draft a structured board layout in advance – you can bring an A4 version with you to copy from. Example structure: o Write your main research question at the top. o List aims on the left, with key figures in the middle. o Leave space on the right for responding to questions. • Practise drawing schematics quickly and clearly. • Practise the chalk talk first alone, then with colleagues who can interrupt with questions. • If you are able to set up the board beforehand, think about how you will interact with the board during your talk. You can, for example, underline key points or add some additional detail to the figures in a different colour. • Bring your own markers or chalk. • Avoid handouts, as they can distract from the discussion. Recommended resources: recorded seminars with example chalk talks • UCSF seminar on chalk talks with Seemay Chou - example from 27 minutes 20 seconds into video (from their https://career.ucsf.edu/events/pac-up/chalk-talk course) • Abridged faculty application chalk talk from Qiaojie Xiong, (Stony Brook University) via the Society of Neuroscience • Example of demonstrating a specific experimental approach (not a full faculty chalk talk) – Harvard Medical School • Gladstone Institutes: Preparing a Chalk Talk for a Faculty Position, YouTube – the speaker (Robert Mahley) talks through one possible talk / what would be put on the board from 1hr:05 1 Note: in some subfields the term ‘chalk talk’ may also be used to refer to a slide-based presentation on your future research. If your interview invite does not specify the format, do confirm the expectations for the chalk talk. EMBL Fellows’ Career Service Handout: Faculty interviews Page 6/15 V1.0 | December 2025 Suggested Structure: Three Key Sections 1. Introduction: Background and Vision (5–10 minutes) • Summarise your talk’s structure. • Introduce the overarching theme of your lab: • State the big research question and its significance e.g. how is lysozyme positioning regulated).  write your overarching research question as a sentence at the top or centre of the board (if possible before starting your talk.) • Highlight the specific knowledge gap you aim to address and (briefly) why this is important and timely (e.g. why has no-one successfully looked at this so far) and what unique prospective you will bring to this question.  Use simple schematics if helpful, such as a simplified schematic of the signalling pathway or process. - Note: most of the audience will often not be an expert in your field, so the concepts should be communicated such that the reasoning and importance is easily understood by someone outside your field. o You can also mention key relevant findings from your postdoc work: “A major finding from my postdoc work is… In my lab, I will build on this by…” [in most cases, the chalk talk follows your ‘job talk’ but some of the audience may not have attended] • Then state your 2–3 main research aims. 2. Hypotheses and Approaches (Main Discussion) For each of your research aims, explain: • Your hypotheses ,and the methodologies you will use to test them. o Outline key experiments and use simple schematics to conceptualise expected results. o Be prepared to discuss controls, potential pitfalls, and alternative approaches. • Your expertise and planned collaborations. And expect: • frequent interruptions: be ready to clarify or adapt your discussion (see handling questions, below). • to run short on time: start with your most compelling project in case time runs short. 3. Outcomes: Ending Strongly (2 minutes) • Keep track of time and summarise your key points concisely: “By advancing our understanding of…, this research will enable…” • After the final round of questions, conclude for example, with: “Thank you for your attention and the insightful discussion.” Handling Questions Effectively You should be ready to answer questions about: • Specific aspects of your science – e,g. main risks, limitations of your methods and any alternative approaches • How you will organize and fund your lab: Your first grant, first PhD project etc, what are the timelines for your (sub)aims. • See appendix I for a list of questions you may get in the chalk talk, or in other parts of the interview. Answer questions succinctly and: • Try not to get defensive: consider the questions as an opportunity for colligable discussion. • Listen carefully to the questions; let them finish and ask for clarification if it’s unclear what they mean • If a question seems off-topic, keep your answer very brief or politely defer: EMBL Fellows’ Career Service Handout: Faculty interviews Page 7/15 V1.0 | December 2025 o “I think that will take us a bit of topic, perhaps I can finish explaining x – and you hold that question and ask it again at the end if it still seems important”. • Provide context for technical questions – e.g. explain what is behind the question so that all understand the answer. • If unfamiliar with a reference, acknowledge it professionally: “I’m aware of related work in this area, but I haven’t come across that specific study. I’d love to discuss it further.” Further reading • Leslie Vosshall’s Chalk Talk Guide (PDF) • Designing your chalk talk for the academic job interview – Addgene blog • C. Parks, S. Glasgow, E. Krug, and A.I. Roca (2021) Make a Simple Tree: Chalk Talks for Postdocs. DiverseScholar 12:1 • How to design a chalk talk—the million dollar sales pitch Erik Lee Snapp | Molecular Biology of the Cell 2019 30:13, 1575-1577 • Q&A: How to Give a Chalk Talk - Edge for Scholars • ASBMB Today: Demystifying the chalk talk – including suggestions for a structure for a slide-based chalk talk and What exactly is a chalk talk (three new professors share their experiences) • Chalk talks: how to avoid 10 pitfalls | Joan E. Strassmann Acknowledgements Thank you to EMBL Group Leader Aissam Ikmi, whose Chalk Talk Theory sessions held at EMBL in 2023 were a key resource for this handout. EMBL Fellows’ Career Service Handout: Faculty interviews Page 8/15 V1.0 | December 2025 Appendix I: Questions to expect in GL interviews In addition to scientific questions, you will be asked a range of other questions during the interview. These can include those related to: Your track record of research • What excites you about your research right now? • Besides your main project, what else are you working on? • What is the coolest thing you have figured out? • What finding have you been most proud of and why? • What is the best idea you ever had? • Regarding your past work, can you explain to us what you did and what was the role of your supervisor(s)? Independence and research leadership • How will you set yourself apart from your current PI? • Have you discussed your proposed research with your supervisor? • Who is or will be your biggest competition? • What will your edge be compared to the competition in this area? • What do you see as the most important questions in your subfield right now? • If there is one thing you want to achieve in the next five years, what would that be? • What is the state of the art in your field or methodology? How will you add to it? • What major questions in the field will your research address? • In 5-10 years’ time, what page of the biology text book will have been re-written by your research? • In 5-10 years’ time, what will you be winning awards for? • What do you see yourself working on in the longer-term – e.g. 5/10/20 years? Feasibility and organization of your future research • Why this model system? Why not something else? What about XYZ? • What will be the biggest hurdles to achieve your research goals? • What aspect has the most risk / challenges? How will you overcome this? • What is the significance of measuring XYZ? What is the novel finding here? • What are the considerations when applying this method? • What are the technical challenges that still need to be solved? • How many N's do you need? How can you estimate this? • What alternative or complementary methods could help you answer your questions? • What will you do if your approach in aim x does not give you results? • Can you give us a timeline on how long this takes? • What would you start on first? • What research infrastructure will you need to execute your research plan? Does this institution/department have all the equipment you’ll need? • How much space and start-up money will you need? • Who will be your first hire (a postdoc, grad student, or technician) and what project will you put them on? • What size lab do you hope to have after 5-years? What would be its ideal composition (e.g. expertise, students vs postdocs). • Do you see yourself as a method developer or biologist? How will you balance your time and your group's time between the two? • Which project do you think will get you your first publication, what do you think the title will be? • What do you see as your strengths/weaknesses and how do you want the department to support you? EMBL Fellows’ Career Service Handout: Faculty interviews Page 9/15 V1.0 | December 2025 Fundability • What grant programmes do you plan to apply to? • What will be the title of your first grant? • What are your grant strategies? Fit & collegiality • Why are you interested in our department/institute? • How do you see your research fitting in the broader department? • What kinds of collaborations do you envision – both internally and externally? • How will your strengths complement our departments? • What meetings do you attend, and societies do you belong to? • What synergies with other groups will help you succeed? Supervision • What type of project would you give a PhD vs a postdoc • What do you think a positive lab culture looks like – what steps will you take to establish this in your lab? Teaching (for roles with teaching responsibilities only) and mentorship • What courses do you envisage teaching? • What will be your approach to teaching? • How will your research inform your teaching and vice versa? • What was your favourite teaching experience so far? • Would you feel confident teaching in (German/French/Spanish/Italian…). • What do you see as the major challenges of teaching this subject? • What is your training/mentoring philosophy? • How will you support your lab members? • What type of culture do you want to build in your lab, how will you achieve that? • How will you help undergrads and PhDs get started on their projects? • How would you approach the situation where you have a student who is not making progress? • How would you approach the situation where there is an interpersonal conflict between two of your lab members? Acknowledgements / sources / further reading for Appendix I-II: • Thank you to Herman Fung, a former EMBL postdoc, who kindly shared a list of questions he faced at interview. • Interviewing for Academic Jobs Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 87(2):155-158 2006. Brian D. Inouye, Nora Underwood, Dan F. Doak and Peter Kareiva • Saez, I., Berry, A.S., Elie, J.E. and Santacruz, S.R. (2020), Making the jump: Expert guidance on transitioning to academic independence. Eur J Neurosci, 51: 1515-1525. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.14484 • UCSF Interviewing for a Faculty Position resources, including question list • Interviewing for an Academic Job – list of questions collated by Kathryn L. Cottingham at Dartmouth • Panellists at multiple career panels the EMBL Fellow Career Service has hosted, through the EMBL Careers Webinars and at EMBL Conferences.