Guide for acceptance of new candidate to senior academic staff

​Ben-Gurion University of the Negev is one of Israel’s leading research universities and among the world leaders in many fields.

The University has around 20,000 students and 850 academic staff members in the Faculties of Engineering Sciences, Health Sciences, Natural Sciences, the Pinchas Sapir Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management, the Joyce and Irving Goldman School of Medicine, the Kreitman School of Advanced Graduate Studies, and the Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies. Over 100,000 BGU graduates fill important positions in R&D, industry, health care, the economy, and the social, cultural and education fields in Israel.

The University has national and multidisciplinary research institutes: The National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev, the National Institute of Solar Energy, the Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, the Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism, and Heksherim - The Research Institute for Jewish and Israeli Literature and Culture.

​Recruiting new faculty members is one of the important and challenging responsibilities of a department head. The aim of this document and its appendices is to facilitate this task so that it will be as clear and organized as possible, including all the entities involved in the recruitment process. 

The document addresses two aspects relating to the recruitment of new researchers: the academic aspect and the infrastructure required by the candidate.

Guide for Recruiting New Senior Academic Faculty Members

1. Attracting Candidates​

​Researchers seeking academic positions in BGU departments can respond to advertised position openings, in addition to unsolicited inquiries regarding departmental positions which are received throughout the year.

After the department decides to consider an applicant's candidacy, the department head must ensure that he/she has the following documents:

»​ Application letter

»​ Curriculum Vitae (final format will be published soon)

»​ Statement of future research plans and teaching statement

»​ List of 3-4 names of recommenders from whom a recommendation letter can be requested. 

Candidates for a senior lecturer position must provide the names of four recommenders, at least two of them "independent" and at least two from an institution abroad.

For the position of associate professor candidates must provide the names of six recommenders, at least four “independent” and at least three from an institution abroad.

»​ Lecturing preferences - optional.

This information will be used to decide whether to continue the candidate’s recruitment process.

2. Candidate Visit

The next step in assessing the candidate’s suitability is inviting him/her to visit the University. In certain instances, with the rector’s approval, the University may assist in financing the researcher’s visit. If the visit will be two days or more, the department is expected to finance the cost of the candidate’s accommodations at one of the University’s guest apartments (U-Tel).

The visit will generally include the following components:

»​ Meetings with the department head and additional department faculty members, particularly faculty members who will be involved in the decision whether to continue the candidate’s recruitment process. The meetings must be coordinated for the candidate.

»​ Departmental Lecture (Job Talk), in which information is provided about the candidate’s scientific background and future plans and his/her research and teachings skills are assessed. The candidate is requested to design and plan the lecture for an audience with a diverse scientific background. Nonetheless, the lecture’s level of detail must enable critical assessment of the research presented.  

»​ Many departments organize an open discussion (Chalk Talk) after the lecture. This discussion also enables faculty members with whom a personal meeting with the candidate was not scheduled to assess his/her intellectual and pedagogical skills and personality traits, and to formulate an opinion about whether the candidate is a fit for the department.

It is important to ensure that the planned schedule will be provided to the candidate and the department faculty members in beforehand. 

​​3. Information the department head must receive from the candidate and information the department head must prepare in advance and provide to the candidate at the time of the interview:

​​3.1. Information the department head must receive during the initial interview with the candidate.

The aim of this information is to help the department head understand which professional entities should be involved in the recruitment process. Already at this stage, if the candidate has exceptional demands (in terms of expenses or lab planning, construction, or equipment), the relevant people of the Construction and Maintenance Division, must be contacted, depending on the issue.

After examining the issue, the information gathered will be transferred to the Rector, the Director General and to the Vice President for Research and Development in order to receive their approval to continue the recruitment process.

​3.2. During the interview, the department head must give the candidate information about the following issues:

»​ Location and size of laboratory offered the candidate, and its dimensions.

»​ The date on which the laboratory will be ready for the candidate to begin his/her research.

»​ The teaching requirements demanded of the candidate and the date these requirements will enter into effect.

»​ The scope of the department’s financial support for advanced degrees students, and the requirements of students in the department (for example teaching, checking quizzes and exams, etc.).

»​ Estimated period of time until receiving a promotion and/or tenure at the institution.

» Personal absorption basket: grant / loan for purch​asing of accommodation; 
financial support upon returning to Israel ​

» Additional useful information may be found at the following links:

4. Preparing the Job Offer

Following discussion of the candidacy by the relevant departmental committee, and a decision to begin the candidate’s recruitment process, the request will be transferred to the dean of the faculty. The dean will transfer the request for approval of the recruitment committee. From this date onwards, the department head will take action with respect to three entities:

1. Rector’s recruitment committee

2. Research recruitment package - Vice President for Research and Development

3. Construction and Maintenance Division

** Approval of the recruitment committee is a prerequisite for the candidate’s recruitment.

4.1. Recruitment Commi​ttee 

Prior to making a job offer, the recruitment committee headed by the Rector must approve the candidate’s academic suitability.

​4.2 Research Recruitment package - Vice President for ​Research and Development

The discussion about the recruitment package will only take place after the recruitment committee completes its deliberations. 

The department head will help the candidate compile a detailed list of required laboratory equipment, including prices. The department faculty may assist in this matter if the department has a faculty member who is responsible for coordinating the acquisition of laboratory equipment. If not, the candidate will present prices he/she received from Israeli vendors. As a last resort, the candidate will transfer the list of prices he/she received from suppliers at his/her prior place of employment. 

The department head will examine the list and confirm that this is a reasonable equipment list. Costs that can be funded by research grants will not be included in the recruitment package (for example: salaries for technicians, service fees etc.). Nonetheless, should the need arise, 10% of the recruitment package may be used to fund such customary costs (for example chemicals, cost of student hours, office equipment, etc.). It is the department head’s responsibility to examine the entire list with a critical eye (for example, there is no need to purchase 16 computers at the initial stage, when setting up the research laboratory, since it will take time to recruit this number of students).

The department head will examine the equipment list to determine whether special infrastructure is required for the equipment. Special infrastructure may include, for example, purified water, stable supply of electricity (generator backup), etc. The need for construction in the laboratory must also be determined (for example: the need for a dark room, a floor with the capacity to support heavy machinery/equipment etc.). 

After the list of recruitment requirements has been completed, and there is an estimate of the costs entailed in purchasing the equipment and in implementing the necessary special infrastructure and building requirements, the department head will schedule a meeting with the Vice President of Research and Development. The faculty dean may also be invited to attend this meeting. Negotiations now begin regarding the recruitment package. It is important that the department head represent the candidate on the one hand, yet on the other hand he/she must be aware of the University’s considerations and constraints. 

The negotiations will be more effective if the department head is aware of the available funding sources for the candidate’s recruitment (for example I-Core etc.).

4.3 Construction and Maintenance Department

To enable the candidate’s successful recruitment coordinated efforts are needed on the part of many and different University entities. To coordinate the planning and work of the different entities, all relevant information must be gathered as soon as possible.

After examining the budget and infrastructure requirements, approval for recruitment must be received from the university Director General and the Vice President of Research and Development.

​

5. Job Offer

Following approval of the candidate’s recruitment by the recruitment committee, and agreement regarding the recruitment package and the building and infrastructure requirements, a job offer will be sent from the The Office of the Vice President and Dean for Research and Development to the dean of the faculty. The letter will include information about the place and size of the area designated to be allocated to the candidate by the department, the amount of the research recruitment package, and the maximum budget for building and for adapting the laboratory infrastructure to the candidate’s need. The office of the faculty dean will transfer the letter to the Senior Academic Faculty Unit in the Human Resources Division. The department head is responsible for tracking the process and ensuring that the offer reaches the President’s office, after receiving the approval of all the entities involved. At the President’s level there may be changes regarding certain aspects of the offer (including the amount of the recruitment package that will be offered).

After the job offer letter is approved by the President, it is returned to the faculty dean who sends it to the candidate on behalf of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (and will notify the department head that it was sent). It is important to understand that only a letter sent from the President is considered a formal job offer by the University. Up to this point, contact with the candidate is considered a non-binding relationship, and the candidate is also free to negotiate with other institutions.

Carrying out the above process efficiently will enable the department head to offer the candidate a position several weeks after his/her visit. It is recommended to ask the candidate to respond to the offer within 10-14 days after receiving the letter. It is important to clarify the limited timeframe of the offer in a letter that will be sent to the candidate by the department head immediately after the offer letter is sent from the faculty dean.

If the candidate does not respond by the specified date, he/she will be notified that the offer is no longer valid. 

Should the candidate accept the offer, he/she must inform all other institutions with which he/she negotiated that negotiations are discontinued immediately. 

If the candidate accepts the offer, it is the responsibility of the dean and the department head to update the following entities about the expected arrival of the new researcher:

» Rector’s office

»​ Office of the Vice President and Dean for Research and Development

»​ Vice President of Construction and Maintenance

»​ Academic faculty department

6. After the Candidate Accepts the Offer

Now the real work begins:

»​ A mentor will be appointed for the candidate (a senior and experienced faculty member from the department, who was not the PhD advisor and who can guide the new faculty member on any work-related issues).

»​ Contact the Senior Academic Faculty Section in the Human Resources Division in order to receive the necessary paperwork/forms and information about monetary refunds. A meeting should be scheduled for the candidate with the Section when the candidate begins his/her employment.  

»​ The department head will contact the Research Grant Unit in the Research and Development Authority to update them and request that they contact the candidate in order to submit applications for research grants. It is possible and desirable to begin writing applications before the candidate commences employment at Ben-Gurion University.

»​ The department head must maintain continuous contact with the entities involved in preparing the laboratory infrastructure and implementing the building requirements, and offer his/her assistance as needed in order to advance the process. It is important not to assume that the process will progress as planned without active involvement and ongoing follow-up by the department head. 

»​ When the candidate commences employment the recruitment package budget must be activated by submitting a request to Vice President for Research and Development.

​

By following the roadmap presented in this document, and assuming the faculty member does not have unusual demands, all requests and needs of the new faculty member should be filled within six months of his/her employment commencement date.