Faculty Search
Postdoctoral researchers, assistant and associate professors, professors and chairs, and the academic leaders who run them, for universities and research institutes worldwide. Each shortlist is capped at 25 candidates, and each candidate arrives with a dossier.
A university's research record is the record of the scholars who sign its papers. We treat every faculty appointment, from a postdoctoral post to a chair, as a decision about that record, and assess it before the offer is made.
Each search starts from the institution's record in ATLAS. The full field is sourced, each candidate is scored against the institution, and we introduce a shortlist the committee can read in one sitting.
Faculty Search at Every Career Stage
Early-career researchers for funded projects, fellowships, and research groups. The record is short, so each dossier states how wide the estimate is.
Faculty at the start of an independent career, read on their record so far and the trajectory it shows.
Mid-career faculty with an established record, where an appointment begins to move the institution's measures.
Senior faculty with the largest measurable effect on research standing, each assessed against the portfolio.
Three Kinds of Mandates
One method for every kind of hire: the full field sourced, each candidate scored against the institution, and a shortlist capped at 25 for every post.
Single posts
One appointment, assessed
A single faculty post at any career stage, from a postdoctoral fellowship to an endowed chair.
- A brief drafted from the institution's record
- Up to 25 candidates, each with a dossier
- A projection recorded in the ledger
Cohort hiring
Several appointments in one field
Cohorts and clusters of hires for a new department, research centre, or strategic initiative, planned as one portfolio.
- A cohort plan: which posts, at which stages, in what order
- A shortlist for every post, scored against the cohort as well as the institution
- The expected effect of the whole cohort
Executive search
Academic leadership
Heads of department, deans, research institute directors, provosts, and presidents. The brief starts from the institution's strategy and its research record.
- Leadership candidates read on their own record and their units' records
- Confidential approaches by a senior member of the team
- Board-ready dossiers
Related Services
Service
Faculty Advisory
Method
ATLAS Method
Our Approach to Faculty Search
Four stages, each producing a document the institution keeps. Later stages are scoped from the earlier ones, so the committee can stop, adjust, or continue at each point.
- 1
Brief
The brief sets out what the posts must change
The institution's record is read in ATLAS: research position, field mix, and the positions that hold the average up. For a cohort, the brief covers the whole cluster.
Produces: Talent opportunity brief
- 2
Sourcing
ATLAS sources the full field
Every research-active scholar in the field, worldwide, at the right career stage, scored against the brief. Nothing is inferred from a name or origin.
Produces: Scored long list
- 3
Evaluation
Review, verification and approach
Identity is confirmed from the works record before anyone is named. The strongest fits are approached in confidence.
Produces: Shortlist of up to 25 per post
- 4
Introduction
Sourced figures, projected range, and stated risks
Each candidate is introduced with a dossier, and the projection is recorded so it can be graded later.
Produces: Candidate dossiers
What the Institution Receives
Each dossier sets out the candidate's record, the expected effect on the institution, the risks, and where to start. Every ATLAS figure in it is footnoted to its source.
Early-career records are shorter, so their intervals are wider. The dossier says so plainly, and the committee weighs the trajectory alongside the figures.
- Talent opportunity brief. The posts, the measures that matter, and what the appointments should change.
- Cohort plan. For cohort hires: which posts, at which stages, in what order.
- Scored long list. The full field at the right career stage, scored against the brief.
- Candidate dossier. Record, expected effect, risks, and where to start.
- Shortlist summary. Up to 25 candidates per post, scored against the brief, side by side.
- Prediction ledger entry. Every projection, dated, graded when the target edition publishes.
How Institutions Use the Evidence
The full field. Every research-active scholar in the discipline, worldwide, at every career stage.
Scored against the institution. Candidates are measured against the institution's own research portfolio.
A dossier for each candidate. Written to be read in one sitting, with every figure footnoted.
Discretion. No one is named to an institution until identity is confirmed.
Example Engagements
Cohort of six assistant professors in artificial intelligence, public research university, Europe
Example scope: a cohort plan, six shortlists and candidate dossiers.
Postdoctoral fellows for a new research institute, Asia-Pacific
Example scope: four shortlists, each scored against the institute's research programme.
Dean of engineering, private university, Middle East
Example scope: an executive search with board-ready dossiers.
Speak with us about a faculty search or a cohort of hires.
Contact the teamInsights on Faculty Search
Cohort Hiring as One Portfolio
Gulf universities already hire in clusters: about half of arrivals publish with another recent arrival, and about half share a subfield with one. When each post is filled on its own, a cohort can duplicate strengths and leave gaps; planning the posts together avoids both.
How to Read a Provost Candidate's Record
Provost and dean searches rest on reputation, references and interview. The research record of the units a candidate has led is public and rarely read. Set against peer units over the same years, it gives a committee evidence an interview cannot.
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