Prospective Scholars

Securing a UCSF Academic Position

To participate in research, teaching, or collaboration at UCSF, you must find a department and professor to work with. Start by looking at UCSF researcher profiles to identify a faculty member whose work matches your interests. You may consider emailing the faculty member your CV and a short letter of interest to inquire if a position is available. You can also apply directly for academic positions online. Most hiring happens at the lab or faculty level.

Hiring Process

Upon securing an academic position with a faculty member, the academic hiring process is typically:

  1. Your faculty member will confirm your hire with your HR department liaison or administrator
  2. Your HR department liaison or administrator will submit a PeopleConnect Management (PCMA) ticket to campus HR
  3. Campus HR will review the PCMA ticket for eligibility and, if appropriate, approve the request
  4. Campus HR will submit a visa request to ISSO, typically a J-1 or H-1B visa request based on the request made by the faculty
  5. ISSO will review the request for eligibility and reach out to you only if needed to complete the visa request process. 

Please note that ISSO is unable to initiate visa requests if campus HR has not submitted the appointment paperwork to us. Uncertain if campus HR has submitted your request to ISSO? Check in with your HR department liaison or administrator.

Exchange Agreement Process, typically for undergraduate students 

International undergraduates may conduct research at UCSF toward their degree abroad, usually under the APM-430 visiting student title. To set up an exchange agreement with prospective international visiting students while ensuring academic appointments are initiated, visiting students should connect with a UCSF department and faculty member to confirm a willingness to host them with an exchange agreement or partnership. 

 

Upon agreement of the partnership, the hiring process highlighted above will initiate. In addition, the student’s home institution and UCSF’s EVCP office will work together to create an International Partnership Agreement.