Open-rank Faculty Position in Quantitative Methods, Department of Human Development and Family Studies

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POSITION SPECIFICS

The Penn State Department of Human Development and Family Studies, located in the College of Health and Human Development, is actively seeking applications for an open-rank, tenure-track or tenured faculty position in quantitative developmental and family systems methods. Competitive candidates will have expertise in measurement, latent variable modeling, or novel data integration approaches. Particular attention will be given to applicants whose major area(s) of research coincides with one of the followings:

• The development of novel methods to strengthen the measurement and analysis of multi-system, multi-scale processes (e.g., models of within-person change and variability in human development and family processes across the lifespan; multilevel methods that integrate individual and community differences across contexts)

• Methods for large data sets

• Latent variable modeling

• Computational models of psychological processes, health decision processes, and human dynamics

• The use of advanced longitudinal methodologies to analyze intensive data streams, including mobile sensor data, social media, and ecological momentary assessment data

• The use of models as measurement instruments

The selected candidate will contribute to advancing scholarship in quantitative methodology and data science in social and behavioral sciences within the Department, College, and University. Mid-career or senior candidates should also address their potential to serve in a leadership capacity in these areas.Responsibilities also include teaching undergraduate and graduate level courses as well as directing theses/dissertations.

Key Qualifications of the Candidate:

• The successful candidate at each rank will have an earned doctorate in quantitative, developmental, behavioral, social science, or related field prior to beginning at Penn State.

• The candidate must have a clear program of research, a strong publication record, and evidence of or potential for receiving extramural funding, commensurate with rank.

• The candidate must show evidence of appropriate teaching and mentorship, commensurate with rank.

Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS)

Rated #1 in a recent survey of HDFS doctoral programs in North America, Penn State HDFS administers graduate, undergraduate, and research programs in its core, signature areas of individual development, family science, prevention/intervention, and developmental methods. HDFS is a dynamic, multidisciplinary and collaborative department, committed to excellence, innovation and impact in understanding and improving the lives of individuals and families in diverse contexts. The successful faculty member will have opportunities to collaborate with the Department's superb group of quantitative/developmental (QuantDev) research methodologists with expertise in intensive longitudinal data analysis and within-person/within-family methods that assess, analyze, and interpret daily and real-time information about ongoing individual-environment interactions.

Centers and training grants in the College of Health and Human Development and Penn State research institutes

The College of Health and Human Development provides excellent opportunities for research collaboration, mentoring, and scholarship. The College houses the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center (https://www.prevention.psu.edu/), the Center for Healthy Aging (https://healthyaging.psu.edu/), the Center for Childhood Obesity (https://hhd.psu.edu/ccor), and the NICHD-funded P50 Capstone Center (the Translational Center for Child Maltreatment Studies), In addition, the College is home to three T32 training grants, including the NICHD-funded T32 Fellowship Training Program in Child Maltreatment Science, the NIA-funded T32 Pathways to Healthy Aging training program, and the NIDA-funded Prevention and Methods Training program. In addition, HDFS has extensive links with other key College and University Centers of Excellence, networks, and Institutes that provide research infrastructure and extensive collaboration opportunities. These include the Child Study Center (https://csc.la.psu.edu/), the Population Research Institute (http://www.pop.psu.edu), the Penn State Addiction Center for Translation (https://research.med.psu.edu/addiction/), Penn State's Administrative Data Accelerator http://www.accelerator.psu.edu, and the Social, Life and Engineering Sciences Imaging Center https://www.imaging.psu.edu. The successful faculty hire will also have access to research infrastructure in Penn State's cross-university research institutes, including the Social Science Research Institute https://ssri.psu.edu/, the Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute http://ctsi.psu.edu/, the Huck Institutes of Life Sciences https://www.huck.psu.edu/, the Institute for Computational and Data Science https://www.icds.psu.edu/, the Penn State Cancer Institute https://cancer.psu.edu/, and the Penn State Neuroscience Institute https://hmc.pennstatehealth.org/neuroscience-institute.

About Penn State:

Penn State is a public, land-grant, research-intensive university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service. Its instructional mission includes undergraduate, graduate, professional, and continuing education offered through resident instruction and online delivery. Annual enrollment at its 24 campuses totals more than 100,000 graduate and undergraduate students, making it one of the largest universities in the United States. As an R1 research institution Penn State's annual research expenditure exceeds $1billion. This rich university environment offers unparalleled opportunities for cross disciplinary partnerships in education, community outreach, and research.Of particular note, is Penn State's unique approach to university-level research institutes. Penn State's seven well-resourced university-designated research institutes (https://www.psu.edu/research/interdisciplinary-institutes/) are not siloed "closed shops," but entities that exist principally to strategically disseminate funding that fosters cross-college, transdisciplinary research collaborations and makes needed shared resources widely available.This approach has led to Penn State being recognized as standing out for effective promotion of team research collaboration. HHD maintains robust partnerships with nearly all of these institutes.

Penn State's University Park campus is located in the town of State College in Centre County, Pennsylvania. Employment at Penn State at University Park will allow you to live amid the beauty of the central Pennsylvania outdoors while enjoying all the culture, sports, and entertainment that a large university community can bring.More information on the area and all of its amenities can be found here: http://www.visitpennstate.org.

Our campuses are located on the original homelands of the Erie, Haudenosaunee (Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and Tuscarora), Lenape (Delaware Nation, Delaware Tribe, Stockbridge-Munsee), Monongahela, Shawnee (Absentee, Eastern, and Oklahoma), Susquehannock, and Wahzhazhe (Osage) Nations.As a land grant institution, we acknowledge and honor the traditional caretakers of these lands and strive to understand and model their responsible stewardship. We also acknowledge the longer history of these lands and our place in that history.

Application Submissions

Candidates should complete an on-line application at https://hr.psu.edu/careers and upload: a) a cover letter (1 page), b) a statement of research interests (2-3 pages), c) a statement of teaching interests and experiences (1-2 pages), d) a statement of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (1-2 pages), e) a list of names and contact information of three professional references (who will provide letters of recommendation upon request), and f) up to three selected publications or preprints.

System limitations allow for a total of 5 documents (5mb per document) as part of your application. Please combine materials as necessary to meet the 5-document limit.

For more information contact Search Chair Sy-Miin Chow (symiin@psu.edu). Review of applications will begin after January 31, 2026, and continue until a suitable candidate is identified.

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BENEFITS

For more detailed information, please visit ourBenefits Page. (Note: For Postdoctoral benefits, please see our Postdoctoral Benefits page.)

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