Guarini Dean's Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Thayer School of Engineering - Biomaterials, Tissue Engineering, and Regenerative Medicine

Dartmouth College invites applications for a Guarini Dean's Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Thayer School of Engineering. This fellowship supports scholars whose research addresses biomaterials and tissue engineering for regenerative medicine. We particularly welcome applicants whose work intersects musculoskeletal regeneration, neuromuscular stimulation platforms, engineered skeletal muscle models, electroactive or bioresponsive biomaterials, or biochemical/mechanical bone-muscle crosstalk. The fellowship promotes student and faculty diversity at Dartmouth and throughout higher education by supporting early-career scholars committed to advancing inclusive access in academia. Applicants will be selected on the basis of their academic achievement, promise in research and teaching, and demonstrated commitment to academic excellence in an environment that is welcoming to all.

This is a two-year residential fellowship, with one course taught in the second year. Fellows are expected to pursue research activities while participating fully in the intellectual life of Thayer and the broader Dartmouth community. Fellows receive an annual stipend of approximately $67,850 plus benefits and an allocation for research expenses (exact funding levels will be set at the time of offer).

Guarini Dean's Postdoctoral Fellows are part of the Provost's Fellowship Program, a multidisciplinary cohort of approximately ten predoctoral and postdoctoral scholars who share a commitment to increasing inclusive access in their disciplines and higher education. Fellows participate together in mentoring and professional development programming, including guidance in preparing for faculty careers.

Our mentoring philosophy emphasizes multi-mentor advising, technical rigor, proposal development, and holistic career planning. The Guarini Fellow will receive structured, individualized mentoring guided by the following team:

Katherine Hixon, Ph.D. (tissue engineering, regenerative biomaterials) - Assistant Professor of Engineering and Clinical Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics, Dr. Hixon will serve as the Lead Mentor, focusing on scaffold design, translational models, and academic/clinical collaboration.

Alexander Boys, Ph.D.(biomaterials synthesis and characterization) - Assistant Professor of Engineering, Dr. Boys will serve as the Supporting Mentor, offering expertise in tailoring and analyzing materials for biomedical use, with strengths in nanoscale and compositional approaches.

Eric Henderson, M.D.(orthopaedics and clinical translation) - Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Adjunct Associate Professor of Engineering, Dr. Henderson will serve as the Clinical Collaborator, providing insight into skeletal biology and clinician-scientist perspective, strengthening in vivo relevance and pathways to impact.

This mentoring structure provides complementary perspectives across engineering design, material science, and clinical translation, ensuring the fellow develops the technical depth, proposal experience, and mentoring network needed for independent faculty success. The fellow will participate inweekly lab meetings, cross-departmental journal clubs, and proposal development workshops, and will have access to and additional support from Guarini's professional development programming via the PROF cohort.

Dartmouth is committed to academic excellence and encourages the open exchange of ideas within a culture of mutual respect. Dartmouth welcomes people with different backgrounds, life experiences, and perspectives and believes that diversity in all its forms enhances academic excellence.

Applicants should have been granted a PhD or should be on track to finish their PhD degree by June 2026.

1) Research statement outlining completed research (including dissertation), work in progress, and plans for publication (maximum two pages single spaced).

2) Teaching statement outlining past and future teaching interests (maximum one page single spaced).

3) Fellowship program statement describing your motivations to join a multidisciplinary cohort and how your research, teaching, service, and/or life experiences prepare you to advance Dartmouth's commitment to academic excellence in an environment that is welcoming to all.

4) Curriculum vitae, including the names and contact information for three references.

5) Three confidential letters of recommendation, one of which should be from the dissertation advisor.

Review of applications will begin January 15, 2026 and continue until the position is filled.