Join The Faculty Launch Program
Launch your faculty career with clarity, community and a plan.
You were trained to do science. Now you're running a small organization.
New faculty are expected to lead a research group, teach, write grants, mentor students and serve on committees, often all in the first year. Many of the people who join FLP feel:
Pulled in every direction
by demands no one prepared them for
Isolated
without peers who understand what the first years are really like
Unsure what to prioritize
or what success should look like for them
The question underneath it all is:
“How do I launch my research and teaching program in a way that reflects what matters to me and be successful”
Launch with clarity, community and momentum
You don’t have to figure out the faculty job on your own.
FLP brings together a small cohort of new STEM faculty from different institutions who want to launch their research, teaching and service programs intentionally and strategically.
Through workshops, 1:1 coaching and a peer coaching circle, you’ll clarify what matters most to you, build the network and community you need, and take concrete steps forward, grounded in your own values and definition of success.
Four interactive monthly workshops offer you frameworks and tools for the parts of the job no one trained you for.
- Cultivating Your Growth Network. Map what you need to thrive as a new faculty member and build a network of mentors, sponsors, peers and collaborators to meet those needs. You’ll also launch your POP Circle.
- Leading Yourself: Values, Vision & Success. Clarify your values and what success looks like on your own terms. Then use that clarity to decide where your time and energy go.
- Building Your Research Group & Culture. Set expectations, build the program and team you want, and make strategic choices about teaching and service so they support your goals instead of crowding them out.
- Time, Priorities & Accountability. Build a sustainable weekly rhythm that protects what matters most, set boundaries that hold, and plan how you and your circle will keep growing after the program ends.
These become foundational skills you’ll use for your whole career.
The Program includes
4 Interactive Workshops
2 hours each month
2 One-on-One Coaching Sessions
60 minutes each
A Power of Peers (POP) Circle
5–8 peers meeting regularly and that continuing after the program ends
As you progress through the program, you'll gain:
Confidence & Clarity
Know what success means to you and make decisions that move you toward it, including how you lead your research group.
Community
Build trusted relationships with peers across institutions who understand exactly what you're navigating.
Tools for Ongoing Growth
Leave with a growth network, coaching skills and a peer circle that keeps you moving long after the program ends.
Why the FLP works
You can read all the advice in the world, but real change happens when you have time to think, people to think with, and a reason to follow through. FLP combines formats that reinforce each other.
Expert-facilitated Workshops
Frameworks and tools for the parts of the faculty job nobody trained you for.
Peer Coaching
A small circle of peers outside your institution who ask good questions, help you think and hold you accountable.
1:1 Coaching
Individual, confidential time to apply develop self-awareness and what you're learning to your own situation.
Built to Last
Your circle keeps meeting after the program ends, so the support doesn't stop when the program does.
This is not just a workshop series.
It’s a community and space to think, reflect, and move forward—together.
About POP Circles. These peer coaching circles are an opportunity to regularly and actively engage in your own professional development. Each meeting, every member gets focused time on a challenge of their choosing. Peers ask open-ended coaching questions, and you leave with a concrete next step. Claire facilitates your circle’s first three meetings, then hands the circle to you to sustain on your own.
I'm Claire HORNER-DEVINE, PhD
Scientist, former faculty member and leadership coach
- I’ve been where you are. I was a faculty member at the University of Washington, so I know the faculty launch from the inside.
- Nearly 20 years of faculty development. I’ve designed and led national, NIH- and NSF-funded programs for early-career STEM faculty, including BRAINS, LATTICE, WEBS and WFAB.
- Evidence-based. FLP’s workshops and peer coaching model are grounded in research.
- Certified coach. I’m an ICF Professional Certified Coach with an Advanced Certification in Team Coaching.
4 weeks of transformation
Each week includes interactive content, such as video lessons, live Q&A sessions, and practical assignments. Participants will also have access to a supportive online community for sharing insights and experiences throughout the program.
Week 1: Introduction to Self-Discovery
Understanding your personal journey; establishing goals and intentions for the program.
- Initial self-assessment
- goal-setting workshop
Week 2: Uncovering Your Strengths and Weaknesses
Understanding your personal journey; establishing goals and intentions for the program.
- Initial self-assessment
- goal-setting workshop
Week 3: Vision Crafting and Goal Setting
Understanding your personal journey; establishing goals and intentions for the program.
- Initial self-assessment
- goal-setting workshop
Week 4: Effective Time Management and Productivity
Understanding your personal journey; establishing goals and intentions for the program.
- Initial self-assessment
- goal-setting workshop
End of Program: Reflection and Next Steps
Reviewing progress, celebrating achievements, planning for continued growth post-program.
- Final assessment
- Future planning session
Pathways To Empowerment
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Also Included
POP Circle Guide
Worksheets from each session
Access to a private FLP Slack community
Invest in Your Launch
Please be in touch to ask any questions
Frequently Asked Questions
New and early-career STEM faculty, typically in their first one to three years, or those about to start a faculty position. Participants come from a range of institutions and fields.
You are the expert on your own career. FLP gives you tools, coaching and community to define success on your own terms and act on it. Relationships, trust, confidentiality and inclusion are at the core of the program.
Most faculty development is either advice or information. FLP adds what usually makes change stick: time to reflect, peers who understand your situation, and accountability to follow through.
Yes. Most participants use startup, departmental or grant funds. We provide an invoice, a short description of the program for your chair or appropriate administrator and can even provide help with ideas for how to ask for support.
From January to April 2027, you’ll attend one 2-hour workshop a month. Your POP Circle meets on the alternate weeks. You’ll also book two 60-minute 1:1 coaching sessions at times that work for you. All sessions take place on Zoom.
About 2 hours every other week from January through April, plus your two coaching sessions. That’s more than 15 hours of programming in total spread out over 4 months.
We’ll choose the workshop day and time based on availability shared on the interest form, then share all four dates before enrollment. Each POP Circle picks its own meeting time.