I am currently applying for tenure-track assistant professor jobs. One of the positions requires me to submit a cover letter, in addition to a CV, research statement, and teaching statement. (The application is online) I am thinking of writing the following:
October 1, 2014
Dear faculty committee
I wish to apply for the faculty position in the Department of Mathematics at Stanford University. Currently, I am a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California at Berkeley in the Department of Mathematics under the supervision of Dr. James Moriarty.
Enclosed are my curriculum vitae, teaching and research statements, and two research papers. Please do not hesitate to contact me if further information is needed.
Yours truly,
John Watson
Department of Mathematics
University of California at Berkeley
123 4th Street, Box 5678
Berkeley, CA 12345-6789
(123) 456-7890
- What is the purpose of the cover letter? Is it just to indicate what are the documents included in the application? I ask this because most of the other positions for which I am applying don't require a cover letter.
- Should I include a brief summary of my research interests and teaching experience, one paragraph each, in the cover letter?
Edit: In reality, I am not in the field of mathematics, nor am I a postdoctoral fellow at Berkeley. The details in my cover letter are fictitious and meant only to illustrate the structure of the cover letter which I will write.