University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Computer Science. Adjunct Associate Professor, 2003-2005. Adjunct Professor, 2005-2008. Research Professor, 2008-present.
University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science. Research Assistant Professor, 1995-1998. Assistant Professor, 1998-2001. Associate Professor, 2001-2005. Professor, 2005-2008.
National Science Foundation. Principal Investigator, Grant DMS-9600083, 1996.06.01-1999.11.30. Principal Investigator, Grant DMS-9970409, 1999.07.15-2002.06.30. Principal Investigator, Grant CCR-9983950, 2000.09.01-2005.08.31. Principal Investigator, Grant DMS-0140542, 2002.07.01-2006.06.30. Principal Investigator, Grant ITR-0716498, 2007.09.01-2010.08.31.
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Sloan Research Fellow, 2002-2006.
Mathematical Sciences Research Institute. Key Senior Scientist, program in Algorithmic Number Theory, 2000.08.14-2000.12.15.
University of Sydney. Visiting Scholar, School of Mathematics and Statistics, 2004.07.16-2004.08.14.
Research universities, such as UIC, pay professors for 9 fall+spring months of work. The work consists of research (e.g., writing papers), teaching (e.g., preparing course lectures), and service (e.g., attending committee meetings). For me, service is a relatively small time commitment; teaching averages more than 20 hours per week; research averages much more than 20 hours per week.
Research grants, such as grants from NSF DMS or NSF CCR, can pay for additional months of work during the summer. They can also indirectly pay a professor for additional fall+spring research: a grant pays the university to hire a lecturer to teach one of the professor's courses, giving the professor more time to do research. This is called a ``course buyout.''
A professor can also pay for additional research time: the professor gives some salary back to the university to hire a lecturer to teach the professor's courses. ``Educational leave'' and ``sabbatical'' are two different mechanisms for doing this.
Research time is generally fungible. For example, a professor can (and usually does) put time into summer projects during the fall and spring semesters.
UIC's standard ``teaching load'' is 2 courses per year for research assistant professors and 3 courses per year for assistant/associate/full professors. Course buyouts, leaves, and sabbaticals can exchange teaching for research, as noted above.
The following table shows my major time commitments:
| when | teaching | research | free |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 fall | Math 514 | UIC | |
| 1996 spring | 1 course | UIC | |
| 1996 summer | 2 months 9600083 | 1 month | |
| 1996 fall | Math 180 | UIC | |
| 1997 spring | MCS 494 | UIC | |
| 1997 summer | 2 months 9600083 | 1 month | |
| 1997 fall | MCS 275 | UIC | |
| 1998 spring | Math 515 | UIC | |
| 1998 summer | 2 months 9600083 | 1 month | |
| 1998 fall | MCS 401 | UIC | |
| 1999 spring | Math 180, MCS 275 | UIC | |
| 1999 summer | 2 months 9970409 | 1 month | |
| 1999 fall | MCS 541 | UIC | |
| 2000 spring | Math 436, Math 515 | UIC | |
| 2000 summer | 2 months 9970409 | 1 month | |
| 2000 fall | educational leave from UIC | ||
| 2001 spring | MCS 260 | UIC; 1 buyout 9983950 | |
| 2001 summer | 2 months 9970409 | 1 month | |
| 2001 fall | MCS 275 | UIC | |
| 2002 spring | MCS 501 | UIC; 1 buyout 9983950 | |
| 2002 summer | 2 months 0140542 | 1 month | |
| 2002 fall | sabbatical from UIC | ||
| 2003 spring | UIC; 1 buyout 9983950; 1 buyout Sloan | ||
| 2003 summer | 2 months 0140542 | 1 month | |
| 2003 fall | UIC; 2 buyouts Sloan | ||
| 2004 spring | UIC; 1 buyout 9983950 | ||
| 2004 summer | 2 months 0140542 | 1 month | |
| 2004 fall | MCS 494 | UIC | |
| 2005 spring | MCS 590 | UIC; 1 buyout 0140542 | |
| 2005 summer | 3 months | ||
| 2005 fall | MCS 261, MCS 501 | UIC | |
| 2006 spring | sabbatical from UIC |