Up to five tenure-track positions as Assistant professor - Befattningen är under tillsättning eller redan tillsatt, och det är inte längre möjligt att lämna in en ansökan

Welcome to apply to become one of our new Assistant Professors! With this faculty joint venture, with a six-year appointment we want to give junior researchers the opportunity to develop a long-term research activity and to qualify for promotion to an Associate Professorship (Senior Lecturer). Welcome with your application!

Description of the employment

The persons we seek will conduct research and contribute to the continued development of the research environment in their respective field. Included in the work tasks are developing pedagogical merits that include teaching in undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as supervision of PhD students and postdocs. The person employed is expected to actively seek external funding for his or her research activities.

Employment is limited to 6 years, which consists of 75% own research and 25% teaching or other meriting tasks.The position is a “tenure-track”, which makes it possible to develop and establish a long-term research program. An Assistant Professor has the right, upon request, to be considered for promotion to Associate Professor/ Senior Lecturer.

Qualification Requirements

A person qualified for appointment as an Assistant professor is a person who has been awarded a PhD or has the corresponding research expertise. Primary consideration should be given to a person who has been awarded a PhD or achieved the equivalent expertise within five years prior to the deadline for application for employment as an Assistant professor. However, a person who has been awarded a PhD or achieved the equivalent expertise at an earlier date may also be considered if there are exceptional circumstances. Exceptional circumstances are sick leave, parental leave or other similar circumstances, according to chapter 4, section 4 of the Higher Education Ordinance.

The PhD or corresponding research expertise must be in a field of relevance for the Faculty.

The position requires a good knowledge of English, both spoken and written.

Assessment criteria

The assessment criteria for appointment as an Assistant professor shall be the degree of the expertise required as a qualification for employment. In addition, the degree of educational expertise as well as administrative and other competences of importance shall be taken into account with regard to the subject content of the employment and the duties to be included in the employment.

Scientific expertise

Scientific expertise shall be demonstrated through independent scientific productivity. The criteria for assessment are:

• Breadth and depth of research – quality and extent
• Originality in research
• Productivity
• Contributions to the international research community
• Commissions of trust within the research community
• Ability to competitively obtain research funding
• Collaboration with the surrounding community

The scientific expertise shall be in the fields of natural science, technology, design, architecture or science and mathematics education.

Primary weight in the evaluation of candidates is placed on the degree of scientific expertise assessed from scientific work published in internationally recognized academic journals and proceedings of academic conferences that apply a peer-review system. Particular emphasis shall be placed on the quality of the publications where the applicant is the first/lead or last/senior author.

Thereafter, the description of the intended research plan to be conducted within the employment shall be given substantial weight in the selection of candidates. Applicants with a research plan that is linked to and / or complements the department's research activities are given priority.

International research experience and a postdoctoral stay at a university other than the one at which the applicant received their PhD degree are very meritorious.

The documented ability to competitively obtain research funding, especially from more competitive and highly recognized funding bodies, is a merit.

The demonstrated ability to independently and flexibly operate, communicate and collaborate inside and outside the academic environment is advantageous.

Furthermore, the ability to independently organize, and manage projects will be considered.

Pedagogical expertise

The criteria for evaluation of pedagogical expertise are:

• ability to plan, implement and evaluate teaching and an ability to supervise and examine students at every level of education
• ability to vary teaching methods and examination forms in relation to anticipated study results and the nature of the subject
• experience of collaboration with the surrounding society in planning and implementation of education
• participation in the development of learning environments, teaching aids and study resources
• a reflective approach to student learning and one’s own role as a teacher

Pedagogical expertise can be attained through education in university pedagogy, other education of relevance for teaching at a university level or documented and proven experience teaching at the university level.

Candidates who do not speak Swedish at the time of appointment are expected to learn Swedish within three years from the start of the appointment.

Other assessment criteria

A general basis for assessment for all teaching categories is both good cooperative skills and the expertise and suitability in general required to complete the work duties satisfactorily.

The criteria for evaluation of administrative expertise are:

• Experiences of supervision (students, postgraduate students, postdoc)
• Participation in working groups or committees (department, faculty or university level)
• Experiences of collaboration outside the academy
• Experience of organizing research and educational activities

Assessment criteria and their weight

In the selection of candidates, the degree of research expertise shall be decisive. In addition, the degree of educational expertise as well as administrative and other competences of importance shall be taken into account with regard to the subject content of the employment and the duties to be included in the employment.

Important information

Primary consideration for these positions is given to those applicants who have fulfilled all the requirements for a doctoral degree, such as mandatory courses, oral defense and an approved doctoral thesis after 15 February 2017 at the earliest. For applicants with Swedish doctoral degrees, the award date (date of completed studies) listed in Ladok applies (February 15, 2017 at the earliest). If you claim to have deductible time, the motivation, dates and extent must be clearly specified in the application. Applicants with older degrees will only be considered if there are not enough qualified applicants within the five-year period.

We expect to receive many applications. It is therefore of the utmost importance that the application follows instructions and is complete. The application shall be submitted no later than 23.59 Swedish time (CET) on February 15, 2022, to be considered.

Application

Please follow the instructions carefully. The applications will be reviewed by an international panel of reviewers. For that reason, all the submitted documents should be written in English

• Personal letter. Please indicate here at which department that you see the position being placed at and motivate your choice.
• Required Application template (link)
• Copies of relevant degree certificates
• Copies of relevant publications
• Copies of relevant pedagogical work

Read more about the faculty here.

Read about the research conducted at our departments here.

Your application should be submitted through Umeå University's digital recruitment system Varbi on 2022-02-15 at the latest.

Applying for promotion to Associate professor

As assistant professor, upon request, can be promoted to Associate professor if he or she meets the requirements for employment as an Associate professor and upon review is determined to meet the qualifications for such employment according to the evaluation criteria that shall be applied for promotion to Associate professor. This promotion entails a permanent position as Associate professor.

Prior to the employment of an Assistant professor, the criteria for promotion shall be established. The criteria for promotion are established within the employment profile by the dean and are given below under the heading of ‘Promotion criteria’.

The application for promotion shall be submitted six months before the fixed-term appointment ends. If an Assistant professor after evaluation is not promoted, the fixed-term appointment ends.

Established criteria for promotion can be found in the employment profile decided by the dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology on December 20, 2021 (pdf).

Umeå University is one of Sweden’s largest institutions of higher education with over 35,000 students and 4,200 faculty and staff. We are characterised by world-leading research in several scientific fields and a multitude of educations ranked highly in international comparison. Umeå University is also the site of the pioneering discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 genetic scissors - a revolution in genetic engineering that has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

At Umeå University, everything is nearby. Our cohesive campus environment makes it easy to meet, collaborate and exchange knowledge, which promotes a dynamic and open culture where we rejoice in each other's successes.

Are you interested in knowing more about Umeå University as a workplace read more at: Work with us. As an employee at Umeå University, you're offered a wide variety of benefits that promote a good work-life balance, read more about benefits here.