The Department of Geosciences and Geography at the Faculty of Science is an exceptionally diverse unit for academic research and education ranging from human geography through geoinformatics and physical geography to seismology. This is a strength for multidisciplinary research openings. The research focus within geography ranges from research on urban mobility, planning, political geography, and segregation to impacts of land cover and climate change to environment and ecosystem services in arctic areas and Africa. The department  hosts research infrastructures, such as Urbaria (focusing on urban geography) and the multidisciplinary Taita Research Station in Kenya as well as Helsinki Geoscience laboratories (HelLabs).

The department runs geography BSc and MSc programmes, while the PhD students enroll in PhD programmes in geosciences, environmental sciences and atmospheric sciences, as well as social sciences. Geography is one of the highest ranked disciplines of the University of Helsinki in global university rankings ranking 35th in 2022, which is 22nd in Europe, and 4th in Scandinavia. It has also contributed to high rankings of other disciplines, e.g., to ecology, remote sensing and atmospheric sciences, all under 50th in the World.

The Faculty of Science at the University of Helsinki invites applications for a

Professor or associate professor in geography with responsibility for the department’s Swedish-speaking curriculum

from 1st January 2024 or as agreed

Description of position

The department is responsible for the Swedish teacher education in Geography in Finland. The professor is responsible for the teacher programme curriculum in Swedish and they will be teaching in Swedish within the programme. The position is Swedish-speaking. The post will primarily be filled as a full professor position. Filling the position as an associate professor is also possible.

The professor is expected to collaborate and lead national and international research groups and programmes, especially Nordic ones, and to collaborate with municipalities and ministries and other universities and governmental research organizations. Contribution to BSc and MSc in Geography Study Programmes, to the department´s  Research Programmes in BioGeoSciences or Human geography, planning and environment is expected.

Qualifications

The appointee must have excellent Swedish skills (language level criteria C2). If an associate professor is selected, the nominee must have Swedish skills in language level C1. The C2 level must be acquired before tenure. Please see more on levels based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF).

A full professor will carry out and supervise scientific research, provide teaching based on it, follow developments in research and participate in societal interaction in his/her field and in international cooperation.  According to the Regulations of the University of Helsinki, a professor must hold a doctoral degree and have high-level academic qualifications and experience in leading scientific research. The professor must also be able to provide research-based teaching of high quality, supervise dissertations and theses, as well as have international cooperation in the field.

An associate professor must hold a doctoral degree and possess the ability for independent scientific work, as well as teaching skills required by the position. Furthermore, the successful candidate is expected to have competence and motivation for a scientific career proven by scientific publications and other academic activities.

When assessing the qualifications of each candidate, attention will be paid to scientific publications and other research results of scientific value, teaching experience and pedagogical training, the ability to produce teaching materials, other teaching merits, and, if deemed necessary, teaching skills as demonstrated in a lecture, as well as participation in doctoral education. Furthermore, attention will be paid to the applicant’s activities within the research community, success in obtaining research funding, research work abroad and elected positions in international organisations.

What do we offer

The University of Helsinki welcomes applicants from all gender identities, linguistic and cultural backgrounds. We will offer the appointee a challenging career opportunity in top-level research and research-based teaching, possibilities for international collaboration, and the opportunity to grow into a full professorship if appointed as associate professor. In addition to the funding possibilities offered by the national funding agencies, the Faculty of Science opens calls for infrastructure funding. The selected person may also expect to receive a startup package equivalent to the salary for a post-doc post for three years and some support for infrastructure development.

How to apply

Applications must have the following attachments (in English):

an academic portfolio after approved guidelines by the Faculty a list of those publications and other relevant documents on competence and merits that the applicant wishes to be taken into account in the selection process.

Upon the Faculty’s request, the applicant should prepare to submit up to 10 publications of  their choice to be sent to assessors after the application period. The publications shall be submitted through the University of Helsinki Recruitment System.

Please submit your application through the University of Helsinki´s recruitment system. Applicants, who are employees of the University of Helsinki, are requested to leave their application by using the “Employee Login.”

The deadline for applications is 22nd May 2023.

Further information may be obtained about

• The position and operational environment: Head of Department Annakaisa Korja, annakaisa.korja(at)helsinki.fi, +358 50 318 5745
• The recruitment process and tenure track model: HR Specialist Laura Karppinen, laura.karppinen(at)helsinki.fi.

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