ASSISTANT PROFESSOR / ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR (tenure track) or PERMANENT PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS, Pharmaceutical Physics

Transcription

1 Dean s Decision 1 (9) APPOINTMENT SPECIFICATION ASSISTANT PROFESSOR / ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR (tenure track) or PERMANENT PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS, Pharmaceutical Physics Vacant position and its location Applications are hereby invited for the post of Assistant/Associate Professor (tenure track) or permanent Professor of Physics at the. The research field of the position is pharmaceutical physics. For the tenure track Assistant / Associate professorship, we seek a highly talented and already merited researcher at the beginning of his / her academic career and who has shown potential in research. To be qualified for the full professor position, the applicant has to already be at a high international level. More detailed content of the position will be defined later according to the merits of the applicants. The post will be filled as a permanent professorship or the post will be filled through a tenure track system first as fixed-term employment periods as Assistant / Associate Professor. The tenure track system of the University of Turku is clarified in more detail at the end of the appointment specification. The post is subject to a four month trial period. The post is placed at the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the Laboratory of Industrial Physics. At the moment there is one university researcher and one university lecturer working at the laboratory (see more information: and The Department of Physics and Astronomy participates in the development of the "Drug Development and Diagnostics" multidisciplinary research area in the University of Turku. The professor or assistant / associate professor should have strong research experience in this area and especially skills in using mesoporous materials as drug delivery platforms. We appreciate collaboration experience with pharmaceutical industry. The Professor / Assistant Professor / Associate Professor conducts and supervises scientific research, gives science-based education, follows developments in science, and participates in societal interaction and international cooperation in his or her field.

2 Dean s Decision 2 (9) The position includes research work, teaching - including supervising scientific postgraduate studies and final theses - and other activities in the academic community. The Professor or Assistant / Associate Professor is expected to collaborate with other research groups of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, to form and lead his/her own research group, and to raise external research funding at both domestic and international level. The salary for the post is determined in accordance with the university salary system for teaching and research personnel. The task specific salary component for the assistant professor is 3, euro per month (according to level 7 of the job demands chart). The salary component of a professor is 4, , euro per month (according to level 8 10 of the job demands chart). In addition, a personal work performance component will be paid. The personal work performance component is a maximum of 46.3 % of the task specific salary component. The salary will be specified and negotiated when preparing the employment contract. Formal qualifications A person selected for the post must possess a doctoral degree, high level scientific proficiency, experience in the management of scientific research, evidence of international cooperation in his/her field of study, the ability to provide high-quality research-based teaching, and to supervise dissertations. When assessing an applicant s merits, scientific publications and other research outcomes of scientific value, teaching experience and pedagogical training, ability to produce study materials, other teaching merits and a teaching demonstration as well as participation in doctoral education will be taken into account. A particular focus is on the high quality research and teaching in natural sciences, especially on the recent research, activity in the operations of the scientific community, success in obtaining external research funding, scientific work abroad and international duties. A prerequisite for the post of Professor or Assistant/Associate professor is leadership experience, or a willingness to participate in leadership training commensurate with the post. The person appointed to the post is required by a Government Decree (770/2009) to have an adequate mastery of the Finnish and Swedish languages. University teaching and research personnel should be proficient in the language, either Finnish or Swedish, in which the teaching is given. More detailed provisions can be found in

3 Dean s Decision 3 (9) the University of Turku Rules of Procedure. According to the University of Turku Rules of Procedure a person appointed to a University teaching and research position can demonstrate the mastery of the Finnish language, as enacted in the Government Decree, by: 1) education completed in Finnish; 2) a pass grade in the Finnish Matriculation Examination from the mother tongue test in Finnish; 3) minimum cum laude approbatur grade in the Finnish Matriculation Examination in Finnish as second language test; 4) a pass grade of a maturity test completed in Finnish from a higher education institution; 5) other separately approved method. Foreigners and Finnish citizens, who are not native Finnish speakers, can be appointed to the position without demonstrating the decreed mastery of the Finnish language. Application procedure This position will be advertised in the public domain. The application period is at least 30 days. Applications are submitted through the erekry online application system. The link to the erekry online application system is at the beginning of the Call for Application. Applications must include: 1) A curriculum vitae 2) An academic portfolio in accordance with university practice 3) A list of the applicant s scientific publications The applicant is asked to classify the scientific publications according to the following groups: - Articles in international peer-reviewed journals - Articles in peer-reviewed international conference proceedings and compilation works - Monographs - The applicant is asked to clearly mark the publications that are indisputably related to the topic of the position (pharmaceutical physics) In addition, the following can be listed as a separate group: - Other scientific publications, such as national peer-reviewed articles, articles in non-peer-reviewed scientific journals and conference proceedings, as well as publications in university and department series

4 Dean s Decision 4 (9) - Other publications (text books, articles for the general public etc.), patents, software, talks, guest lectures, radio and TV programmes etc. 4) A separate list of those publications and other works (numbered and no more than 10 altogether) which the applicant wishes to use to demonstrate his/her qualifications and merits for the post. These publications are asked to be attached to the application. 5) An account of the applicant s role and its significance in mentioned co-authored publications 6) A research plan (max 5 pages) 7) A written statement of not more than two typed pages, setting out the applicant s vision for the future development of research and teaching in the discipline. All documents are required to be delivered in English. Only one enclosure can be added in each enclosure segment in the erekry online application system. The file formats to be used can be found in the info file of each enclosure. Regarding the publications, it should be noted that the system only allows compressed file format (.zip). The.zip-folder may include multiple documents. Applicants should state how they can be contacted during the selection process for the appointment, and the address and the address to which written communications should be sent. Experts Statements concerning the qualifications and merits of persons applying for the post are requested from a minimum of two experts. The preparatory group makes a proposal on the experts, whom the Dean chooses. In the selection of the experts, due regard is paid to take Professor / Assistant Professor s / Associate Professor s post to be filled. The disqualification of the experts is governed by the provisions of Sectiones of the Administrative Procedure Act (434/2003). The applicants will be informed of the selection of the experts. The experts, once selected, may not participate in the subsequent stages of the appointment procedure. The experts are required to submit written statements. In the statements, the experts are particularly asked to evaluate the academic competence and merits of each applicant. The statement is public, and must contain justifications about those applicants who, according to the expert, are primarily to be considered in filling the 1) Professor Post, 2) Assistant Professor s post and to the 3) Associate Professor s post, taking into account the post, its qualification requirements

5 Dean s Decision 5 (9) and other circumstances affecting the evaluation of the merits of the applicants. In both groups, the experts are also to rank the candidates in order of preference. If there are no more than three applicants, the expert shall submit a justified statement on each of the applicants merits; or, if there are more than three applicants, the statement shall involve at least three of them. However, the expert only submits a justified statement on the applicants he or she considers qualified for the post. The statement must explicitly state the criteria used for compiling the shortlist and reasons for the exclusion of any applicants not considered in detail. The statement should state whether the applicant should first be appointed to the fixed-term assistant professor s post or to the fixed-term associate professor s post. The experts may consult with each other and may submit a joint statement. The experts will be provided with the appointment specification, copies of relevant application documents as well as the publications and other works. The written statement must be given within three months. The statement becomes public once the statements of all the experts have reached the University. Trial lecture and interview Preparatory group Following the submission of the expert statements, the Faculty may make arrangements to allow for the applicant to give a trial lecture to which members of the public are also admitted. The teaching demonstration will be evaluated. The best ranked applicants are interviewed. The Dean appoints a preparatory group to prepare the appointment to the post in the appointment stage, a chairperson and a secretary are appointed for the preparatory group. The preparatory group shall consist of 3-5 professors or other teaching and research personnel. Also other members may be invited to the group if considered necessary. The members and the secretary of the preparatory group should not be disqualified. The preparatory group first makes a pre-selection of the applicants based on the information presented in the applications and their appendices. After this, the preparatory group obtains expert statements on the scholarly merit of the top applicants chosen through the preselection process and takes care of the other practical arrangements

6 Dean s Decision 6 (9) related to the selection process. The preparatory group will make the appointment proposal. The group may assist in evaluating the applicants teaching skills and interview them if necessary. The preparatory group makes the appointment proposal. Appointment proposal Once the expert statements and other necessary disquisitions have been obtained, the preparatory group makes a justified proposal on which applicant it considers suitable for appointment to the post and whether the post should be filled as a Professor or an Associate or Assistant Professor according to the preparatory group s opinion. The Faculty Council will make a reasoned proposal for the Rector for the appointment to the post. The Faculty will send the proposal (employment contract in duplicate) with appendices to the Rector for decision-making. The appointment to the post is made by the Rector. If necessary, the Rector can ask for further clarifications for the appointment from the Faculty. An employment contract will be entered into with the recruited employee. The applicants will be informed about who has been selected for the post of professor / assistant professor. University of Turku reserves the right, for a justified reason, to leave the post unfilled, extend the application period and take into consideration the applicants who have not applied by the closing date. Tenure track in the University of Turku The University of Turku has introduced a tenure track system for the teaching and research personnel. The purpose is to increase the predictability, competitiveness and attractiveness of an academic career, as well as to further advance the internationalisation of the University. The University of Turku offers the tenure track appointees a challenging career opportunity in top-level research and research-based teaching, possibilities for international collaboration and prerequisites to grow into professorship.

7 Dean s Decision 7 (9) An assistant professor is initially recruited for a fixed-term employment relationship (three to five years) for the tenure track. The decision on the duration of the fixed-term employment relationship is made at the same time as the proposal on the person to be recruited. During the first fixed-term employment period, an assistant professor s performance is monitored and evaluated according to the criteria defined under the title Evaluation procedure in this appointment specification. Success in the first evaluation will lead to a new fixed-term employment relationship (two to four years), and after the second evaluation, the aim is to obtain the tenure of a professor. Evaluation procedure Evaluation criteria The performance of the appointed tenure track assistant professor is evaluated twice. The first evaluation will be carried out well in advance, approximately one year before the termination of the first three to five year fixed-term employment relationship. If the criteria for evaluating the performance are met, the individual will be appointed for another two to four year assistant professorship. A year before the termination of the second fixed-term employment relationship, a more extensive evaluation required for the tenure of a professor will be carried out. External evaluators will be used in this evaluation. The evaluation criteria used in the tenure track system are based on the principles of predictability, transparency and international comparability. In the tenure track system, performance is evaluated through three dimensions: 1. research merits, 2. teaching and 3. academic leadership and societal interaction.

8 Dean s Decision 8 (9) Scholarly research Teaching A tenured professorship requires significant credit in research and/or teaching and on the other areas under evaluation. The evaluation takes into account all three areas. In addition, the University s strategy and values should be taken into account in all tenure track evaluations. The decisions concerning advancement along the tenure track will be based on the performance evaluation. The applicants to be recruited for tenure track positions and the personnel advancing along the tenure track will be evaluated according to their performance for example in the following areas: research plan; current situation, vision and aims scholarly output and the impact of the research o publications in international peer-reviewed forums o scientific citations o other research publications (books, chapters in books) o ongoing research o plenary presentations and other high impact presentations such as invited presentations, keynote presentations etc. o scholarly articles/tools (software etc.) academic cooperation and external research grants o concrete results of the cooperation: joint articles, joint funding etc. other merits teaching experience o tasks and responsibilities related to developing the education supervising doctoral theses, teaching and learning materials, teaching methods pedagogical training o pedagogical studies and/or teaching demonstrations given o account of continuous professional self-development special awards and evaluations relating to pedagogical competence feedback from students and teachers students learning outcomes, grants and other awards teaching networks and teaching cooperation on different levels (within the University, nationally, internationally)

9 Dean s Decision 9 (9) Academic leadership and societal interaction services to the research community o organising conferences o editing publications o significant evaluation tasks o membership in academic communities academic leadership societal interaction and cooperation with interest groups o societal visibility (e.g. expert tasks, book projects, media visibility) o patents and other commercial rights, significant new methods etc. o other cooperation Enquiries Enquiries concerning the appointment procedure may be directed to Head of Faculty Administration Merja Fehlig (Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Turku, FI Turun yliopisto, Finland, phone , merja.fehlig(at)utu.fi). The following Finnish legislation applies to the procedures of this appointment: The Constitution of Finland (731/1999) Universities Act (558/2009) Government Decree on Universities (770/2009) Act on the Implementation of the Universities Act (557/2009) Administrative Procedure Act (434/2003) University of Turku Rules of Procedure Dean Reijo Lahti Head of Faculty Administration Merja Fehlig