INTRODUCTION Visiting Professors Project 2017 The first edition of the Visiting Professor Project was launched in October 2015 and has provided the opportunity to host more than 30 scientists working in strategic areas of training and scientific research at prestigious institutions. Given the positive results yielded by the 2016 edition, Politecnico di Torino has decided to launch a new University Call for proposals for Visiting Professor positions for 2017, which pursues the same goal of enhancing and strengthening the internationalization process of our scientific community by attracting new Visiting Professors. A budget of 1,500, 000 Euro has been allocated to this initiative. TARGET GROUP This initiative is intended for the Departments of Politecnico and has the objective of supporting the presence of specialists and academics ( Visiting Professors ) of high scientific standing and proven international reputation currently working abroad on a permanent basis. The Visiting Professors will take part into an integrated programme which blends teaching activities and scientific research in key areas for the University and for the hosting Departments. The teaching activity will consist in: cycles of seminars within the framework of PhD programmes, dedicated seminars in highly specialised disciplinary fields and lectures within the course catalogue of our Bachelor s and Master s degree programmes (when compatible with the restrictions imposed by the educational planning). As a general rule, the Visiting Professors period of stay may run for 3-12 consecutive months. The period of stay for the Full Professor seniority level, referred to in the next paragraph, shall have a maximum duration of 6 months. Teaching and research activities may start at any time during 2017 and must be begin no later than 30 th June 2018. REMUNERATION The Visiting Professors will be classified into three seniority levels in order to determine their remuneration: Full Professor Senior Lecturer/ Associate Professor Junior Lecturer/ Researcher 1
The Board of Directors, in its meeting held on 30 th March 2016, approved a remuneration scheme for each level of seniority (illustrated in Annex A) which defines a minimum benchmark for the determination of the salary on the basis of the candidate s professional experience and visit duration at Politecnico. The host Department will: cover the Visiting Professor s travel expenses from/to the home country with its own budget; cover the expenditures related to missions for the programme implementation with its own budget; provide the Visiting Professor with the necessary facilities and equipment for the implementation of his/her activities. The University Administration offers the Visiting Professor the support of its international welcome services (help for immigration procedures when necessary, housing support and assistance for the relocation of family members to Torino). In order to offer appropriate practical support and to ensure that the activities begin in the proposed period, especially for non-eu candidates, it is recommended to plan the beginning of the visit at Politecnico not earlier than 3 months after the proposal submission. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION The Heads of Department shall submit their proposals within the following deadlines: First deadline for submission: proposals must be received by 27 th April 2017. Second deadline for submission: proposals must be received by 5 th June 2017. Third deadline for submission: proposals must be received by 5 th October 2017. In case of residual budget with respect to initially allocated funds, the University might set a further round of proposals with deadline on 5 th December 2017. Proposals shall be submitted using the form attached to this Call and must include the following information: GENERAL INFORMATION: name of the host Department, name of the coordinator at Politecnico, general details of the candidate, number of years of experience, proposed seniority level, duration of the visit. INTEGRATED PROGRAMME TEACHING AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ACTIVITIES This section shall outline the strategic value of the candidate s research and teaching programme for the host Department and/or for the University. The specific contribution that the candidate will offer during his/her visit shall also be underlined. 2
With regard to the teaching activities (one or more) to be delivered by the candidate, it is necessary to provide a declaration signed by the Head of the Department who certifies the relevance of the candidate s teaching programme (Scudo, Master or Head of Department depending on the desired educational path). With regard to the research activities to be conducted by the candidate, it is necessary to outline the rationale for why the candidate s research programme is relevant to the Department and/or the University. The disciplinary field must be classified in accordance with ERC keywords. (crf.http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/other/guides_for_applicants/h2020 -guide16-erc-stg-cog_en.pdf.) PROOF OF SCIENTIFIC COMPETENCE The candidate s Curriculum Vitae and track record shall be attached to this section (a template of CV and track record is attached for easy reference). These documents shall give evidence of the candidate s scientific competence, international standing and teaching activities already carried out. A list of the candidate s most important publications shall also be attached to the CV. When applicable, the major bibliometric international indicators shall also be provided (in particular: the number of citations of the three most highly cited papers, the number of overall citations and the h-index). REFERENCE LETTER Three reference letters signed by international referees chosen by the candidate in support of his/her application shall also be enclosed. The documentation for the submission of the proposal is available at: http://www.researchers.polito.it/careers/visiting_professors The proposal shall be submitted exclusively by sending an e-mail to: application.bando.visiting@polito.it SELECTION OF PROPOSALS FOR FUNDING AND APPOINTMENT All proposals will be evaluated by an internal Committee composed of Faculty members who represent all disciplinary areas of our University. The Committee is appointed by the Rector with a specific decree. Within the meaning of article 23, paragraph 3 of Law no. 240/2010, after receiving the evaluation of the Committee, the Rector will make appointment and remuneration recommendations to the Board of Directors, with the prior opinion of the Academic Senate. The publication of the candidate s CV on the University s webpage will follow. 3
More specifically, the Committee will give an evaluation on the eligibility of each proposal on the basis of the following criteria: the candidate s scientific competence based on internationally recognized and objective criteria according to the seniority level that has been requested (cfr. the three seniority levels mentioned above); the strategic plan of the University and/or of the Department; how the activities carried out by the candidate are relevant and coherent to the scientific and teaching background of the Department and how the candidate will contribute to this specific disciplinary field. On the basis of these eligibility evaluations, the Committee will assess each proposal using the following evaluation scale, which will determine the priority order for access to available funding resources: Level A: an excellent proposal that can be immediately funded, after obtaining the favourable opinion of the Academic Senate and of the Board of Directors on the earliest possible date and on the basis of available funds. Level B: a good proposal but with some weaknesses. The Committee might ask the opinion of external international referees and/or request additional information from the host Department. Therefore the position will not be immediately funded. Nevertheless the proposal might be submitted for the opinion of the Academic Senate and of the Board of Directors during their next meetings. Level C: a proposal with substantial weaknesses which is deemed insufficient. The Committee will evaluate the proposals received for each single round of applications. The evaluation will take place in good time for submitting the positions to the University Governing Bodies on the earliest possible date. In case of equal evaluations, and taking into account the amount of available funds, the Committee will refer to the principle of fair allocation of resources among Departments and, eventually, among the three levels of seniority. Within 15 days from the approval of the Governing Bodies, the Visiting Professors will receive an official offer letter and will be provided with all the necessary information for the signature of the contract regulating the teaching and research activity to be conducted at Politecnico di Torino. Visiting Professors who are not EU nationals will be contacted by the Foreign Citizens Office which will inform them about the procedure for Italy entry visa application. FINAL REPORT Within one month from the end of the Visiting Professor s stay at Politecnico, the host Department shall send the Rector a final report on the teaching and scientific activities conducted by the Visiting Professor. 4
PUBBLICATION OF THE CALL FOR PROPOSALS The text of the Call for proposals is available at the following webpage: http://www.researchers.polito.it/careers/visiting_professors CONTACTS The administrative office in charge of this procedure is the International Affairs Area. The dedicated e-mail address for issues linked to the proceedings of this call is: info.bando.visiting@polito.it ********************************************************************************************************************** The English translation of this document is provided as a support to the academic community and has no legal effects. The Italian version shall constitute the sole authentic text and will be referred to for any legal matters. 5