Associate Professor in discipline-based university science education
About the position as associate professor
The position as associate professor in discipline-based university science education is initiated as part of a Novo Nordisk Foundation grant. The purpose of the grant is to establish and develop a University Science Education research centre (USE) across the universities of Copenhagen, Southern Denmark, and Aarhus. For a more detailed description of USE, please, visit the website: The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for University Science Education – University of Copenhagen (ku.dk)
The exact research projects of USE are yet to be defined, but the three areas in focus are 1) university science teachers and teaching, 2) university science programs and learning environments, and 3) university science students. You will, as part of USE, have the possibility to establish your own research group at Aarhus University in one of the above focus areas.
About your expected tasks and responsibilities
Your primary tasks and responsibilities as the USE associate professor at CED are to
- Co-lead USE (expected 20% of your time), including
- joining the USE executive research leadership group
- collaborating with colleagues at the Universities of Copenhagen and Southern Denmark to build a university science education research stronghold in Denmark
- Research discipline-based university science education (expected 40% of your time), including
- conducting research in applied and discipline-based university science education
- supervising a small group of early career university science researchers at CED
- collaborating with NAT colleagues, for instance
- to increase co-supervision about discipline-based science education research at Aarhus University
- to conduct research within the framework of NAT’s educational programs
- to define research and research-based development projects of relevance to NAT educators
- participating actively in CEDs cross-departmental research group
- publishing research internationally
- fundraising externally for further research activities
- Teach, develop and inspire change (expected 40% of your time), including
- collaborating with NAT teachers and leaders, CED educational developers and the CED USE liaison officer to initiate research-based, innovative, relevant, and practicable science education development projects at Aarhus University
- teaching selected faculty development courses and staff workshops
- supporting colleagues in connection with other tasks by specific agreement.
About your qualifications and competence
You have
- an education or work-experience from discipline-based university science education (preferably astronomy, biology, chemistry, computer science, genetics, geoscience, mathematics, molecular biology, nanoscience, or physics)
- a PhD degree in a relevant field
- at least three years of postdoc work experience in a relevant position (by 20 October 2024)
- a relevant, peer-reviewed, international research profile
- successful fundraising experience
- broad teaching experience, including experience of teaching university faculty/staff
- a teaching certificate / pedagogical course certificate from your postdoc period.
You can
- contribute to the USE executive research leadership group across three universities
- collaborate across an interdisciplinary higher education centre like CED
- supervise and co-supervise younger research colleagues
- collaborate respectfully and professionally with university staff and faculty
- lead development projects within your field of expertise
- teach and partner in educational development processes.
You are a person who
- thrives on complex processes with multiple agendas and stakeholders
- keeps a cool head and high spirits when things are not going as planned
- intend to be present at Aarhus University most days
- would like to learn Danish (if you are not already speaking a Scandinavian language).
About the Centre for Educational Development (CED) at Aarhus University
CED is the educational development centre for the entire university. We intend to inspire engaging teaching and excellent higher education programs across all disciplines. We, therefore, offer all academic staff, coordinators, and educational leaders at Aarhus University courses and workshops, practical partnership and collaboration about teaching and educational development.
CED employs almost 60 colleagues organized into three departments specialized in digital development, teaching development, and program development, respectively, plus a small administration. We have a good collegial atmosphere characterized by a high degree of collaboration and continuous professional development. We value inquiry, co-creation, empowerment and expertise.
The research group at CED works within and across these three departments. The CED research group presently comprises five associate professors, one assistant professor, three postdocs, five PhD-students, and two research assistants. The group has ongoing research on topics that include university student learning, transitions and career, university teacher development and educational leadership, health sciences education, and learning technologies in higher education. We come from a wide range of research methods and theoretical frameworks, but all focus on applied higher education research.
For a more detailed description of CED, please visit our website.
About the Faculty of Natural Sciences (NAT) at Aarhus University
NAT is one of five faculties at Aarhus University and has approximately 3,300 students and 1,400 employees. Through research, education and collaboration with external partners, NAT drives applied and fundamental research to help solve societal challenges. Therefore, NAT educates within classical and interdisciplinary subjects with a strong link between teaching and research, across 13 bachelor and 17 master programmes.
At Aarhus University, NAT consist of 7 departments plus a large number of interdisciplinary centres and centres of excellence, and encompasses education within biology, chemistry, medicinal chemistry, nanoscience, computer science, data science, IT-product development, geoscience, mathematics, mathematics-economics, molecular biology and molecular medicine, and physics incl. astronomy. These programs all ensure that students acquire mathematical, computational and digital skills, as well as critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration and communication skills. The programs are intended in their design to support the transition from upper secondary school to university, including a clear progression and coherence, a sense of belonging and mastery, accompanied by a facilitated transition to the labor market.
At NAT, teaching implies involvement of students in research-related activities from an early stage in their studies and provide them with knowledge of and access to state-of-the-art research equipment. Furthermore, our teaching trains students to have a reflective, analytical and critical approach to scientific issues and research results, taking outset in scientific methods when linking theory and practice. For a more detailed description of NAT, please visit our website.
Conditions and place of employment
The associate professorship is a full-time (37 hours) permanent position.
Expected start date is 1 March 2025 or as soon as possible.
The successful applicant can expect to refer to the department manager of the Department of Program Development at CED.
The Centre director leads the research group across the three departments.
Place of employment is Trøjborgvej 82-84, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
Further information on the appointment procedure can be found in the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities.
The appointment is in accordance with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (Akademikerne).
Further information on qualification requirements and job description can be found in the Ministerial Order on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities.
International applicant?
Aarhus University offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including relocation service and career counselling to expat partners. Please find more information about entering and working in Denmark on Research at AU.
The hiring process
We encourage diverse research and educational backgrounds, and the position is therefore not limited to specific degrees or preferred methods. Many pathways leading to this position can be relevant.
In addition to your motivated application, please attach the following:
- CV
- documentation for the PhD degree
- list of publications
- selected publications for deep assessment (max 3)
- research plan covering the first two years at CED (max 3 pages)
- teaching portfolio (max 3 pages)
- documentation of participation in university teaching courses
- short teaching statement (or teaching philosophy)
- and - if relevant - examples of leading educational development projects (max 3 pages)
Applications must be made in English.
We use shortlisting in the hiring process lead by the centre director. In this shortlisting process, we exclude applicants that are far from being eligible for the described position.
After the shortlisting process, an assessment committee with international participation gives their written summary concerning each of the shortlisted applicants.
Based on these summaries of qualifications, an employment committee of future colleagues from CED and NAT, the department manager and the director invite the 3-4 most qualified applicants for an interview. If necessary, the employment committee can invite 1-2 applicants to a second interview round before making the final decision and offer.
Interviews are expected to take place in the first week of January 2025.
Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants.
The application must be submitted via Aarhus University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aarhus University's website.
Aarhus University
Aarhus University is an academically diverse and research-intensive university with a strong commitment to high-quality research and education and the development of society nationally and globally. The university offers an inspiring research and teaching environment to its 38,000 students (FTEs) and 8,300 employees, and has an annual revenues of EUR 935 million. Learn more at www.international.au.dk/
