The Faculty of Science at the University of Turku is inviting applications for a tenure-track position of Assistant Professor and Associate Professor in Biogeography open in The Digital Waters Flagship (DIWA) at the Geology Section of Department of Geography and Geology. The position focuses on biogeography and the role of vegetation in catchment hydrological processes.
An Assistant Professor first serves for a fixed term of 3-5 years and an Associate Professors for 2-4 years before being evaluated for an upgrade to become a full professor. The title and the position in the tenure track will be tailored to the qualifications and accomplishments of the successful applicant.
The professorship contributes to strengthening the research and teaching of physical geography and geoinformatics at the University of Turku. In addition to supporting teaching in remote sensing and fluvial research, the professor will contribute to physical geography education, particularly biogeography, complementing the research and teaching profiles of professors retiring from the department. The appointed professor will lead their own research group, which will include the recruitment of 1–2 postdoctoral researchers and 2–4 doctoral researchers. Furthermore, other reasonable research expenses will be covered by the Digital Waters Flagship funding.
The funding for this position is shared between the University of Turku and the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute (FGI) at the National Land Survey of Finland. During the funding period of the flagship, the Tenure Track professor's funding will be divided equally (50/50) between the two organizations.
Job description
The Assistant/Associate Professor will supervise and teach, especially within the DIWA Flagship's doctoral pilot (comprising 60 doctoral researchers in the consortium, with 16 based at the University of Turku). They will also mentor postdoctoral researchers and conduct internationally recognized research as part of the Digital Waters research community. A significant portion of the professor’s work will involve collaborative research with FGI, making prior experience in research collaboration with other research organizations advantageous.
Associate / Assistant professor
• Supervises theses at all academic levels.
• Keeps abreast of scientific developments.
• Engages in societal interaction and international cooperation in their field.
• Participates in administrative tasks assigned to them by the university.
• Provides research-based teaching:
Additionally, the candidate is expected to actively participate in undergraduate and graduate teaching and contribute to their development.
Who we are looking for
We expect the applicant to have expertise in methods for mapping forests and vegetation cover. Proficiency in deriving detailed tree models from laser scanning data, conducting landscape scale analyses using remote sensing data, or a strong statistical approach to the biogeography of catchments is considered an asset. Research excellence, particularly demonstrated by publications in these areas, is highly valued.
The person appointed to the position is required to meet the eligibility requirements laid down in the University of Turku Rules of Procedure (section 31) and she/he is especially required to have
- PhD in geography or a related field, such as forestry
- Research related to the DIWA flagship areas, see https://digitalwaters.fi
- In addition, experience in collaborative research with a research organisation, evidence of complementary research funding, international collaboration, leadership experience and readiness to participate in leadership training as well as knowledge of stakeholder engagement, including industry, will be considered an advantage.
Tenure Track System and Academic Merits
The successful applicant may be appointed to a fixed-term associate or assistant professorship (tenure track) depending on his/ her previous academic merits in research, teaching, and academic leadership and societal interaction.
- For the position of Associate Professor, we emphasize a proven international track record of scientific research, teaching and supervisory experience and societal interaction. In addition to these, we value evidence of obtaining research funding and industry collaboration.
- For the position of Assistant Professor, we seek proactive researchers and teachers beyond their post doc phase yet still at their early academic career, and who already have a proven track record of scientific research.
The tenure track system of the University of Turku is described in: Guidelines for the tenure track system at the UTU.
We value equality and diversity in our work community and encourage qualified applicants, regardless of background, to apply for our open positions.
