Associate Professor / Full Professor of Chemical and Industrial Environmental Engineering

Tenure Track (Associate professor/Full professor), Chemical and Industrial Environmental Engineering

The University of Oulu is an international science university, which seeks and creates innovations, well-being and knowledge through multidisciplinary research and education. The research and education community comprises over 3,000 employees and 15,000 students in eight faculties. It is one of the largest and the most multidisciplinary universities in Finland.

 

The position will be located in the Research Unit of Environmental and Chemical Engineering of the Faculty of Technology at the University of Oulu. The unit has a unique combination of disciplines, i.e. Inorganic Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Industrial Environmental Engineering and Control Engineering, each of these fields having its own research group. The faculty has currently a total of six professor positions in Chemical Engineering in the fields of Mass and Heat Transfer Engineering and Biorefinery Measurements (located in the Research Unit of Environmental and Chemical Engineering), Chemical Process Engineering, Fibre and Particle Engineering, and Process Metallurgy. The current professor of Mass and Heat Transfer Engineering is near to retirement, and the new position will provide the continuation in teaching and research of mass, heat and momentum transfer as well as separation processes at the University of Oulu.

 

The annual intake of students in Degree Programme in Process and Environmental Engineering is ca. 100.

 

Name and Field of the Position

The name and field of the position is Chemical and Industrial Environmental Engineering. It will be filled as a tenure track position at the level of associate professor (career stage III), or full professor (career stage IV). In the following, the generic name professor is used for both career stages. The University of Oulu Tenure Track Guidelines (http://www.oulu.fi/university/node/38379) will be followed in filling the position.

 

Job Responsibilities, Required Qualifications and Language Proficiency

Professor’s main duties are to practice and promote teaching and research within the fields of Chemical Engineering and Industrial Environmental Engineering with specialization in mass, heat and momentum transfer and separation processes at the University of Oulu. The Professor is expected to carry out research in physical and chemical phenomena, materials and units in chemical conversion processes, compounds separation and purification stages and environmental technologies. It is important to master how these units, enabling materials/methods and feedstocks influence the design of the above-mentioned processes. The requirements for sustainability, cleantech and circular economy, e.g. energy, material and process efficiency, are vital. The scientific approach can be theoretical and/or experimental.

 

The Professor will also work in close collaboration with other units of the Faculty of Technology in the areas of Fiber and Particle Engineering, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Chemical Process Engineering, Process Metallurgy, Systems Engineering, Control Engineering, Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, and Energy and Environmental Engineering.

 

Career Stage III (associate professor)

The position of an associate professor is initially a fixed-term position for five years, but a continuation period may be granted or the position may be made permanent. Being granted continuation for the position requires meeting the below-mentioned criteria as well as successful research work as indicated in the University of Oulu Tenure Track guidelines. The detailed requirements for the promotion will be agreed upon completing and signing of the employment contract.

 

When appointing a person to the position of an associate professor, the applicants are evaluated based on the following criteria:

PhD in a relevant field (Chemical and Industrial Environmental Engineering)
Publications at an international level
Active role in research training
Acquisition of external funding
Working in more than one research facility during one’s career (in most fields represented at the University of Oulu this signifies working abroad)
An active role in the international scientific community
Acknowledgements and awards
Career stage IV (full professor)

 

If the position is filled at the level of full professor, it is filled for a five-year fixed-term period after which the position may be made permanent. A person appointed to the position of a professor must have a doctoral degree in Chemical and Industrial Environmental Engineering, high-level scientific competence, experience in leading scientific research, ability to provide
high-level research-based teaching and to supervise both Ph.D. and M.Sc. theses, as well as merit in international co-operation projects in the field of expertise. The position also requires the ability to act as an academic leader.

 

When evaluating the merits of an applicant, scientific publications and other research results with scientific, teaching experience and pedagogic training, ability to produce teaching material, other merits as a teacher, teaching demonstrations and supervised doctoral theses shall be taken into consideration. Other factors to be taken into consideration are the active role of the applicant in the scientific community, practical experience in the field where applicable, success in acquiring supplementary research funding, scientific work abroad, international positions, as well as leadership and interaction skills.

 

General Regulations

 

University Law (558/2009) and Statute (770/2009); the Regulations of the University of Oulu (23.11.2015). University of Oulu Tenure Track Guidelines (http://www.oulu.fi/university/node/38379).

 

Under section 33 of the Universities Act, a professor shall carry out and supervise scientific or artistic work, give education based on it and follow developments in science or art and participate in societal interaction and international cooperation in his/her field.

 

Under section 22 in the regulations of the University of Oulu, the person selected to the post of a professor is required to hold a doctorate and scientific or artistic competence of a high standard and to have experience in the management of scientific research, the ability to give high-standard education based on research and to supervise theses as well as to be able to present proof of international cooperation within his/her field of research. Furthermore, a professorship requires skills to act as an academic leader.

 

The assessment of applicant's qualifications accounts for scientific publications and other research results with scientific value, teaching experience and pedagogical training, skill to produce educational material, other qualifications achieved in the educational system, demonstration lessons and doctoral dissertations supervised by the applicant. In addition, the assessment will account for the applicant's activity within the scientific community's activities and, when necessary, the practical familiarity with the field involved, success in applying for supplementary research funding and scientific work abroad, international duties as well as management and interaction skills.

 

Teaching language at the University of Oulu is Finnish. It is possible to teach in English as well.

 

Application Procedure

The position will be decleared internationally. The position is a tenure track position, which will be filled at levels III or IV. The appointment is a fixed-term five-year position, after which it can be converted to a permanent position subject to peer-review, as described in the University of Oulu Tenure Track Guidelines.

 

The applicants are required to deliver the following documents in electronic application form by November 30th, 2019 at 23:59 (Finnish local time). The application should be written in English and the following information needs to be attached:

(1) A motivation/application letter with contact information, stating the career level on which you would like to be evaluated at

(2) A brief curriculum vitae according to guidelines of the Finnish National Board of Research Integrity (http://www.tenk.fi/en/template-researchers-curriculum-vitae)

(3) List of publications according to guidelines of the Academy of Finland (https://www.aka.fi/en/funding/apply-for-funding/az-index-of-application-guidelines/list-of-publications/), ten most important ones marked

(4) A brief research and action plan

(5) Teaching merits of relevance to the post concerned are requested to be presented in the form of a teaching portfolio, or a comparable document. The portfolio or other document should follow the table of contents presented below.

(6) Contact details of 2 to 4 persons available for recommendation

(7) The applicant is encouraged to include a citation-index analysis (total number of citations and h index).

 

The candidates may be invited to an interview and may be required to present a teaching demonstration.

 

Reviewer Assessment

The selection procedure will be carried out by the recruitment committee according to the University of Oulu Tenure Track guidelines.

 

The candidates are informed about the selection of the reviewers and they will be given the opportunity to voice any complaints regarding the disqualification of the reviewers and the scientific disciplines that the reviewers represent. When evaluating the possible disqualification of the reviewers, the Administrative Procedure Act will be observed. When all reviewers have submitted their statements, they will be sent to the candidates as soon as possible.

 

Salary

The salary will be based on the salary system of Finnish Universities and will follow the demand level chart for teaching and research personnel. The salary will be at the demand level 6 – 7, if the appointment is at the level of associate professor, and at 8 – 11, if the appointment is at the level of full professor. In addition to the basic salary, supplementary salary will be given for personal achievements and performance, the sum rising to a maximum of 50 % of the basic salary level. Therefore, the full salary is approximately 4,100 – 5,200 euros per month for an associate professor, and approximately 5,800 – 9,400 euros per month for a full professor depending on qualifications.

 

Official Employment

The Dean will make her proposition on the basis of the recommendation of the recruitment committee and submit this, justifications and attachments included, to the Research Committee of the University of Oulu, who will make the final decision concerning the employment of the candidate.

 

Contact Information

In order to be sure of receiving information and announcements issued in the course of the selection process, the candidate must provide the University with the necessary contact information as follows: address to which the written communications had to be sent; telephone number at work and at home and email address.

The position is filled as of 1st of August 2020 or as soon as possible thereafter. A trial period of six months is applied in the position.

 

For further information regarding the filling of this post:
Professor Risto Laitinen [Tel. +358 29 448 1611; email: risto.laitinen(at)oulu.fi] and
Adj. Prof. (head of unit) Esa Muurinen [Tel. +358 29 448 2363; email: esa.muurinen(at)oulu.fi], Research Unit of Environmental and Chemical Engineering
Dean, Professor Riitta Keiski, Faculty of Technology [Tel. +358 29 448 2348; email: riitta.keiski(at)oulu.fi]

 

For enquiries about the application and selection procedures, please contact:
HR Manager Tiina Pääkkönen [email: tiina.paakkonen(at)oulu.fi]

 

Teaching portfolio, table of contents

Teaching skills will be evaluated according to the outline below:

1. Teaching philosophy, teaching strategies and methods

Teacher’s self-reflection on his/her teaching style, a personal background idea of teaching; how are these reflected in teaching work?
A description of oneself as a teacher and an implementer of educational work
2. Practical experience in teaching and efforts to improve teaching
3. Description of educational material (curricula, handouts, assignments, workbooks)
4. Professional development as a teacher
5. Evaluation from teaching (student evaluations, peer evaluations, awards and assessed test lectures)
6. Future teaching goals and plans

 

Teacher’s plans for future directions in his/her teaching development, for example in relation to the teaching
curriculum of the Degree Programme in Process and Environmental Engineering
About Oulu

 

The City of Oulu is Northern Finland’s largest and oldest city, with a population of over 200,000. Located in the Gulf of Bothnia in the Oulu River delta, the city has good access from anywhere. Oulu is a very safe and family friendly community with one of the highest qualities of life in all of Nordic countries. As the world’s northernmost tech hub, Oulu has a highly educated and innovative workforce and the University has a strong role in the community.

 

In your application, please refer to Polytechnicpositions.com