Uppsala University, Department of Modern Languages

The Department of Modern Languages conducts research and provides doctoral (third-cycle), second cycle and first-cycle education in Finno-Ugric Languages, Romance Languages, Slavic Languages and German. More information about the Department’s work is available here.

We educate some 1,600 students a year on our 140-plus courses. In most of our languages, we are engaged in teaching and research in both language studies and literary studies. Our languages are taught on campus and in web-based courses. Besides freestanding courses, the Department is among the providers of the Bachelor Programme in Languages and the Teacher Education Programme, and is responsible for the Master Programme in Languages and the Master Programme in the Russian Language in International Relations.

Description of subject area: Within the scope of the Slavic Languages subject area, teaching and research currently take place in the following subjects: Bulgarian, Polish, Russian and Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian. 

Within the sphere of education, there are courses in language proficiency, language studies, literary studies and cultural studies. The Master Programme in the Russian Language in International Relations and Home language Instruction in Polish and Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian are included, and the Department has a national responsibility for Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian. Education at doctoral (third-cycle) level is provided in Slavic Languages, with the two specialisations of language studies or literary studies.

Current research in the subject area covers synchronic and diachronic linguistics, historical philology, literary studies and cultural studies, and also didactics and research ethics.

Work duties: The duties are to carry out one’s own research and participation in research collaborations; engage in teaching and course development in the subject area at basic, advanced and doctoral level (in the first, second and third cycles), and participate in work to develop this education; carry out supervision at every level in the subject area; provide information about research; cooperate with external stakeholders; and perform administrative tasks.

One important task for the appointee is to take part in, initiate, plan and, where applicable, lead research projects, and also apply for external research funding, and foster and help to develop the research and educational environment of the subject area.

The appointee must also be prepared to undertake assignments of responsibility and leadership in the Faculty and University, as well as in the Department.

The position requires the holder’s presence at the workplace to join in and contribute to the Department’s and Faculty’s joint work. The working language at the Department is Swedish. A position holder who lacks a command of Swedish as a working language is expected to learn the language within two to three years. Where necessary, the University offers courses in Swedish for newly appointed teachers.

Qualification requirements and eligibility: To be eligible for an appointment as professor, the applicant must possess both research and teaching expertise (Swedish Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 4, Section 3).

For this position, qualifications as a professor in the subject of Slavic Languages or a corresponding subject, specialising in Linguistics, are required. The applicant must have documented teaching experience in one of the Slavic languages represented at the Department, and be able to demonstrate very good language skills in English.

Teaching expertise relates to being qualified in education and teaching, and must have been demonstrated by qualifications in teaching and supervision at all levels of the subject. The documentation must show that the applicant has attended academic teacher training, including training as a supervisor, or otherwise acquired corresponding knowledge. If special reasons exist, the academic teacher training may be implemented during the appointee’s first two years’ employment.

The appointee’s research expertise, personal suitability and professional skill must be relevant to the subject content of the appointment and the work duties it will include.

Assessment criteria: Criteria for assessment in professorial appointments at the University concern the degree of expertise that is required for eligibility. In the filling of this professorship, particular weight will be given to research expertise. In addition, great weight will be attached to teaching expertise. Management expertise and administrative experience will also be given weight. Qualifications must be so documented as to enable assessment of both quality and scope. 

Marked emphasis will be laid on documented knowledge of more than one of the Slavic languages that are represented at the Department.

Weight will be attached to the ability to unite the various skills of the subject area, in linguistics, literary studies and cultural studies, in a well-functioning research environment. This applies especially to responsibility for and initiatives in basic education and research in the subject area.

The ability to use Swedish as a working language will be considered a merit.

Research expertise, which relates to research qualifications, must have been demonstrated by means of independent research contributions and publications of a consistently high international standard. The applicant must have shown success in obtaining research grants on a competitive basis.

In the assessment of research expertise, particular consideration will be given to the ability to plan, initiate, lead and develop research. Broad expertise in the subject area and established research collaborations are of importance for this position. In this connection, special emphasis will be laid on skill in working for a good research environment that involves the various specialist areas of the subject.

The applicant's research production will be assessed in terms of quality and scale of research publication in the publishing channels most relevant in the subject area, with the emphasis on the past 10 years. The applicant’s contributions to the research community are also considered. Assignments as an external expert or subject specialist, opponent in a public thesis defence, editor, referee, reviewer (in peer review work) and project manager, and membership of formal networks and the like, are regarded as conferring qualifications.

Teaching expertise, which relates to teaching qualifications, must have been shown by means of qualifications in teaching and supervision at all levels of the subject. Experience of digital educational environments is a qualification.

In the assessment of teaching expertise, the quality of teaching is the primary consideration. Its scope, in terms of both breadth and depth, will also be considered important. In this connection, particular attention will be paid to experience of course development, teaching, course administration and successful supervision at all levels, especially doctoral. Moreover, weight will be given to the ability to plan, initiate, lead and develop education and teaching, and also the ability to provide teaching that is linked to research, with a solid foundation of subject didactics and academic teaching theory and practice.

Management expertise and administrative experience relate, in particular, to experience of leadership responsibility, demonstrated by being accountable for a departmental environment or other positions of trust at university and also faculty or departmental level. The assessment of management expertise and administrative expertise will consider the applicant’s ability to lead activities and staff, motivate others and put in place the preconditions for their efficient achievement of shared goals, thereby helping to generate their engagement and participation.

Other expertise relates to skill in cooperating with the community at large (third-stream activities). The ability to provide information about research, education and development will be taken into consideration.

In this recruitment the University will, above all, consider those who, following a qualitative overall assessment of qualifications, expertise and personal suitability, are deemed to have the best prospects of implementing and developing the work duties involved and of contributing to favourable development of activities and the work environment.

Application procedure: The Faculty of Languages’ recruitment group will make use of interviews and trial lectures, and obtain references, in this recruitment. Applicants should therefore submit a list of referees who can provide insight into the applicants’ professional skill and personal characteristics of importance for the position, such as their ability to cooperate with others, management skill, engagement and choice of working methods.

Personal circumstances (such as parental leave, part-time work due to care of children, trade-union duties and military service) that can be credited to the applicant in the qualification assessment should be specified in the applicant’s summary of qualifications and experience.

Uppsala University values the qualities that equal gender distribution and diversity bring to its activities. We would therefore like to see applicants of all genders and with varied birth background, functional capacity and life experience.

A full application, preferably written in English, must be submitted through Uppsala University’s recruitment system and include:

  • Letter of application
  • List of appendices
  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Account of research qualifications (including information about future research plans)
  • Account of teaching qualifications (including supervision at doctoral level)
  • Account of management expertise
  • Account of other qualifications
  • List of publications (including a list of peer-reviewed publications)
  • Research and teaching publications cited (maximum: 10)
  • List of referees (maximum: two).

For applicants invited to attend interviews and give trial lectures, travel costs are covered by Uppsala University.

Note that the application and appendices must be submitted electronically in the Varbi recruitment system.

Three hard copies of any publications cited that are not available in electronic format and cannot be scanned must be sent to the Faculty of Languages, Uppsala University, Box 256, SE–751 05 Uppsala, Sweden. Write the following reference number on the envelope: UFV-PA 2020/2066.

For further information, see the Supplementary Guidelines to Uppsala University Appointment Regulations at the Faculty of Languages.

Salary: subject to individual negotiation.

Starting date: by agreement.

Form of employment: employment for an indefinite period.

Proportion of full-time employment: 100%.

Information about the position is available from: Associate Professor (docent) Christina Kullberg, deputy head of the Department of Modern Languages, tel. 46 18 14 40, christina.kullberg@moderna.uu.se.

We look forward to receiving your application not later than 18 January 2021, UFV-PA 2020/2066.

Type of employment Permanent position
Contract type Full time
First day of employment 2022
Salary fast lön
Number of positions 1
Full-time equivalent 100
City Uppsala
County Uppsala län
Country Sweden
Reference number UFV-PA 2020/2066
Union representative
  • ST/TCO, tco@fackorg.uu.se
  • Saco-rådet, saco@uadm.uu.se
  • Seko Universitetsklubben, seko@uadm.uu.se
Published 04.Jan.2021
Last application date 18.Jan.2021 11:59 PM CET

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