1–2 Associate Professors in Molecular Biophysics - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

The Department of Cell and Molecular Biology (ICM; https://icm.uu.se/?languageId=1) is organised into seven research programmes which all focus on different areas of cell and molecular biology: Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Microbiology and Immunology, Molecular Biology, Molecular Biophysics, Molecular Evolution, Molecular Systems Biology and Structural Biology. The scientific basis of what we do lies in biology, but our research overlaps with other areas such as medicine, computer science, mathematics, chemistry, engineering sciences and physics. In total, we have over 200 staff and ~60 Ph.D. students.

The advertised position is within the Programme of Molecular Biophysics (https://icm.uu.se/molecular-biophysics/). Molecular biophysics is a rapidly evolving interdisciplinary area of research that combines concepts in physics, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and biology. We seek to understand biomolecular systems and explain biological function in terms of molecular structure, structural organization, and dynamic behaviour at various levels of complexity. We initiated frontier research in extreme-photon science using X-ray lasers and use advances in optical and electron microscopy for studies on photosynthetic systems, single macromolecules, viruses and the biophysics of infectious diseases. We are now looking for up to two lecturers to strengthen and broaden the expertise and research scope within the programme.

Description of subject area of the employment: The subject area is broadly defined as developing and using advanced biophysical methods for molecular level studies on biological systems such as single macromolecules, supramolecular complexes, viruses, or cells.

Duties:

• Teaching, research and administration. Teaching duties include course responsibility and course administration and supervision of second- and third-cycle students. The Associate professor(s) will teach in subject areas related to molecular biophysics, with a focus on courses related to the new master’s program in biophysics (https://bit.ly/3qD5bIv).
• Follow developments within the subject area and the development of society in general that is important for the work at the university.
• The position may include management tasks as well as other administrative tasks relevant for the department and faculty.

Qualifications Required:

• PhD or have the corresponding research competence or some other professional expertise.
• Research Expertise and Teaching Expertise. It is necessary that the pedagogical skills, the research expertise and the professional skills are relevant to the content of the employment and the tasks that will be included in the employment.
• Applicants must have completed teacher training of relevance to operations at the University, comprising ten weeks, or have acquired the equivalent knowledge. If special circumstances apply, this training for teachers in higher education may be completed during the first two years of employment.
• Documented ability to teach in Swedish or English is a requirement unless special reasons prevail. The holder is expected to be able to teach in Swedish within two years.
• Personal capabilities necessary to carry out fully the duties of the appointment.

Assessment Criteria/Ranking of applicants that fulfil the above-mentioned qualifications required

The ranking of eligible applicants will be based primarily on research and teaching expertise, which will be given equal weight.

Research Expertise comprises research merits. In addition to academic merits, research merits from other activities, including technology development, may also be taken into account including research merits obtained outside the academy, which includes for example technology development and innovation ability. In assessing research expertise research quality must be the prime consideration. The scope of research, primarily in regard to depth and breadth, must also be afforded consideration. In assessing research expertise special weight will be attached to research merits in experimental biophysics to study biological systems at the molecular level.

Furthermore, consideration must be given to the capacity to plan, initiate, lead, and develop research and education in the third cycle, the ability to acquire funding for research in competition, as well as the demonstrated capacity to interact with others both within academia and in the wider community.

Teaching Expertise comprises educational and teaching qualifications. This expertise can have been achieved outside the academy through supervision, internal training, mentoring programs, etc. In assessing teaching expertise teaching quality must be the prime consideration. The scope of teaching experience, in terms of both breadth and depth, must also be afforded consideration. In assessing teaching expertise special weight will be attached to merits in the subject fields of molecular biophysics, molecular biology and related areas. 

Furthermore, consideration must be given to the capacity to plan, initiate, lead, and develop teaching and instruction, as well as the ability to connect research to teaching in respect to research in the subject at hand, subject didactics, as well as teaching and learning in higher education. The ability to interact concerning issues of teaching and learning in higher education with actors inside and outside the University is also included in teaching expertise.

Administrative Expertise is important for the employment and will be given consideration. Administrative expertise is demonstrated, for example, through the capacity to plan, organise, and prioritise work in an efficient and task-related manner as well as through the ability to assign and observe time frames. Expertise includes overall operational planning and the capacity to manage resources in a way that reflects operational priorities as well as the ability to work in a structured manner based on an awareness of goals and quality. Administrative expertise also includes entrepreneurship.

Management Expertise is important and will be afforded consideration. Management expertise is demonstrated through the capacity to lead operations and personnel, make decisions, take responsibility, and motivate others, providing them with what is needed for the efficient achievement of common goals. The abilities to coordinate the group and help create a sense of involvement, participation, and enjoyment in work and to deal with conflicts constitute further examples of demonstrated expertise.

Collaboration Expertise is important and will be afforded consideration. Collaborative expertise is demonstrated by the ability and skill of planning, organizing and implementing interaction with the surrounding community. Popular publications, public debate and lectures are examples of forms of interaction with the surrounding community. Other examples of collaboration are patent applications, commercialization and industrial cooperation. The ability to translate knowledge sharing with the surrounding community into activities of importance to the education's development and quality is part of the collaboration expertise.

All merits must be documented in a manner that makes it possible to assess both quality and scope.

In filling this position the university aims to appoint the applicant who, following a qualitative holistic assessment of her/his competence and expertise, is judged to have the best potential to carry out and develop the relevant duties and to help advance operations.

Further information
An applicant who is offered an employment as Associate Professor can be promoted to Professor if he/she has applied for this, is qualified for such a post, and moreover has been deemed suitable on the basis of the specific criteria established by the faculty board.

In an overall assessment of the applicant’s qualifications, parental leave, part-time work relating to care of children, union assignments, military service, or the like are to be regarded as work experience.

University appointment regulations

Faculty appointment regulations

Instructions for application

For further information about the position, please contact Professor Filipe Maia, phone: +46(0)18-471 46 42, e-mail: filipe.maia@icm.uu.se)

Number of positions: 1 or 2

Working hours: 100%

Town: Uppsala

Salary: Individually negotiated salary.

Starting date: 2023-01-01 or as otherwise agreed

Type of employment: Permanent full-time position 

Please submit your application by May 10 2022, UFV-PA 2022/443.

In the event of any disagreement between the English and the Swedish versions of this announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence.

If you are an international candidate, you will find a lot of information about working and living in Sweden at www.uu.se/joinus.