Professor in Medical Radiation Physics coupled with a position as Physicist

The Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology at Uppsala University has a broad research profile with strong research groups focused on, among other things, cancer, autoimmune and genetic diseases. One of the basic ideas at the department is to stimulate translational research and thus a closer collaboration between medical research and healthcare. Research is conducted in medical and clinical genetics, clinical immunology, pathology, neurooncology, vascular biology, radiation science and molecular tools. Parts of the business are also integrated with the departments of oncology, clinical genetics, clinical immunology, clinical pathology and hospital physics at the University Hospital. The department has teaching assignments in a number of program programs and master's programs within the Faculty of Medicine as well as a number of programs in the field of technical-natural science. The department has a turnover of around SEK 450 million, of which just over half is external research grants. The number of employees is about 500, of which about 100 are doctoral students, and there are a total of over 700 active in the workforce. Please read more about the department's activities here: http://www. igp.uu.se

Uppsala University Hospital’s (Akademiska sjukhuset) radiotherapy section have six treatment rooms for external therapy, two for brachytherapy and two for treatment planning imaging, equipped with state-of-the-art technologies using dedicated CT and 3T-MR scanners, four linear accelerators, one Elekta Unity MR-Linac, two HDR-brachytherapy units and one contact X-ray unit. In close proximity to the radiotherapy section there are PET/CT and PET/MR for use in treatment planning. The national facility for proton therapy, the Skandion Clinic, is owned by Region Uppsala and other regions with university hospitals. It is located in close proximity to the University Hospital’s radiotherapy section. At the clinic, research is conducted in radiation physics and clinical radiotherapy.

We are now looking for a professor in medical radiation physics who can lead research and development around advanced radiation therapy with connections to the activities at the University Hospital or the Skandion Clinic.

Description of the subject area: 

Medical radiation physics is an interdisciplinary subject concerning applications of ionizing radiation and radioactive substances in healthcare and medical research. The research focus on radiation therapy, which includes dosimetry and modeling of radiation effects, involves a close collaboration with other research groups, medical technology companies and with medical physicists and doctors who work in radiation therapy at the Uppsala University Hospital or the Skandion Clinic. Since radiotherapy is increasingly integrated with X-ray diagnostics, nuclear medicine and MR diagnostics, collaboration with these disciplines is of great importance.

Duties:

The person employed will have an overall responsibility for research and postgraduate education in the subject area of medical radiation physics, preferably with a focus on radiation therapy, as well as teaching and supervision within education at basic level, advanced level and postgraduate level. The position includes leading an active research group in the subject, as well as contributing to the positive development of research and education in the subject in collaboration with the faculty's researchers and teachers. Administrative tasks as well as internal and external trust assignments may occur. The employment also includes informing about research and development work.

Qualifications:

The qualification requirements for employment as a professor are fulfilled by someone who has demonstrated both research and teaching expertise (the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 4 § 3). According to the Appointment Regulations for Uppsala University the general qualification requirements stipulate that teachers must be able to work cooperatively and meet the demands required to perform their duties well (AR § 5).

Research expertise must have been demonstrated by the applicant’s independent research contributions and by achievements that are of high quality by international and national standards. The applicant must have demonstrated expertise in planning, initiating, leading and developing research; an ability to obtain research funding in competition along with well-documented expertise in supervising third cycle students. The applicant’s contributions to the international and national scientific communities must be assessed on the basis of such criteria as the quality and scope of scholarly publications within, for the subject area, the most relevant publication channels. The required international track record for the applicant must be assessed in light of the nature and specific circumstances of the subject (AR § 31).

Teaching expertise must be shown through merits within education and teaching in accordance with AR § 22. Furthermore, the applicant must be able to show well documented expertise within supervision at first-cycle, second-cycle and third-cycle levels.

A prerequisite for considering that the applicant has teaching expertise is that the applicant has completed at least ten weeks of teacher training for higher education that is relevant to the organisation and its activities, or has equivalent knowledge. If there are special reasons, the teacher training for higher education may be undertaken during the first two years of employment. The teacher training must also include third-cycle supervision (AR § 33).

The applicant shall have a documented ability to teach in Swedish or English. If exceptional reasons exist, an applicant who currently lacks the ability to teach in Swedish may be assumed to be able to acquire that ability within two years.

Eligibility for this position requires a medical physics degree, alternatively a degree in physics or equivalent and experience in medical radiation physics.

Basis of assessment:

When selecting from among several qualified applicants, research expertise will be assigned greater weight than teaching expertise. However, a balance will be struck between the assessment criteria so that an applicant who is judged as having much greater teaching expertise may be ranked ahead of an applicant who has slightly greater research expertise. An equal amount of attention will be given to assessing teaching expertise as for scientific expertise. In the assessment of research expertise, particular weight will be assigned to research merits in external radiation therapy.

The scientific expertise refers to research merits. Evaluation of scientific expertise will, in the first instance, be based upon scientific quality. Even the scope of the research will be taken into consideration, primarily with regards to depth and breadth. Furthermore, consideration of the applicant's capacity to plan, initiate, lead and develop research and third-cycle education; the ability to obtain research funding in competition; and the ability to collaborate and engage with the wider community through research are of significance for the position. (AR § 20). Also see Guidelines and assessment criteria for recruiting and promoting teachers at the Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy (RB § 3).

Teaching expertise refers to educational merits. In assessing teaching expertise, teaching quality must be the primary consideration. Consideration must also be given to the scope of teaching experience, in terms of both breadth and depth. Furthermore, consideration will be given to the applicant's capacity to plan, initiate, lead and develop education as well as the ability to base teaching on research. Teaching experience also includes the ability to collaborate with other parties, both within the University and externally, regarding higher education teaching issues. Also see RB § 4.

When the University appoints new teachers, it must select the applicants who, following a qualitative overall assessment of their competence and expertise, are judged to have the best potential to perform and develop the relevant duties and to contribute to the positive development of the department/equivalent.

Basis of assessment, other expertise: Management expertise and administrative expertise are of significance for the position and will be weighted accordingly. The ability to collaborate and engage with the wider community as well as inform about research and development work will be taken into consideration.

Administrative expertise is demonstrated, for example, by the ability to plan, organise and prioritise work in an efficient and appropriate manner along with the ability to specify and keep to timeframes. Such expertise includes overall operational planning, the ability to manage resources in a way that reflects operational priorities as well as the ability to work in a structured manner based on awareness of goals and quality. Also see RB § 5.

Management expertise is demonstrated by the ability to lead operations and staff, make decisions, take responsibility and motivate others and thereby provide the conditions needed for efficient achievement of shared goals. The ability to coordinate the group, to help create a sense of involvement, participation and job satisfaction as well as dealing with conflicts are further examples of management expertise. Also see RB § 5.

When assessing collaboration skills, experience of and expertise in popular scientific work, editing and other activities related to the exchange of knowledge between the University and the wider community, as well as experience of innovation and entrepreneurship will be taken into consideration. Also see RB § 6.

The gender equality aspect must be applied in an appointment process if it is evident, following a qualitative assessment, that two applicants of different gender have equal or approximately equal qualifications and if one gender is underrepresented (constitutes less than 40% of those in the occupational category in question and at the workplace concerned).

The applicant's parental leave, part-time work due to childcare or similar will be considered as working experience merits.

In the event of any disagreement between the English and the Swedish versions of this announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence.
During the evaluation of submitted applications, international referees may be used. In this event, the University may need to send applications that are written in Swedish to a qualified translator.

University appointment regulations, Faculty appointment regulations, Instructions for application

Type of position: Temporary full
Salary: Individually negotiated salary.
Starting date:  as otherwise agreed
Number of positions: 1
Working hours: 100%
For further information about the position, please contact the Head of Department, Professor Tobias Sjöblom, tel: 018-471 5036, tobias.sjoblom@igp.uu.se
Please submit your application by May 6, 2024 at the latest. UFV-PA 2023/3087

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