Senior Lecturer in human geography, especially housing and urban geography

Uppsala University, Disciplinary Domain of Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculty of Social

Sciences, Institute for Housing and Urban Research

The Institute for Housing and Urban Research (IBF) is a multidisciplinary research institute with a focus on housing and urban issues. It belongs to the Faculty of Social Sciences at Uppsala University. The Institute employs a staff of about 55 people, of whom the majority are researchers and PhD students. The disciplines of human geography, economics, sociology and political science each have a

professorship, a senior lecturer, and at least two doctoral student positions. In addition, economic history and environmental psychology are represented at the institute with one lectureship each. At the institute, there is a common post-doctoral program for all disciplines.

IBF’s goal is to produce interesting and relevant social research of the highest international quality within its thematic area. The different disciplines form the basis of the academic work, but interaction between them also makes important contributions to the thematically oriented research.

Using a wide range of different methods, both qualitative and quantitative, IBF’s human geographers study the importance of space and place in urban processes in general and housing provision and distribution in particular, ranging across such topics as city planning, housing justice, and urban social movements. The research focuses on developments both internationally and in Sweden, aiming to understand the relationship between global processes and local worlds, while contributing to policy work including through collaboration with local and other stakeholders.

IBF’s human geographers are active participants in both of the major research initiatives currently hosted at the institute: The Housing & Urban Justice Project (which conducts research on social inequalities, marginalisation and oppression as manifested especially in urban settings) and Urban Lab (which conducts quantitative studies of issues related to cities, urbanisation and segregation, often using IBF’s rich geocoded individual register data).

Duties

IBF’s senior lecturers are research-focused. The work duties mainly include conducting, planning, and leading research at a high international level with a focus on housing and urban geography. The work includes strategic research initiatives related to the whole institute. Teaching and teaching administration in the form of, for example, lectures, examinations, supervision, and course responsibility at the Department of Human Geography are included in the position at 20 percent of full-time employment.

As a research institute and a “national resource,” IBF has high goals when it comes to collaboration and communication with the surrounding society. The position includes actively participating in such activities. It can also include administrative and leadership duties.

Required qualifications

To qualify for appointment as a senior lecturer, you must have been awarded a PhD in Human Geography or (Urban) Planning, or have equivalent research competence, have demonstrated teaching expertise, be able to work with other people and otherwise meet the suitability requirements needed to competently perform the research-oriented duties.

Your research expertise, teaching expertise and professional skills must be relevant to the position as specified, and to the research-oriented duties that will be included in the position.

To be eligible for the position, you must have a documented ability to teach in Swedish or English.

However, anyone who only speaks English at the start of their employment must be able to teach in Swedish within two years.

Assessment criteria: scientific and pedagogical skills

When selecting among qualified applicants, weight will be given to research and teaching expertise. Since the duties of a senior lecturer at IBF mainly consist of conducting and leading research, research proficiency will be the most important criterion in the appointment to this position.

Applicants must have demonstrated research expertise by independent research contributions of high international standard. The applicant’s contributions to the international and national scholarly community will be assessed on the basis of the quality and scope of scholarly publications, among other criteria.

When assessing research expertise, research quality will be the principal consideration. The scope of the research, meaning primarily its depth and breadth, will also be taken into account. Furthermore, consideration will be given to the ability to plan, initiate, lead and develop research and third-cycle (doctoral) education, the ability to obtain research funding in competition, as well as the ability to collaborate through research with external stakeholders in the surrounding society.

Particular weight will be given to research expertise in housing and urban geography.

Because IBF is a multidisciplinary research institute, experience and qualifications in multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary research will be particularly valued in the recruitment process for this position.

Teaching expertise will be evaluated as carefully as research expertise. Teaching expertise must be well documented to make it possible to assess quality. When assessing teaching expertise, the quality of teaching will be the principal consideration. The scope of teaching experience, in terms of both breadth and depth, will also be taken into account, as will the ability to plan, initiate, lead and develop education, and the ability to base teaching on research.

Assessment criteria: other expertise

Administrative and management expertise are important for the position and will be accorded significant weight.

Administrative expertise may be demonstrated by the ability to plan, organise and prioritise work in an efficient and appropriate way, and the ability to specify and keep to timetables. Expertise in this area includes overall operational planning, the ability to manage resources in a way that reflects operational priorities, and the ability to work in a structured manner based on awareness of goals and quality. Management expertise is demonstrated by the ability to lead operations and staff, make decisions, take responsibility and motivate others, providing them with the conditions needed for the efficient achievement of shared goals. Expertise may also be demonstrated by the ability to coordinate a group, to help create a sense of involvement, participation and job satisfaction, and to deal with conflicts.

As IBF is a “national resource” and has high goals in terms of collaboration with the surrounding community, experience and merits in collaboration and communication with external community stakeholders will be particularly valued in the recruitment process for this position.

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

When the University appoints new staff, it will select the applicants who, upon a qualitative overall assessment of their competence and expertise, are judged to have the best potential to perform and develop the duties concerned and to contribute to the positive development of the department/institute.

In this recruitment, the recruitment committee may make use of interviews, trial lectures and references. Applicants should therefore provide a list of reference persons who can shed light on the applicant’s professional proficiency and on personal qualities that are relevant to the position, such as team-working abilities, leadership abilities and working methods.

Personal circumstances (parental leave, part-time employment because of childcare, union responsibilities, military service, etc.) that may be considered to the applicant’s advantage when evaluating qualifications should be indicated in connection with the account of qualifications and experiences.

Application process: A complete application is to be submitted via Uppsala University’s recruitment system and should comprise:

• Letter of application
• List of attachments
• Curriculum vitae
• Presentation of research qualifications
• List of publications
• Presentation of educational qualifications
• Presentation of other qualifications
• A clear account of the scope of your teaching experience, expressed in number of hours
• Scholarly (maximum 10) and (if any) educational publications cited
• List of reference persons (name, contact details, previous working relationship)

Instructions for drawing up the application are available in Faculty of Social Sciences Supplementary Guidelines (section 7a).

Please note: Your application, including attachments, is to be submitted electronically in the recruitment system Varbi. Any publications cited that are not available in electronic format should be sent in triplicate to the Faculty of Social Sciences, Uppsala University, Box 256, 751 05 Uppsala. Mark the package with the reference number UFV-PA 2025/502.

For further information, see Uppsala University’s Appointment Regulations and section 2d in Faculty of Social Sciences Supplementary Guidelines.

About the position: This is a permanent, full-time position. The salary will be set individually. Starting date by agreement. Place of work: Uppsala

Further information about the position is available from:

Brett Christophers, Professor, Human Geography, +46 (0)73-442 81 36, brett.christophers@ibf.uu.se

Nils Hertting, Head of Institute, +46 (0)72 9999192, nils.hertting@ibf.uu.se

On the university’s website you will find more information about the Faculty of Social Sciences recruitment process in both English and Swedish.

Questions about the appointment procedure may be addressed to: Faculty Officer Paula von Essen Karlström, +46 (0)18 471 15 17, email samfak@samfak.uu.se

We look forward to receiving your application by 15 September 2025.

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