Associate Senior Lecturer in Linguistics 

Uppsala University, Department of Linguistics and Philology

The Department of Linguistics and Philology conducts research and education in linguistics and text studies in a number of different languages and language-related subjects. The department's activities cover many of the classical and modern languages and cultures of much of Europe, Asia and Africa, as well as computational linguistics and linguistics. Education is offered at undergraduate level, advanced level and postgraduate level. The department has around seventy employees and constitutes an international and intellectually lively environment.

Subject area of employment
The Department of Linguistics and Philology is looking for an Associate Senior Lecturer in linguistics with a focus on multilingual language acquisition. The subject area of Linguistics is one of the department's main areas of education at undergraduate and advanced level as well as at postgraduate level. The subject area participates in the B.A. in Languages programme (Språkvetarprogrammet), the speech-language pathology programme (Logopedprogrammet), and the M.A. in Languages programme (Masterprogrammet i språk). 

The linguistics subject area at the department is involved in several externally funded interdisciplinary projects. Current research areas include historical linguistics and linguistic diversity, language documentation and typology, as well as children's language development, language impairment, bilingualism/multilingualism and second language acquisition.

We are now looking for an employee with specialisation in multilingual language acquisition, which includes second language acquisition, child language development, and language contact.

Subject area
General linguistics

Duties
The aim of the position is to give the teacher the opportunity to develop independence as a researcher and enhance their academic as well as their pedagogical qualifications in order to meet the criteria for employment as Senior Lecturer. The duties comprise research within the relevant area of specialization (50% of full time) as well as teaching and administration (no more than 50% of full time). 

Teaching includes course responsibility, course administration, course development, examination and supervision at undergraduate and postgraduate level, in Swedish and English, on campus. Teaching primarily covers the field of multilingual language acquisition, such as second language acquisition, bilingualism/multilingualism, children's language development and language contact, but also includes teaching in other areas of linguistics (e.g. grammar, phonology, semantics, sociolinguistics, language documentation, typology). Within research, the holder is expected to work together with and strengthen existing research groups in the subject area of linguistics, at the department and at the faculty, such as the faculty-wide network Language & Learning (Språk & Lärande).

An Associate Senior Lecturer is expected to search actively for external research funds and to follow developments in their own subject area, as well as participate in pedagogical and scientific development efforts at the department and faculty level.

Eligibility requirements
Applicants are eligible for employment as Associate Senior Lecturer if they hold a doctoral degree or have the equivalent academic competence, have demonstrated pedagogical competence, and have the personal characteristics required in order to carry out the duties that the position involves well. Precedence will be given to applicants who completed their PhD projects or reached the equivalent competence no more than five years before the deadline for applications. 

In order to meet the requirement of pedagogical competence, the applicant should have completed at least five weeks of relevant training in tertiary-level teaching or acquired the equivalent competence in other ways. In special circumstances, the training can be carried out during the first two years of employment.

Documented ability to teach in Swedish or English is a requirement. The holder is expected to be able to teach in Swedish within two years.

The applicant shall have the personal qualities required to competently fullfil the position. These personal qualities include flexibility, collegiality, and responsibility.

It is required that scientific competence, pedagogical abilities, and professional skills are relevant to the subject area of the position and the responsibilities included therein.

Assessment criteria for candidates who meet the eligibility requirements
The ranking of eligible applicants will be based primarily on their scientific and pedagogical skills. Evaluation of pedagogical skills will be weighted equally to the evaluation of scientific competence. Qualifications will be evaluated taking into account career interruptions due to childcare, military service and the like. All merits must be documented in a manner that makes it possible to assess both quality and scope.

Owing to the nature of a tenure-track position, the scientific and pedagogical qualifications of the applicants must be assessed above all in terms of quality. A quantitative advantage of an applicant, which can be explained by the fact that the applicant has been active for a longer period of time, should thus not be decisive.

For this position teaching, supervision and research experience within the fields of second language acquisition, bilingualism/multilingualism, child language acquisition, and language contact is considered a particular merit.

Scientific competence refers to research expertise. When assessing scientific skill, research quality will be the primary consideration. The scope of the research,  in particular its depth and breadth, will also be  taken into account. When assessing the candidate’s scientific skill, particular weight will be attached to research merits in multilingual language acquisition (which includes second language acquisition, bilingualism/multilingualism, children's language development and language contact), and secondarily to research merits in other areas of linguistics. Research expertise in other current research directions of the subject area (e.g. language documentation, grammar, typology, historical linguistics) is also meritorious, as is research expertise in languages other than the major Western national.

Pedagogical skill refers to educational and teaching expertise. When assessing pedagogical skill, teaching quality will be the primary consideration. The scope of the teaching, both breadth and depth, will also be taken into account. When assessing the candidate’s pedagogical skill, particular weight will be attached to pedagogical merits in multilingual language acquisition (which includes second language acquisition, bilingualism/multilingualism, children's language development and language contact), and secondarily to pedagogical merits in other areas of linguistics. Teaching and supervision in other areas of linguistics (e.g. syntax, phonology, semantics, sociolinguistics) is also meritorious.

Administrative, management, and collaboration skills will be given weight. Administrative skills are demonstrated, among other things, through the ability to plan, organize and prioritize tasks in an efficient and fit-for-purpose manner based on an awareness of goals and quality, including the ability to set and meet deadlines. Management skills are demonstrated through the ability to lead operations and personnel, make decisions, take responsibility, and motivate and provide others with the conditions required to effectively achieve common goals. Collaboration skills are demonstrated through the ability to plan, organize and implement social outreach, for example in the form of popular science works, public debate and lectures.

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

Period of employment and promotion
Employment as an Associate Senior Lecturer can be held for a maximum of four years. At the end of employment as an Associate Senior Lecturer, the candidate has the right to apply for permanent employment as a senior lecturer. Promotion to senior lecturer will be based on a balanced assessment of the applicant's scientific, pedagogical and administrative skills. In the assessment, special weight will be attached to the work carried out during the time the applicant was employed as an Associate Senior Lecturer. A basic requirement then is that the applicant must meet the requirements that apply to senior lecturers according to the employment regulations of Uppsala University and of the Faculty of Languages. In this particular case, the applicant must also have acquired the ability to use Swedish as his/her teaching and working language. In addition, the applicant must have completed his/her duties in a satisfactory manner. A written application to be considered for promotion to senior lecturer must have been received by the Board of the Faculty of Languages no later than six months before the employment as Associate Senior Lecturer ends.

Scientific skill: For promotion to senior lecturer, an applicant's scientific merits must be at a good international level and demonstrate an independent research profile. The applicant should have demonstrated the ability to independently initiate and run research projects. In the assessment of scientific skill, grants from research funders, publications in publication avenues of relevance to the subject, presentations at scientific conferences or workshops, admission as a reader (docent), and other merits of relevance to the subject will be given importance.

Pedagogical skill: For promotion to senior lecturer, an applicant must have undergone relevant higher education pedagogical training covering at least ten weeks or have equivalent knowledge. In the assessment of pedagogical skill, documented ability to plan, develop, implement and evaluate courses at undergraduate and advanced level, documented supervision of degree theses at undergraduate and advanced level, as well as experience in supervision at postgraduate level will be given importance.

Administrative skill: For promotion to senior lecturer, the applicant should have demonstrated administrative skill through participation in the overall planning of research and teaching activities. In the assessment of administrative skill, roles within research projects and administrative assignments at university, faculty or department level and external assignments will be given importance.

Application procedure

All qualifications must be documented in a way that makes it possible to assess their quality and scope. The application, which may be in English or Swedish, must be complete by the deadline. It must be submitted through Uppsala University’s electronic recruitment system Varbi and should contain the following:

• A letter of application
• CV (a brief account of qualifications and previous positions)
• An account of the candidate’s academic qualifications
• An account of the candidate’s pedagogical qualifications
• An account of the candidate’s administrative competence, leadership qualifications, and collaboration qualifications
• An account of any additional qualifications
• A list of scholarly and pedagogical publications
• Publications or other works that the candidate considers especially relevant to the position
• A reflective text that describes how the candidate would like to develop their academic, pedagogical and other competence
• Degree certificates and other relevant documents

The recruitment group may make use of interviews, trial lectures, and references. On request, applicants must therefore be prepared to submit a list of referees (no more than three) who can elucidate the applicant’s professional competence and personal qualities that have a bearing on the post, such as leadership qualities and the ability to cooperate with others.

Any cited publications that are not available in electronic format should be sent in two copies to Uppsala University, Faculty of Languages, Box 256, 751 05 Uppsala. Mark the package with the reference number UFV-PA 2025/831.

Additional information
Parental leave, part-time work owing to caring for children, union work, military service or similar activities are considered work experience and should be included in the applicant’s CV.

For further information see the Appointment Regulations for Uppsala University and the  Supplementary guidelines to the Appointment Regulations at the Faculty of Languages.

About the employment
Associate Senior Lecturer (biträdande universitetslektor) is a temporary position which can be held for a maximum of four years with the possibility of promotion to a permanent position of University Lecturer. The position is full-time.  Starting date by agreement. Location: Uppsala. The candidate is expected to spend most of their working hours at the department in Uppsala.

Information about the employment is provided by: prefect Dimitrios Iordanoglou, prefekt@lingfil.uu.se

Please submit your application no later than April 29th 2025, UFV-PA 2025/831

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