Assistant Professor (BUL) in Applied Materials Science with specialization in Powder Metallurgy in Additive Manufacturing (WISE Fellow)

Uppsala University’s tenure track system grants assistant professors the possibility to be assessed for promotion to the position as associate professor. The university provides support in various areas, such as scientific and educational development, leadership development as well as patent and innovation support.

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering aims to be an environment for successful and valuable research and education with a focus on materials science solutions for important societal challenges. Our department is an exciting workplace with research in a broad technology-related area, from basic research to large-scale applied research, and with close contacts with students through the department's involvement in engineering and master's programs. Our research and teaching are conducted within seven divisions with different research focus. Find out more about us here.

The department hosts the AM4Life Competence Centre (2020-2029), which gathers more than 30 partners in academia, industry and the public sector to support competence development in additive manufacturing for the life sciences. We also host the National Research Technology Platform WISE Additive, ensuring access to high-tech infrastructure to conduct the envisaged research.

This recruitment is connected to the Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability (WISE, wise-materials.org). WISE, funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, is the largest-ever investment in materials science in Sweden and encompasses major efforts at Sweden’s foremost universities over the course of 12 years. The vision is a sustainable future through materials science.

Read more: https://wise-materials.org

The position as a WISE Fellow includes a start package from the WISE program, covering 4 years’ salary as well as the salary of 2 PhD students and 2 post-doctoral candidates.

Description of subject area of the employment:
Additive Manufacturing (AM) has is an attractive technology for enabling the development of new material combinations, as well as the fabrication of complex structures. In the case of alloys, powder bed fusion with laser beam (PBF-LB) is an especially promising technology for achieving high resolution structures. This technique comes with a wealth of process parameters options, as well as inherently high cooling rates, making the materials science particularly interesting, but also complex. While knowledge on robust process parameters exists for some alloys, a lot of research still needs to be done for others, to achieve the desired microstructures and hence macroscopical properties. In particular, the research on PBF-LB of light-weight alloys such as Mg-based ones is only in its infancy. These alloys could be used in important biomedical applications.

An important part of ensuring sustainability in the use of new materials is being able to reuse and recycle materials. Only a part of the powder inserted in the process chamber during AM is used for the actual component. However, the remaining powder has a complex thermal history, and little is known on this as well as its effect on the next print. This is of high importance especially for applications in highly regulated areas, such as the biomedical field.

The aim of this position is to conduct research on the development of light alloys with additive manufacturing for biomedical applications, with a special focus on the development of powders from recycled materials, as well as on the reuse of powders.

Duties:

• Teaching, research and administration. Teaching duties include course responsibility and course administration and supervision of second- and third-cycle students. Post-doctoral supervision may also be included. Teaching can be in Additive Manufacturing and Materials Science for Engineers.
  
  
• Follow developments within the subject area and the development of society in general that is important for the work at the university.
  
  
• A certain budget responsibility as well as general project management will be included. Collaboration with industry andparticipation in public outreach activities are expected. Assignments of trust both within and outside the division are expected.

Appointment Period: The position can be held for a maximum of six years. An Assistant Professor can apply for promotion to Associate Professor. If the Assistant Professor is deemed suitable and fulfills the criteria for promotion established by the Faculty Board he/she shall be promoted to and employed as Associate Professor.

Qualifications Required:

• A PhD in Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, Additive Manufacturing, Powder Processing, or in a similar field, or a similar experience, is required. Applicants who have obtained a PhD degree or achieved the equivalent competence in seven years or less prior to the end of the application period will be given priority.
  
  
• 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 five 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, where research expertise will be given higher priority.

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 expertise in alloy development with applications to advanced manufacturing, especially additive manufacturing. Documented knowledge in materials science related to process-structure-property relationships is of weight. Expertise in powder processing and characterization is of weight. Documented ability for productive research collaboration and ability to successfully lead projects will be given weight.

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 teaching in materials science.

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.

Other Expertise:

Technical degree at advanced level is an advantage.

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
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

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position, six years. Scope of employment is 100 %. Starting date as agreed. Placement: Uppsala.

For further information about the position, please contact Cecilia Persson (Professor, 018-4717911, cecilia.persson@angstrom.uu.se)

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

Please submit your application by 31 October 2025, UFV-PA 2025/1687.

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