Professor in Business Studies, with a specialisation in International Business

The Department of Business Studies conducts research and teaching in five main areas: marketing, accounting and finance, organization, international business, and entrepreneurship.

The field of international business at the Department of Business Studies is characterized by research on the international expansion of firms and the management of multinational companies, including strategic and societal considerations. Themes dealing with international business issues across different disciplines are also central.

Duties
Overall responsibility for research and third-cycle (doctoral) education in the field and its development. Teaching and supervision in courses and programmes at all levels. Own research. Leading research groups in all fields of international business. Information about research and development work and participation in, planning and leadership of research projects (including applications for research funding). Duties of an administrative nature, including management roles at department and other levels at Uppsala University, may also occur.

The faculty’s ambition is that the appointee will be able to dedicate 50 percent of their working hours to their own research. In addition, the appointee will be eligible for a paid sabbatical of one semester, currently every six years.

Required qualifications
A person who has demonstrated both research and teaching expertise is qualified for employment as a professor (Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 4, Section 3).

Research expertise must have been demonstrated by independent research contributions and by achievements that are of very high quality by international standards. The applicant must have demonstrated expertise in planning, initiating, leading and developing research; an ability to obtain research funding in competition; and well-documented expertise in supervising third-cycle (doctoral) students.

Teaching expertise must be demonstrated by an extensive educational portfolio. Furthermore, the applicant must demonstrate well-documented expertise in supervision at first-cycle (undergraduate) level, second-cycle (Master’s) level and third-cycle (doctoral) level, and must otherwise meet the requirements laid down in the Appointment Regulations for Uppsala University (Section 32) and the Faculty of Social Sciences Supplementary Guidelines (section 2b).

The teaching expertise, research expertise and professional skill must be relevant to the subject matter of the position and the duties that the position will involve.

To be qualified for this position, applicants must have professorial qualifications in business studies with a track record of research in international business.

To meet the qualification requirements, applicants must have a documented ability to teach in Swedish or English. An appointee who only has a command of one of these languages when taking up their position must be able to teach in the other language as well within two years.

As stipulated in the Appointment Regulations for Uppsala University, one general qualification required for teaching staff is that applicants must be able to work with other people and otherwise meet the demands of suitability required to perform their duties well.

Assessment criteria: research and teaching expertise
The assessment criteria used in the appointment of a teacher at Uppsala University will be the degree of the expertise required as a qualification for employment.

When making an appointment to this professorship, weight will be primarily given to research and teaching expertise, with particular attention being given to research expertise. However, in an overall assessment of the criteria, an applicant whose teaching expertise is deemed far superior to that of an applicant with slightly superior research expertise may be ranked ahead of the latter applicant.

In assessing research expertise, research quality will be the primary consideration. The scope of the research, in terms primarily of its depth and breadth, will also be taken into account. The applicant’s contributions to the international and national academic community will be assessed on the basis of such criteria as the quality and scope of their scholarly publications in the most relevant publishing channels for the subject. The international track record required will be assessed according to the nature and specific circumstances of the subject.

Research expertise must have been demonstrated through independent research contributions that both qualitatively and quantitatively considerably exceed that which is required for docent status.

The applicant must normally have been principal supervisor of at least one doctoral student up to and including the thesis defence, unless there are special grounds otherwise.

Research expertise also includes the degree of independence in developing and dunning research projects, as well as contributing to international scientific discussion through publication in international journals or other internationally accessible publications. In addition to a good and broad foundation in business studies, emphasis shall be placed on documented research breadth within the sub-areas of international business studies. Particular emphasis shall be placed on the ability to lead and develop research within sub-areas relating to studies of international expansion of companies and management of multinational companies, including strategic and societal considerations. Themes that deal with international business issues between different subject disciplines are also meritorious. The research shall be characterized by a breadth of theoretical approaches as well as quantitative and qualitative methods. Furthermore, emphasis shall be placed on the ability to plan, initiate, lead and develop research and education at doctoral level, the ability to obtain funding for research in competition, and a documented ability to interact both within the subject area and with the surrounding society.

Teaching expertise will be evaluated as carefully as research expertise. In assessing teaching expertise, teaching quality will be the primary consideration. The scope of teaching experience, in terms of both breadth and depth, will also be taken into account. Furthermore, consideration will be given to the capacity to plan, initiate, lead and develop education and teaching, as well as the ability to base teaching on research in the subject concerned, subject didactics, and teaching and learning in higher education.

Assessment criteria: other expertise
In addition, the assessment will take into account the degree of administrative and other expertise that is relevant with regard to the subject matter and duties of the position. Attention will also be paid to team-working abilities and skill in developing and leading activities and staff, and the potential to contribute to synergies within and beyond the department. Further, attention will be paid to the ability to collaborate with the wider community and to communicate research and development issues.

The current position involves leading research groups within various sub-areas on international business studies. Therefore, special emphasis will be placed on documented collaboration skills and the ability to successfully lead and develop research activities within the entire subject of international business studies.

Experience of management responsibility, demonstrated by responsibilities at department level or similar, is regarded as a valuable qualification.

When the University appoints new teachers, 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/equivalent. 

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

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 personal qualities that are relevant to the position, e.g. 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 taken up 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 
• 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 Supplementing the University’s Appointment Regulations.  

Please note: The 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 2025/2596. 

For further information, see the University’s Appointment Regulations

About the position: The position is permanent and full-time. Starting date by agreement. Placement: Uppsala 

Further information about the position is available from: Head of Department Peter Thilenius, 018-471 1613, peter.thilenius@fek.uu.se

Questions about the appointment procedure may be addressed to: Faculty Officer Ellinor Fiebranz Andersson, tel. 018-471 28 28, email samfak@samfak.uu.se   

We look forward to receiving your application by 29 May 2026. 

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