Professor
regional planning and policy

The University of Helsinki is among the leading multidisciplinary research universities in the world. In addition to its 11 faculties, the University has several independent institutes, some of which are jointly operated with other universities. Some 36,000 students are currently pursuing an undergraduate or a postgraduate degree at the University.

The Department of Geosciences and Geography (http://www.helsinki.fi/geo/english/index.html) at the Faculty of Science is the leading Finnish academic unit in the field. Its research meets the highest international standards. The Department consists of three units: the Division of Geography, the Division of Geology and the Institute of Seismology. The Department employs a staff of 110, including 14 professors. Its annual budget is €9,000,000.

The Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, invites applications for the position of

PROFESSOR

for a permanent appointment as of 1 August 2014, or as agreed. The field of the position is regional planning and policy. The position is based within the discipline of regional science at the Department of Geosciences and Geography. An overview of the position is available at http://www.helsinki.fi/facultyofscience/vacancies/regional_academic_environment.

According to Section 33 of the Universities Act (No 558/2009), a professor shall carry out and supervise scientific work, provide teaching based on it, follow developments in science as well as participate in societal interaction and international cooperation in the field.

The professor shall be responsible for research in regional planning and policy, and shall participate in the provision of teaching included in the geography degree programme at the Department of Geosciences and Geography. Regional planning and policy refers to societal and institutionalised activity that generates knowledge required for dealing with changes in social structures as well as for organising resources in order to implement changes. Therefore, the appointed professor shall also focus on the knowledge needs of regional planning and policy as well as the institutional environments of regional development, such as the information systems and planning processes of regional and urban structures. The field is especially closely related to urban geography and sociology, geoinformatics, urban planning and design, real estate and urban economics as well as transportation engineering.

According to the Regulations of the University of Helsinki, an appointee to a professorship shall hold a doctoral degree and top-level scholarly qualifications, experience in the supervision of scientific research, the ability to provide top-level teaching based on research and to supervise theses and dissertations as well as documentation of international cooperation in the research field that the appointee represents. Holders of professorships shall also be required to have the skills necessary for serving as academic leaders.

The appointee must provide evidence of research on both regional planning and regional policy as well as of interest in practical regional planning.

When considering an applicant’s qualifications, attention shall be focused on scientific publications and other research results of scientific value, teaching experience and pedagogical training, the ability to produce teaching material, other teaching merits and, if necessary, a demonstration of teaching skills as well as participation in doctoral education. The applicant’s activity in the scientific community, success in acquiring external research funding, scientific work outside Finland and international elected positions as well as leadership and interaction skills shall also be taken into account.

According to the Government Decree on Universities, professors must be proficient in Finnish. They must also have at least satisfactory spoken and written skills in Swedish. Foreign citizens, non-native Finnish citizens or citizens who have not been educated in Finnish or Swedish may be exempted from these language requirements without a separate application. To successfully attend to the duties of the position, the appointee must have good English skills.

A foreign citizen or a non-native Finnish citizen appointed to a teaching or research position may be required to acquire a reasonable level of proficiency in Finnish within five years of being appointed. The aim is that the professor shall be able to assess coursework in Finnish and take part in departmental administrative duties. The relevant department shall support the appointee’s language learning.

The salary shall be based on levels 8–10 of the job requirement scheme for teaching and research personnel in the salary system of Finnish universities. In addition, the appointee shall be paid a salary component based on personal work performance.

Applications must be accompanied by the following documents in English: a CV, a list of publications, a report on experience and merits that may be relevant to assessing the applicant’s teaching skills as well as other documents relevant to the selection, or alternatively an academic portfolio in English containing the above-mentioned documents and information (instructions concerning the portfolio can be found at http://www.helsinki.fi/facultyofscience/vacancies/portfolio.pdf). In addition, applicants are expected to enclose with their application a report (maximum length two pages, in English) on how they intend to develop research in the field, if appointed.

Applicants are kindly asked to be prepared to submit 10 publications of their choice to be sent to assessors, if requested by the Faculty. The publications must be submitted by email as PDF files.

Applications addressed to the Faculty of Science, together with the required enclosures, must be delivered to the University of Helsinki Registry. The Faculty requests that the application and its enclosures be sent to the Registry by email at hy-kirjaamo@helsinki.fi. Applications may also be sent to the following postal address: Registry of the University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 33 (Yliopistonkatu 4), 00014 UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI, Finland.

The closing date for applications is 10 October 2013. (The Registry closes at 15.45 local time.)

For more information, please contact Professor John Westerholm, Head of the Department of Geosciences and Geography, +358 9 191 50775, john.westerholm@helsinki.fi.

www.helsinki.fi/university

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