Assistant/Associate Professor (Tenure-track/Tenured) in Physical Therapy

Location

The Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine (FRM) at the University of Alberta invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track faculty position in the Department of Physical Therapy. This is an in-person position located at the North Campus of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. 

The University of Alberta, its buildings, labs, and research stations are primarily located on the traditional territory of Cree, Blackfoot, Métis, Nakota Sioux, Iroquois, Dene, and Ojibway/Saulteaux/Anishinaabe nations; lands that are now known as part of Treaties 6, 7, and 8 and homeland of the Métis. The University of Alberta respects the sovereignty, lands, histories, languages, knowledge systems, and cultures of First Nations, Métis and Inuit nations.

The University of Alberta is a community teeming with change makers, relationship builders, and world shapers who lead with purpose each and every day. We are home to more than 40,000 students in 200+ undergraduate and 500+ graduate programs, over 13,000 faculty and staff, 260,000 alumni worldwide and have been recognized as one of Canada’s Greenest Employers for over a decade.

Greater Edmonton, with more than one million residents, is a beautiful city straddling a spectacular river valley which boasts North America’s longest urban parkland of biking and hiking trails. The city offers a rich cultural life and diverse recreational opportunities, including more than thirty major annual festivals. Edmonton is located only a few hours from Banff and Jasper National Parks, which offer skiing in winter and excellent hiking and sightseeing in summer. Edmonton is globally connected, with an international airport that offers non-stop service to 50 destinations around the world.

Department and Faculty Context

The Department of Physical Therapy is one of three Departments within the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, located in historic Corbett Hall. The Department offers a 28-month entry-level, course-based Masters’ of Science in Physical Therapy (MScPT) program aimed at preparing capable and competent future leaders in physical therapy. Faculty members also supervise students in the thesis-based, interdisciplinary MSc and PhD degree programs in Rehabilitation Science. Using a distributed educational model, the Department offers the MScPT Program simultaneously on 2 campuses - Edmonton and Calgary - with a third site opening in Camrose, Alberta in Fall of 2024. The department is one of the largest PT departments in Canada, facilitating and fostering innovation, responsiveness, and accountability in education to approximately 124 new students annually. The Department currently consists of 12 tenured or tenure track faculty members and 8 full-time academic teaching staff.

The successful candidate will join a dynamic team recognized for excellence in research, teaching, scholarship, service, and professional leadership, with strong clinical education partners. The Department has a student-led physical therapy clinic with a mandate to support research, teaching, and service. Formal affiliations are in place with numerous clinical sites including Cancer Care Alberta, University of Alberta Hospital Multidisciplinary Pain Clinic, Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, Alberta Health Services’ Indigenous Wellness Clinic, and the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital.

Research strengths of the Department align with FRM Areas of Research Excellence in the broad areas of Brain and Mind, Living Well and Early Years. This includes, but is not limited to, musculoskeletal and orthopedic research, neurology and spinal cord injury (animal and human models), oncology, and pediatrics. The Department has one current Canada Research Chair (Tier 1, Spinal Cord Injury) and an Endowed Research Chair (Musculoskeletal Research). Research infrastructure includes laboratories dedicated to human movement, orthopedic research, retraining walking after spinal cord injury and perinatal stroke, cancer rehabilitation, rehabilitation robotics, and sports physical therapy. Research networks are broad and supported through partnerships with the Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute , the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute , the Cancer Research  Institute of Northern Alberta, and several others.

Position Summary and Minimum Qualifications

The successful candidate for Assistant or Associate Professor will hold a PhD in Physical Therapy or a related field and be an independent investigator or have the potential to develop a successful research program as an independent investigator in any of the FRM and Department’s areas of research excellence. The successful candidate will be expected to teach in the entry to practice MScPT program and supervise MSc and PhD students pursuing theses. Eligibility for licensure by the College of Physiotherapists of Alberta is considered an asset. The successful candidate will be a collaborative member of the department and faculty, and be committed to Equity, Diversity, Inclusivity and Indigenous Initiatives in research, teaching and service.

How to Apply

Candidates are requested to prepare a letter of interest (1-3 pages in length), a curriculum vitae, and a statement on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity and Indigenous Initiatives (1-2 pages in length; see here for format). Career interruptions due to parental leave, family care, extended illness, or community responsibilities will be taken into consideration during the application review process. Please send the application package to Noriko Hessmann ([email protected] ).

The Committee will begin considering candidates on February 1, 2024 with the new faculty member to begin the appointment in the summer of 2024. Interviews will begin March 2024.

This position will remain open until filled.

As part of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program requirements, the university must conduct recruitment efforts to hire Canadians and permanent residents before offering a job to a temporary foreign worker. To ensure we remain in compliance with these regulations, please include the appropriate statement in your application "I am a Canadian Citizen/Permanent Resident" or "I am not a Canadian Citizen/Permanent Resident".

At the University of Alberta, we are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible hiring process for all candidates. If you require accommodations to participate in the interview process, please let us know at the time of booking your interview and we will make every effort to accommodate your needs.