Assistant Professor / Associate Professor / Professor of Veterinary Epidemiology

The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Helsinki is the only institution of higher education in Finland to train veterinarians. It consists of 750 undergraduate and postgraduate students and employs approximately 150 academic staff. The degree programmes are accredited following the European System of Evaluation of Veterinary Training (ESEVT). The Faculty has four departments (Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, Equine and Small Animal Medicine, Production Animal Medicine, and Veterinary Biosciences) and a Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

The Faculty is located on two campuses, Viikki (Helsinki) and Mäntsälä (approximately one hour north of Helsinki). Most of the Faculty is located at the Viikki Campus, along with  Faculties of Agriculture and Forestry, Biological and Environmental Sciences, Pharmacy, as well as several independent research units operating in life sciences. The research and teaching activities at the Viikki Campus are supported by state-of-the-art infrastructures, including electron microscopy, genome analysis, proteomics, in vitro and in vivo animal imaging and electrophysiology, mouse behavioral phenotyping and biosafety laboratories for work on pathogenic microbes. Biodata Analytics Unit, which provides help and support in bioinformatics, modelling, machine learning and statistics, is also located on the Viikki campus. Department of Production Animal Medicine and Production Animal Hospital are located on the Mäntsälä campus.

The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine invites applications for the following position:

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR / ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR / PROFESSOR OF VETERINARY EPIDEMIOLOGY (Eläinlääketieteellinen epidemiologia / veterinärmedicinska epidemiologi)

The position will be at the Department of Veterinary Biosciences. However, it allows and encourages collaboration with faculty members in other departments where epidemiologic research is conducted, e.g. on  production and companion animal diseases and food safety. The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine is closely connected to the multidisciplinary environment of the Helsinki One Health (HOH) network organization. The appointee will thus have an opportunity to establish an interdisciplinary epidemiology unit to collaborate in research with faculty members in other departments and also in other faculties, as well as to promote and develop research and teaching of veterinary epidemiology.

This position has research focus, but includes also teaching and supervising undergraduate and postgraduate students in veterinary epidemiology. The teaching responsibility will be shared with a university lecturer in veterinary epidemiology. There is a simultaneous but separate call for the university lecturer position (knowledge of Finnish language required), in addition to this tenure track position.
Expectations and qualifications assessment

An appointee to the position of an Assistant/Associate Professor in the tenure track shall hold a PhD degree in veterinary epidemiology or other suitable field, have the ability to conduct independent scientific research, have the teaching skills necessary for the position, and have the ability and motivation for an academic career.

The applicant may be appointed as an assistant/associate professor (tenure track) or as a full professor, depending on his or her qualifications and career stage. All stages of the tenure track can be entered directly depending on the applicant’s career stage. The aim of the tenure track system is to grant tenure and a permanent position as Professor.

An appointee to a full Professorship shall hold a PhD degree in veterinary epidemiology or another suitable field and have top-level scholarly qualifications, including the ability to obtain competitive research funding and lead a research group, experience in supervision of PhD students, and the ability to provide top-level research-based teaching. In addition, the appointee shall present documentation of international collaboration in the field of research that he or she represents. The professor shall also have the skills necessary to be an academic leader.

To successfully carry out the duties of the position, the appointee is expected to have research and teaching experience in analytical and/or infectious disease or related field of epidemiology.  Veterinary background is considered a merit.

If the appointee is not proficient in Finnish, he/she is expected to acquire moderate proficiency within a reasonable time after the appointment. Support for language studies is offered.

When considering the applicants’ qualifications, attention will be paid to research qualifications, teaching and supervision qualifications, public engagement and interaction within the university/scientific community, and experience in epidemiology. The assessment is always conducted as an overall assessment. For more information on the tenure track model, career path and assessment criteria at the University of Helsinki, please see https://www.helsinki.fi/en/about-us/careers/academic-careers/university-helsinki-tenure-track .

Why University of Helsinki

We offer versatile work in an inspiring environment and the opportunity to develop your expertise and strengthen the field as part of the internationally respected and high-quality research and teaching activities of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.

University of Helsinki offers comprehensive services to its employees, including preventive occupational health services and general medical care, sports facilities, and opportunities for professional development. The University assists employees from abroad with their transition to work and life in Finland. We support the compatibility of work and family life, e.g., providing an opportunity for 6 weeks of paid annual leave.

Read more about the employee benefits at the University of Helsinki and why the University of Helsinki is an excellent career choice: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/about-us/careers .

The salary is based on the salary system of Finnish universities. Annual gross salary for an Assistant/Associate Professor generally amounts to 57,000 - 74,000 euros and for a Professor to 69,000 - 90,000 euros, depending on the applicant’s merits and career stage. The position is also associated with a moderate start-up package.

How to apply

Please submit your application and the required attachments as a single pdf file through the University of Helsinki Recruitment System.

The attachments should include (in English):

• cover letter
• academic portfolio or researcher’s CV
• a complete and numbered publication list
• a plan for advancing research and teaching in the field and a vision for the development of the applicant’s research and the research field in general (maximum of 2 pages)

Please see a template for academic portfolio, the researcher’s curriculum vitae and classification for publications: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/about-us/careers/open-positions/instructions-applicants-teaching-and-research-positions .

It is also necessary to consider the evaluation matrix for evaluating teaching skills when you describe your teaching merits in your application: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/faculty-veterinary-medicine/about-us/work-us/assessment-teaching-skills . For tenure track position the minimum requirement of teaching skills as a whole is at least satisfactory and for a full professor position at least good.

The closing date for applications is 2 April 2024 (23:59 EEST).

At the Faculty’s request, short-listed applicants are kindly asked to prepare to submit up to 5 to 10 publications of their choice to be sent to external assessors after the application period.

Further information

• Position and operational environment: Professor, Head of Department Hannes Lohi, hannes.lohi(at)helsinki.fi, p. +358503199319
• Faculty’s research affairs and strategy: Professor, Vice-Dean Tomi Taira, tomi.taira(at)helsinki.fi, p +358505986995
• Recruitment process, tenure track model, application documents and assessment of teaching skills: HR Specialist Heidi Kauppinen, heidi.m.kauppinen(at)helsinki.fi, p. +358504155341
• Veterinary Biosciences
• Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
• Viikki Campus
• Working at the University of Helsinki
• Support for international staff

Related to the operational environment
• Veterinary Teaching Hospital
• HOH Helsinki One Health
• HiLIFE Research Infrastructures

Why Finland and Helsinki

Finland is a member of the EU, has high quality and inexpensive childcare, free schooling and tertiary training (also in English), generous family benefits and healthcare, and was recently ranked as the best country in the world for expat families . Finland also repeatedly tops the World Happiness Report .

• Why Finland is a great place to live and work
• Welcome to Helsinki
• 10 reasons to work in Helsinki