Professorship in Social Design

The Department of Design and Communication at the University of Southern Denmark, Kolding, invites applications for a vacant Professorship in Social Design. The position is available from 1 August 2022 or as soon as possible thereafter. We have the ambition to make Participatory Social Design a core driver towards sustainable human practices and societal renewal. Applicants must demonstrate an internationally acknowledged research profile within Social Design and convincingly describe how they will contribute to this ambition, and they must hold a PhD within a relevant field.

The Department of Design and Communication develops the fields of IT Product Design, Tourism, Library science, Design Studies, International Business Communication, Web and Knowledge Communication in research, teaching and dissemination. For information on the department, please go to https://www.sdu.dk/en/om_sdu/institutter_centre/idk .

The position belongs to the research programme Social Design & Interaction Research, which brings together design researchers and conversation analysts in a transdisciplinary effort to understand how interaction builds cooperation, meaning, identity and everything else in social life. Current projects include patient empowerment, correctional services, design activism, social inequality and citizen participation in the public space. The researchers collaborate intensely with the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Health as well as with external partners from the industry, public sector, policymakers, civic society and NGOs. Teaching engages the students actively in research projects at both bachelor and master’s levels.

Applicants must demonstrate

• proficiency in transdisciplinary, practice-led and applied research
• a track record of high-quality research publications
• research management competence in research projects, groups, environments, networks and programmes
• experience in developing collaborative projects with internationally leading partners and a track record of attracting external funding
• proficiency in developing research practices for assessing the impact of social design
• well-assessed teaching ability at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate (PhD) levels, including supervision proficiency
• experience in curriculum development and study programme management
• popular knowledge dissemination beyond academic channels

Applicants must include a written vision for the role of Social Design as a driver towards sustainable human practices and societal renewal in terms of both research, education and outreach. The vision must relate to comparative national and international perspectives, stipulate potential cooperation projects and address the issue of societal relevance and impact.

The teaching and research languages at the Faculty of the Humanities are Danish and English. Non-native staff are expected to master Danish within two years after the appointment.

Further information is available from the Head of Department Marianne Wolff Lundholt at phone: +45 6550 1339, email: [email protected]

If you are not a Danish speaking applicant, please make sure to enter the electronic application form via the English website in order to receive further information in English.

Application, salary and conditions of employment, etc.
The successful applicant will be employed in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and AC (the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations) Cirkulære om overenskomst for Akademikere i staten 2019  (the document only exists in Danish).

An application must include: 

• Application letter
• Curriculum Vitae
• Diplomas/Certificates
• Teaching portfolio (please see below)
• List of publications indicating the publications attached
• A maximum of 9 of the most relevant publications. Please attach one pdf-file for each publication.
  For any publication with a co-author, a co-author statement must be submitted as part of the pdf-file 

Applicants for a professorship at the Faculty of Humanities are requested to submit a teaching portfolio with the application as documentation for teaching experience as well as supervision qualifications. Please read more here . 

Application and all appendices must be in Danish, English or one of the Scandinavian languages. Please always include a copy of original diploma/certificates.

We only accept files in pdf-format no more than 10 MB per file. In case you have more than one file per field you need to combine the pdf-files into a single file, as each field handles only one file. We do not accept zip-files, jpg or other image files. All pdf-files must be unlocked and allow binding and may not be password protected.

Applications will be assessed by an assessment committee. When the assessment committee has submitted its report, the applicant will receive the part of the evaluation that concerns him/her.
The assessment report will subsequently be forwarded to the Head of Department who will assemble an appointments committee. An interview may form part of the overall assessment of the applicants' qualifications.

The committee may request additional information, and if so, it is the responsibility of the applicant to provide the necessary material.

If the application does not meet the requirements mentioned above, the Faculty of Humanities may reject your application without further notice. Applications received after the deadline will neither be considered nor evaluated.

Shortlisting and tests may be used in the assessment process. Please note that only shortlisted applicants will be assessed.

Applications should be sent electronically via the link "apply online", and the Faculty expects applicants to read the information "How to apply " before applying. 

We recommend that as an international applicant you take the time to visit Working in Denmark where you will find information and facts about moving to, working and living in Denmark, as well as the International Staff Office at SDU .

The University wishes our staff to reflect the diversity of society and thus welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background.