Assistant Professor in Economics

Updated: over 2 years ago
Deadline: 15 Dec 2021

Assistant Professor in Economics

The Department of Economics at the Umeå School of Business, Economics and Statistics (USBE), is looking for an Assistant Professor (biträdande lektor) in Economics.

Work description
Assistant professor (biträdande lektor) in economics is a tenure-track position including research and teaching in order to be tested for promotion to associate professor (universitetslektor). The position entails both scientific and pedagogical qualifications. The position is limited to four years where at least 60% of the time should be focused on scientific merit and the remaining up to 40% towards pedagogical qualifications and the development of subject competence to such an extent that the competence requirements for employment as associate professor can be achieved. The person is expected to conduct independent, high-quality research and contribute to the unit's research environment by applying and obtaining external research funding and developing research collaborations both within and outside the unit.

The research conducted is expected to be within economics and to consider the USBE overall strategy, vision, and mission. The USBE strategy states, among other things, that learning about and for sustainable development is integrated into education and is supported by research and collaboration related to sustainable development. Based on environmental, social, and economic sustainability, USBE works on the basis of the 17 sustainable development goals developed by the UN. The person employed as assistant professor is expected to take this into account in his or her work and research.

The work includes teaching at undergraduate and advanced level in economics, as well as planning of teaching, course administration and other pedagogical qualifications such as higher education pedagogical courses. In some cases, teaching may take place in digital forms. The applicant is expected to have competence for teaching in several areas of economics such as microeconomics, macroeconomics, and methodological courses. Thesis supervision can also be part of the tasks. The USBE overall goal for education is to offer a learning environment that stimulates analytical, critical, and independent thinking to prepare students to meet and manage societal challenges. The courses are characterized by student-centred learning based on national goals in higher education and the mission of the USBE. The USBE strives to design courses that encourage student responsibility and an active role in the learning process, stimulate curiosity and innovation skills, and provide an opportunity for reflection and a critical approach. The applicant is also expected to participate in other departmental work.

Requirements
A person who holds a doctorate in economics, or has equivalent scientific/academic competence in economics, shall be qualified to be employed as an assistant professor. Priority should be given candidates who have completed their doctoral degree, or equivalent scientific competence, no more than five years before the deadline of the application as an assistant professor (chapter 4, section 4, Higher education ordinance).

Assessment criteria and weighting between these
As assessment criteria, the degree of scientific and pedagogical competence in the subject, experience of administrative and development work and good collaboration skills apply. When balancing the assessment criteria, emphasis will be placed on both scientific and pedagogical skills, with particular emphasis on scientific skills. Administrative and other skills are meritorious.

Scientific competence refers to the subject area of economics. The degree of competence will be assessed primarily on the basis of scientific work published in internationally distributed scientific journals that apply so-called peer-review systems. Secondly, the scientific competence is assessed on the basis of a four-year research plan. Documented ability to obtain research funding is particularly meritorious.

Pedagogical skills are demonstrated by teaching skills at undergraduate and advanced level, supervision, and documented experience of pedagogical development work are particularly meritorious. Pedagogical skills and experience in the subject area of economics is particularly meritorious. Higher education pedagogy education is a merit.

Administrative skills are meritorious and refer partly to the ability to independently organize educational activities, as well as the ability to lead development and quality work in undergraduate, postgraduate and research in the subject area of the position.

When assessing other skills, great emphasis will be placed on personal suitability. You should have good collaborative skills and be able to work focused, flexible, and proactively. The applicant must also take full responsibility for their duties and be able to contribute to a good research-, teaching- and working environment. The work further requires a good ability to collaborate within and outside Umeå University, and participation in the work for research funding. Experience of interdisciplinary research and collaborations with researchers from other fields are meritorious.

Good knowledge in English, both in speech and writing, as well as the ability to teach in English is a requirement for the position.

The University will primarily consider those who, after an overall assessment of competence and skills, are judged to have the best qualification to carry out and develop the tasks and contribute to a positive development of the department.

The unit strives for increased diversity and female applicants will be given priority in the case of equivalent qualifications.

When applying, a proposal for a 4-year research plan (max. 5 pages) shall be included. This is also expected to acknowledge the USBE vision, mission, and the global sustainable development goals.

Application
The eligibility requirements and assessment criteria are set out in the appointment’s procedure for teachers at Umeå University, which you can find here .
The Faculty of Social Science’s instructions for application and instructions for expert assessments are found here .

The recruitment process may include interviews, trial lectures and verifications of references provided.

We welcome your application!

Review for promotion to associate professor (universitetslektor)
An assistant professor shall, upon application, be promoted to associate professor if he/she is qualified for a position as associate professor and deemed to meet the requirements for such employment, according to the assessment criteria to be applied for promotion to associate professor. Such promotion entails a permanent employment as associate professor.

The application for review for a promotion must be submitted six months before the end of the fixed-term employment. If not promoted after the assessment, the fixed-term employment will be terminated.

When time for promotion, the ability to teach in Swedish will be considered.

The department of Economics
The Department of Economics at Umeå School of Business, Economics and Statistics (USBE) has about 25 employees and conducts research in a variety of areas. The predominant research areas at the unit are currently public and environmental economics. Other active research areas include industrial organization, welfare economics, behavioral economics, labor economics, economics of education, health economics and econometrics. USBE and the department of Economics are also the host department of an interdisciplinary research centre focused on environmental and natural resource economics, CERE (www.cere.se). There are currently six professors and five docents working at the unit, as well as a number of researchers, post docs and doctoral students. This gives young researchers and teachers excellent opportunities for supervision, guidance and personal development. The unit is characterized by openness, a continuous scientific discussion through seminars and workshops, as well as a strong pedagogical tradition.

More about USBE
As an internationally respected, nationally influential, and regionally rooted part of Umeå University, Umeå School of Business, Economics, and Statistics contributes to societal development through education and research of a high international standard.

Through interplay with surrounding society, we provide education and research that contributes to the understanding, ability, and responsibility of individuals in relation to societal challenges and the importance of sustainable development.

In collaboration with our surrounding society, we provide education and research that contributes to individuals' understanding, ability and responsibility in relation to societal challenges and the importance of sustainable development. We are AACSB-accredited and sustainability certified according to the environmental management standard ISO14001.

The Department of Business Administration, the Department of Economics, the Department of Statistics and The USBE office form USBE, with about 140 employees. About 3300 students follow our programs every year and we offer education from the undergraduate to the doctoral program level in all of our main disciplines – Business Administration, Economics and Statistics.

Read more about USBE here: https://www.umu.se/en/usbe/ 



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