Associate senior lecturer at the School of Hospitality, Culinary Arts and Meal Science

Ref no: ORU 2.1.1-06314/2022

We are looking for an associate senior lecturer in hospitality, culinary arts and meal science for a fixed-term position of 4‑6 years at the School of Hospitality, Culinary Arts and Meal Science.

The subject area for this position is culinary arts and meal science.

At the School of Hospitality, Culinary Arts and Meal Science, research is conducted and education is offered – at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels - in culinary arts and meal science. Since it was established in the 1990s, the discipline has had a strong emphasis on hotel and restaurant hospitality and continues to this day to play a vital role for research and education within parts of the growing hospitality industry.

The subject area of culinary arts and meal science discusses issues within the field of gastronomy, with a particular focus on different aspects of the professional meal – from a professional as well as from a guest/customer perspective. The professional dimension includes practical knowledge and skills and aesthetic design, but also the prerequisites for professional mealmaking. From the guest/customer perspective, the meal experience is key, and the perspective includes, among other things, sensory understanding of the meal. As a subject area, culinary arts and meal science is interdisciplinary and in interaction with other subjects, wider and/or more in-depth perspectives of sustainable meals in society can evolve.

The position as associate senior lecturer is a career-building position, and we are looking for someone with a research profile in gastronomy and sustainability who is driven and ready to join the faculty to develop and strengthen research and education within the discipline.

During your period of employment as an associate senior lecturer, you are to develop your autonomy as a researcher and acquire further qualifications in terms of both research and teaching skills to meet the criteria for appointment as senior lecturer.

Duties and responsibilities include research, teaching at all levels, and collaboration. An appointment as an associate senior lecturer is mainly focused on the acquisition of research qualifications. The rest of the working hours are primarily geared towards the acquisition of teaching qualifications. As an associate senior lecturer, you are also to contribute to the university’s development.

Duties consist of research and teaching corresponding to 70% and 30% of full-time working hours respectively. They include contributing, in collaboration with the school’s research teams, to research projects within gastronomy and sustainability. An associate senior lecturer is expected to apply for external research funding and together with other researchers generate scientific publications. Should the opportunity arise, an associate senior lecturer is also expected to supervise doctoral students. Teaching duties include course coordination, planning courses and teaching activities, timetabling, teaching and examinations, analysis of course evaluations, and course development.

Those qualified for appointment as an associate senior lecturer are applicants who have been awarded a doctoral degree in a subject area relevant for the position or have the corresponding research competence. Preference should be given to those who were awarded a doctoral degree or attained equivalent research competence no more than five years prior to the application deadline. If special grounds exist, a person who has been awarded their doctoral degree prior to that should also be considered. Such grounds comprise leave of absence due to illness, parental leave, or other similar circumstances.

When appointing an associate senior lecturer, the applicant’s research as well as teaching expertise will be assessed. The assessment is also to consider the applicant’s qualifications and experience from collaboration with the wider community, of which the university is a part, as well as national and international experience and mobility. Teaching staff is expected to have the ability to communicate, to collaborate with the surrounding community and to contribute to utilising the university’s research for the benefit of society. In addition, the applicant’s suitability for the position will be assessed. Suitability refers to the applicant demonstrating the personal qualities required to successfully perform the duties and responsibilities at hand; to be able to cooperate with other members of staff; and to contribute to the development of university operations.

Research expertise

Research expertise is demonstrated through independent research contributions and continued scientific publication following the award of the doctoral degree. Importance is also to be attached to the applicant’s establishment in the research community as well as to their experience of planning, managing and leading their own research. When assessing research expertise, particular attention will be paid to the applicant’s experience of interdisciplinary research where different perspectives of the meal are developed, such as hospitality’s significance for the meal experience. Particular attention will also be paid to the applicant’s competence within fields that concern sustainable gastronomy and sustainable meals in society.

Teaching expertise

When defining teaching expertise at Örebro University, three categories are used: teaching approach, how the teaching approach is put into practice, and professional development as a teacher. Teaching expertise is to be assessed in terms of teaching qualifications and experience, which must be well-documented and accounted for in compliance with Örebro University’s template for teaching portfolios, relating clearly to the values set out in Örebro University’s educational philosophy.

Teaching expertise is to be demonstrated through varying degrees of contributions within teaching, such as planning, execution, evaluation and follow up of teaching activities, as well as supervision and examination. The applicant must be able to account for their teaching outlook and approach and have the ability to reflect on their own pedagogical development as well as on the teacher’s role. The applicant is also expected to have contributed to educational development. When assessing teaching expertise, particular attention will be paid to the applicant’s teaching ability. The assessment will be based on previous documented teaching experience.

Other assessment criteria

The interdisciplinary nature of the subject area opens up to applicants who with culinary arts and meal science as a base are able to conduct cross-disciplinary research with elements from other social sciences, humanities, medicine, engineering or natural sciences subject areas. Applicants may, for example, have research experience from within gastronomy, food and health, the food industry, consumer behaviour, or other specialisations of relevance to the subject area.

The duties and responsibilities involved require the applicant to work well with others, have power of initiative and a good ability to communicate in writing and orally, in both Swedish and English. Particular attention is to be paid to the applicant’s prospects of contributing to the future development of the research environment and of developing as a researcher. Importance is also attached to a demonstrated ability and ambition to embark on a career within academia.

An associate senior lecturer is, on application and assessment, to be promoted to senior lecturer if they meet the criteria for the appointment.

A condition for promotion is that there is a need within the organisation for a senior lecturer in the subject area in question and that a separate assessment of the candidate’s qualifications is made. The basis for promotion from associate senior lecturer to senior lecturer is that the applicant meets (1) the criteria set out in the requirements profile at the time of appointment as associate senior lecturer, and (2) the qualifications and assessment criteria in place for appointment as senior lecturer at the time of promotion and based on the respective faculty board’s guidelines for appointment. On the examination of an application for promotion to senior lecturer, teaching and research expertise are to be given equal attention. In addition, on promotion, the applicant must have completed qualifying courses on teaching and learning in higher education. They must also demonstrate good oral and written communication skills in Swedish at the level required to perform common duties within research, education, and administration.

The application for promotion to a position as senior lecturer is to be submitted to the faculty no later than 6 months and no earlier than 12 months before the employment as an associate senior lecturer comes to an end. Such a promotion entails permanent employment as senior lecturer in the subject.

This is a fixed-term full-time position for a period of 4-6 years (the exact length will be decided in connection with appointment). The appointment may be extended, but for no longer than two years, if because of the associate senior lecturer’s illness, parental leave or other special grounds additional time is needed to fulfil the purpose of the appointment. At Örebro University, salary depends on the successful candidate’s qualifications and experience.

You will be based in Grythyttan, where campus-based research and teaching is undertaken. Campus Grythyttan offers a creative and dynamic research and education environment, beautifully located in the area of Bergslagen, 80 km north of Örebro.

For more information about the position, contact Professor/Head of Subject Åsa Öström +46 19 30 20 11, email: [email protected] or Head of School Ute Walter, +46 19 30 20 36, email: [email protected]

At Örebro University, we expect each member of staff to be open to development and change; take responsibility for their work and performance; demonstrate a keen interest in collaboration and contribute to development; as well as to show respect for others by adopting a constructive and professional approach.

Örebro University actively pursues equal opportunities and gender equality as well as a work environment characterised by openness, trust and respect. We value the qualities that diversity adds to our operations.

The application is made online. Click the button “Apply” to begin the application procedure.

For the application to be complete, the following electronic documents must be included:

• Covering letter, outlining how you believe you can contribute to the continued development of Örebro University
• CV with a relevant description of your overall qualifications and experience
• Teaching portfolio (as instructed in Örebro University’s guidelines)
• Research portfolio
• Publication list
• Relevant scientific publications (maximum of 10 and in full-text format)
• Copies of relevant course/degree certificates and references verifying eligibility and criteria met

Only documents written in Swedish, English, Norwegian and Danish can be reviewed.
More information for applicants will be found on our career site: https://www.oru.se/english/working-at-orebro-university/jobs-and-vacancies/applicants-and-external-experts/

The application deadline is 2022-12-07. We look forward to receiving your application!

After the application deadline, no supplements can be made electronically. If you have scientific publications that cannot be attached electronically to the application, you will, once the external experts have been appointed, receive instructions on how the missing publications can be submitted.

We decline any contact with advertisers or recruitment agencies in the recruitment process.

As directed by the National Archives of Sweden (Riksarkivet), we are required to deposit one file copy of the application documents, excluding publications, for a period of two years after the appointment decision has gained legal force.