The Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen (UCPH), invites applications for one or more positions as either tenure track assistant professor or associate professor in Law – see more about the specific recruitment needs below. The positions are linked to research, teaching and administration obligations. The positions are to be filled 1 April 2024 or as soon as possible thereafter.
Recruitment needs – both tenure track assistant professor and associate professor
The advertisement is aimed at candidates who can both produce research results at a high international level and contribute broadly with teaching at the faculty's study programme.
The faculty is primarily, but not exclusively, looking for applicants who can contribute to research-based teaching within the following subjects:
- Family Law
- Criminal Law and Procedure
- Private Law
- Civil Procedure
- Corporate Law
- Tax law
Please notice that these subjects are taught in Danish. Applicants are therefore expected to either be able to teach in Danish at the time of the application, or to have the proficiency in Danish that will make it probable that the applicant will be able to teach in Danish within 3-6 years. The faculty actively supports that those employees who at the time of employment do not have any further experience with Danish (or any other Scandinavian language) in writing or speech are enabled to acquire these abilities.
The faculty is looking for both applicants whose research- and teaching profile primarily includes one of the former mentioned subjects, and applicants with an interdisciplinary research- and teaching profile which includes as a minimum one of the former mentioned subjects. Applicants are encouraged to find out more about the faculty’s research, educations and variety of different subjects at the faculty’s website: www.jura.ku.dk.
It will be of significant importance that the applicant is experienced in teaching one or more of the former mentioned subjects, or subjects similar in nature.
The faculty emphasizes presence in the daily research and teaching environment. Applicants who do not reside in Denmark must consider how they want to ensure that they are an active and participating part of the research and teaching environment regularly.
Job content tenure track assistant professor
A tenure track assistant professorship is a six-year, fixed-term academic position involving both research and teaching. The successful candidate will be obliged to complete a teacher-training course designed especially for assistant professors and will be expected to be able to take part in all the activities of the Faculty, including examinations and administration.
Approximately six months before the end of the six-year period as assistant professor, a committee set up by the Dean will assess whether the assistant professor can be considered for promotion to a tenured position as associate professor.
Read more about the tenure track program at the University of Copenhagen.
Qualification requirements for tenure track assistant professors
The position as assistant professor requires research qualifications corresponding at least to what can be achieved through satisfactorily completed PhD degree within the subject area. The overall assessment of the applicant will emphasize the applicant’s research and teaching potential.
The faculty emphasizes the applicant’s interest in development and implementation of new strong research ideas with international impact. Emphasis is also be placed on the applicant’s interest and engagement in teaching and development of courses and creating coherence between research and teaching. Experience with publishing research in well-known international journals or publishers as well as external funding will be an advantage but not a requirement. A broad documented teaching profile and completed pedagogical course will be an advantage.
Emphasis is also placed on the applicant’s interest and experience with collaboration with other researchers and ability to complete joint research and teaching projects. The faculty considers the documented ability to contribute to this regard as positive.
Applicants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with research and study programs at the Faculty and the various courses in these, which are currently offered by the Faculty:*
https://jura.ku.dk/english/research/
https://jura.ku.dk/english/education/
https://studier.ku.dk/bachelor/jura/undervisning-og-opbygning (in Danish only)
Six overall criteria apply for assistant professor appointments at the University of Copenhagen. The six criteria (research, teaching, societal impact, organisational contribution, external funding and leadership) are considered a framework for the overall assessment of candidates.
You can read more about the UCPH criteria and the criteria for recognizing merit for assistant professors.
Job content associate professors
The appointment as associate professor is permanent. The applicant is expected to be able to take part in all the academic activities at the department, including research and teaching. If relevant, the associate professor will also supervise bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD students, and take part in examinations and administration in this context.
The position as associate professor will include publishing/knowledge-sharing of scientific results, both nationally and internationally, broader knowledge-sharing, and contributing to the development of his/her research area at the highest international level. The associate professor will also manage research project, which will include obtaining external funding to fund salaries for staff on these projects. The associate professor will also mentor assistant professors and participate in academic assessment panels.
The associate professor must also continuously develop and maintain his/her skills within teaching and pedagogy. Other tasks may be assigned to the associate professor by the Faculty, just like tasks may change or be weighed differently along the way.
Qualification requirements for associate professors
The applicant must have research and teaching qualifications corresponding to what can be achieved during a successful employment as an assistant professor or tenure track assistant professor. The applicant must document a scientific production at international level and have experience with research presentations at the leading conference of the research area.
The applicant’s ability to provide research-based teaching for students in the Faculty’s study programs will be emphasized. Experience developing and/or administrating study programs or courses is an advantage. Applicants who can teach the mandatory courses in the bachelor’s program at the Faculty are especially welcome. The applicant should demonstrate his/her ability to contribute to the Faculty’s study programs by indicating which couse(s) (s)he can teach in Danish and English.
The applicant must also document the ability to contribute to the research at the Faculty. The research should be within the Faculty’s research areas, and benefit students in one or more of the Faculty’s study programs.
The assessment of applicant’s qualifications will assign equal weight to documented competences in the field of teaching, pedagogy and didactics as in the field of research, research collaboration and research organization. Applicants with documentation of excellent teaching skills including experience with development of teaching and with experiences and reflections on how most effectively to integrate research and teaching activities will be given priority.
Read more about the qualification requirements for associated professors in the ministerial order on the job structure for academic staff at universities 2019.
Six overall criteria apply for associate professor appointments at the University of Copenhagen. The six criteria (research, teaching, societal impact, organizational contribution, external funding and leadership) are considered a framework for the overall assessment of candidates. Furthermore, each candidate must be assessed according to the specific requirements stated in the job advertisement.
You can read more about the UCPH criteria and the criteria for recognizing merit for associate professors.
Salary and conditions of employment
Terms of appointment and salary will be in accordance with an agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC). For assistant professors the salary range starts at DKK 35,700 + a 17,1 % contribution to the pension scheme. For associate professors the salary range is DKK 41,500 + a 17,1 % contribution to the pension scheme. It is possible to negotiate salary supplements on an annual basis. A special tax scheme is offered to researchers recruited abroad, read more at this homepage: https://ism.ku.dk/salary-tax-pension/tax/
If you consider applying from abroad, you may find useful information on how it is to work in Denmark and at UCPH. Find more information here: https://www.nyidanmark.dk/en-GB and https://ism.ku.dk
Application
Letter of motivation, appendixes and the submitted scientific publications, incl. papers, articles and books, must be written in Danish, Swedish, Norwegian or English. The application must be addressed to the Dean Jacob Graff Nielsen.
Applicants must indicate if they apply at the tenure track assistant professor or the associate professor level or both.
The application MUST include the following 8 elements:
- Application / letter of motivation
- Curriculum vitae
- Diplomas. Documentation of qualifications (degrees/diplomas, PhD diploma etc.)
- Publications list. Complete numbered list of publications.
- Teaching portfolio. This must include documentation for teaching qualifications, evaluations as well as a brief statement of the applicant's teaching visions within the research area. For more information regarding teaching portfolio, applicants are encouraged to read the https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/job-application-portfolio/
- Research plan. An outline of planned research activities, including publications plans and plans for applications for external funding. The plan also documents the applicant’s skills to contribute to research in one or more of the Faculty's research centers and environments, including how research can benefit the students in one or more of the Faculty's study programs.
- Publications. A maximum of five (5) scientific publications that the applicant wishes to have included in the assessment, of which no more than two (2) may be monographs. Applicants, who have written and submitted a PhD thesis or equivalent, must also submit the complete thesis and the written assessment of the thesis as a part of submitted publications if the thesis is written in one of the languages mentioned below. A PhD thesis written in another language may be submitted, but the Assessment Committee is not required to assess the thesis. The submitted research publications must be written in Danish, Swedish, Norwegian or English
- Co-author declaration. If citing work where the applicant has been a co-author, a co-author declaration, which addresses the applicant's share of these works, must be submitted. Material that has not yet published can be submitted. However, please indicate if this is the case.
Appointment procedure
Applications and all enclosures and publications must be submitted in Adobe PDF or Word format via the “Apply now” icon at the bottom of the page. ZIP files cannot be uploaded.
We recommend applicants have all the requires documents ready before starting the application, and it is important to enclose all required documentation.
Applicants will receive an automatic confirmation that their application is well received and will receive information by email during the selection process.
After the application deadline, the Head of the Department selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the Appointment Committee. All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been accepted for assessment. The Dean subsequently appoints an expert assessment committee tasked with carrying out an assessment of the selected applicants for the specific post. Selected applicants are notified of the composition of the committee. Applicants are ultimately offered the opportunity of commenting on the part of the assessment relating to themselves before the appointment is finalized.
In accordance with the University of Copenhagen's diversity and gender equality policy: https://about.ku.dk/profile-history/diversity/ there must be at least one applicant of each gender before the position can be filled.
The UCPH wishes to encourage everyone interested in this post to apply, regardless of personal background.
Information
For further information about the positions, please contact the Associate Dean of the Faculty of Law, Astrid Kjeldgaard-Pedersen, e-mail: astrid.kjeldgaard-pedersen@jur.ku.dk.
Further information about the application procedure is available from HR, e-mail: hrsc@hrsc.ku.dk. Please refer to ID number 211-0536/23-2E #1
The closing date for applications is October 22, 2023, at 23:59 [CEST]
Applications or supplementary material received thereafter will not be considered.
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The Faculty of Law is one of six faculties at the University of Copenhagen. The Faculty carries out research, education and knowledge dissemination within the area of law. Research is partly organized in research centres and groups with focus on thematic areas of interest.
The Faculty employs about 135 full time researchers and approx. 60 PhD students as well as approx. 80 administrative staff members. In addition, approx. 400 part-time lecturers teach on the legal programmes on which approx. 4,500 students are enrolled.
See the Faculty website: https://jura.ku.dk/english for more information.
