LEDIG STILLING VED UIT NORGES ARKTISKE UNIVERSITET
Professor / Associate Professor in Earth Observation
Deadline: 15.08.2021
UiT The Arctic University of Norway
UiT is a multi-campus research university in Norway and the northernmost university of the world. Our central location in the High North, our broad and diverse research and study portfolio, and our interdisciplinary qualities make us uniquely suited to meet the challenges of the future. At UiT you can explore global issues from a close-up perspective.
Credibility, academic freedom, closeness, creativity and commitment shall be hallmarks of the relationship between our employees, between our employees and our students and between UiT and our partners.
Faculty of Science and Technology / Department of Physics and Technology
The position will be associated with the Earth Observation (EO) group, which conducts research in the field of satellite remote sensing, with particular emphasis on High North environmental monitoring. The EO group is the host of “the Centre for Integrated Remote Sensing for Arctic Operations (CIRFA)”, a Centre for Research-based Innovation, which does research and analysis of synthetic aperture radar and multi-sensor data for Arctic applications. The group also has research in optical remote sensing for water quality monitoring of coastal and complex waters employing machine learning approaches.
The workplace is at UiT in Tromsø. You must be able to start in the position within a reasonable time, within 6 months after receiving the offer.
The position’s field of research or work
We seek a person with strong analytical skills and research experience and interests in both theoretical and applicative aspects of remote sensing. The hired person should strengthen current research activities in the EO group and/or expand the research in new directions of high scientific and societal relevance, such as an Arctic focus and/or climate change.
The position will have teaching and supervision obligations corresponding to about 50 % of the position. The successful applicant will be involved in teaching of courses in basic physics, earth observation and related topics such as signal and image processing and pattern recognition to students from undergraduate to postgraduate levels, and supervision of master and doctoral students. Commitment to internationally high standard for teaching quality, recruitment and public outreach activities is expected.
The candidate is expected to contribute to secure additional funding through national or international grants and ensure additional long-term long-term financing for the group’s activities
Contact
Further information about the position and UiT is available by contacting
Head of Department of Physics and Technology (IFT), and professor in Renewable Energy, IFT: Professor Yngve Birkelund: yngve.birkelund@uit.no
The successful candidate must hold a PhD in remote sensing for earth observation or in a relevant field like mathematics, statistics, computer science, physics, or electrical engineering. She/he must document experience in executing independent original research in one or several of the research directions described above. Familiarity and expertise with advanced data analytics methodology, e.g., machine learning and artificial intelligence for remote sensing, and/or integration of remote sensing data and numerical modelling, and/or experience from fieldwork and data acquisition campaigns, are considered an asset.
In assessing the qualifications and merits, special consideration is given to scientific publications in internationally recognized journals and teaching skills. The candidate should be creative, strongly independent, and able to take and develop own initiatives.
For a position as an associate professor, the candidate should have a good publication record in terms of research articles in peer-reviewed journals and other relevant international publication channels, some experience with research leadership, and experience with teaching at the university level. As an associate professor, we expect the candidate to aim at developing further to a full professor.
For a position as a professor, the candidate should demonstrate international experience and have a strong publication record in terms of research articles in peer-reviewed journals and other relevant international publication channels. The candidate should document the ability to obtain external funding from relevant sources and be able to initiate and lead research at a high international level. We will also assess outreach, network, teaching, and supervision activities.
UiT follows national guidelines for professorial promotion within Mathematics, Science and Technology disciplines when evaluating candidates for professorships.
The candidates must be fluent in oral and written English. Applicants who are not fluent in a Scandinavian language must learn Norwegian within 3 years and pass the language exam level B2 (“Bergenstesten” or equivalent).
During the assessment, emphasis will be on your potential for research, motivation and personal suitability for the position.
We will emphasize personal suitability in our assessment. We expect the candidate to actively contribute to academic culture, think beyond the core of own research interests, and to have good collaboration skills necessary for joint interdisciplinary projects. The candidate must be willing to participate actively in the ongoing development of the discipline, the department, and the university as a whole.
Qualification requirements for the position as Professor:
Academic level conforming to established international or national standards for position of Professor in the subject area concerned
Documented pedagogical competence
In addition you must document:
Development of the quality of one's own teaching and supervision over time, and
Broad supervision experience, preferably at master's/PhD level, and
Participation in the development of educational quality in academic communities
To be awarded a professorship, you must document substantially more extensive research of high quality than that required to be awarded a doctorate degree. You must document academic activity at a high level over the previous six years, and that this points forwards towards continued activity at professorial level.
In addition UiT assess applicants according to national guidelines for assessment of professorial competence, decided by the National Faculty Meeting of mathematics, natural sciences and technology. You can find the guidelines here .
Qualification requirements for the position as Associate Professor:
Norwegian doctoral degree in subject area concerned or a corresponding foreign doctoral degree recognised as equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree, or competence at a corresponding level documented by academic work of the same scope and quality
Documented pedagogical competence
At UiT we put emphasis on the quality, relevance and significance of the research work and not on where the work is published, in accordance with the principles of The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA).
UiT wishes to increase the proportion of females in academic positions. In cases where two or more applicants are found to be approximately equally qualified, female applicants will be given priority.
All applicants for teaching and research positions shall document their pedagogical competence.
You must have acquired basic competence for teaching and supervision at higher education level. This includes basic skills in planning, conducting, evaluating and developing teaching and guidance.
Documentation requirement a) Applicants who have completed education or courses designed to provide teaching competence for teaching at universities and colleges, equivalent to a minimum of 200 hours, must attach diploma and curriculum for the completed course.
b) Other applicants shall describe, assess and document their competence as a teacher and supervisor. The skills must be documented in the form of a teaching portfolio.
For professor positions, experience with teaching and supervision in higher education corresponding to three years in a full-time position is required.
For professor positions, the teaching competence can be developed and documented through a combination of courses and teaching portfolio.
Applicants for professor positions shall also document that the supplementary criteria are satisfied:
Description of and reflection over your work involving development of your teaching and supervision. This should be documented with specific examples that demonstrate development over time, as well as a description of and reflection over the process and result
Description of experience with supervision at master's and PhD level. In addition to describing the scope of the supervision, you shall also summarize your supervision experience and point to possible development areas
Description of and reflection over your own leadership, participation and role in development of the educational quality in the academic community
If the pedagogical competence can be acquired within two years of appointment, applicants shall not be ranked based on pedagogical competence.
Those who do not satisfy the requirements may be appointed on a permanent basis on the condition that they satisfy the requirements within two years of appointment.
For information about basic pedagogical competence and teaching portfolio, see: (Only in Norwegian)
We offer
Allocation of resources for start-up in the position, including involvement in 1-2 doctoral positions as main supervisor
The possibility to work in a vibrant group at the forefront of research
R&D sabbatical conditions which are considered to be some of the best in the country
Good welfare arrangements for employees
Good arrangements for pension, insurance and loans in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
Work- og salary conditions
The successful candidate must be willing to get involved in the ongoing development of their department and the university as a whole.
The allocation of working hours is flexible and allocated on a case-by-case basis. In general, Professor/Associate Professors will spend an equal amount of time on teaching and research and development work after time spent on other duties has been deducted. As a norm, the time resources spent on administrative duties constitutes 5 % for academic staff.
The remuneration for Professor is in accordance with the State salary scale code 1013. The remuneration for Associate Professor is in accordance with the State salary scale code 1011. A compulsory contribution of 2 % to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund will be deducted.
Inclusion and diversity
UiT The Arctic University i Norway is working actively to promote equality, gender balance and diversity among employees and students, and to create an inclusive and safe working environment.
We believe that inclusion and diversity is a strength and we want employees with different competencies, professional experience, life experience and perspectives.
If you have a disability, a gap in your CV or immigrant background, we encourage you to tick the box for this in your application.
If there are qualified applicants, we invite least one in each group for an interview. If you get the job, we will adapt the working conditions if you need it.
Apart from selecting the right candidates, we will only use the information for anonymous statistics.
Application
The application must include:
Cover letter including a short description of interests and reasons for applying for the position
CV containing a complete overview of experience, professional work and references
Diplomas, diploma supplements and transcripts (all degrees, in original language and translated)
Brief research plan and vision statement (1-2 pages) for the next 3-5 years, also identifying internal and external collaboration partners
Documentation of external research funding raised during the career. This documentation should be clear about the type of roles in the projects
Written references
Three references with contact details
A list of your academic production
Description of own research, stating the publications the candidate considers most important and briefly describing the other listed publications
Documented pedagogical competence
Academic works, up to ten. The doctoral thesis is regarded as one work
Documentation of English proficiency
For applicants who are not fluent in a Scandinavian language, a plan for becoming fluent in Norwegian within three years of employment should be provided.
Proficiency in the English language can be documented in the following ways:
Diploma from a Norwegian upper secondary school with both spoken and written English (140 hours)
TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)
IELTS (International English Testing Service)
Completed university degree in the field of English language or literature
One years completed university studies in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK or USA, for which English was the language of instructions.
Documentation has to be in English or a Scandinavian language. The application and submitted documents must be sent electronically via www.jobbnorge.no.
Assessment
The applicants will be assessed by an expert committee. The committee's mandate is to undertake an assessment of the applicants' qualifications on the basis of the written material presented by the applicants, and the detailed description drawn up for the position.
The applicants who are assessed as best qualified will be called to an interview and trial lecture. The interview shall among other things, aim to clarify the applicants personal suitability for the position and motivations.
General information
The appointment is made in accordance with State regulations and guidelines at UiT. At our website, you will find more information for applicants.
According to the Norwegian Freedom and Information Act (Offentleglova) information about the applicant may be included in the public applicant list, also in cases where the applicant has requested non-disclosure.
In case of discrepancies between the Norwegian and the English version of this description, the Norwegian version takes precedence.
