Chair in History of Science and Ideas

at the Department of History of Science and Ideas. Starting January 1, 2011.

The Department of History of Science and Ideas at Uppsala University has a long tradition. The first Chair was inaugurated in 1932. Since that time, the department has greatly expanded and an additional Chair in History of Science with its own research unit has been established. Currently, the Department has 10 faculty members and 10 Ph.D.-students. The department offers courses and degree programs at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Swedish is the primary language of instruction and seminars. The department has a broad research profile, including History of Science, History of Philosophy, History of Medicine, Cultural History and Media History.

Job description: Comprehensive responsibility for research and instruction within the subject area of History of Science and Ideas. Teaching and thesis supervision at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Individual research. Internal and external information concerning research and program development. Two related tasks are especially important at this time: active participation in the strategic development of the Ph.D. program, and active participation in building up the research environment at the Department. The latter includes the initiation, planning and management of research projects to strengthen the Department’s external funding. The holder of the Chair is expected to be able to take on temporary administrative positions as Head of the Department and Director of Graduate Studies.

Eligibility requirements: Pursuant to the Swedish Higher Education Ordinance, an applicant is qualified for the position of Professor if he or she has demonstrated both scholarly accomplishments and teaching skills. Further, the Uppsala University Hiring Ordinance states that general eligibility for teaching posts includes the broad ability necessary to carry out the duties of the position in full. The University Ordinance requires further that, in order to be appointed Professor, an applicant must have demonstrated scholarly accomplishments considerably greater than those required for the title of Associate Professor (Reader/Docent). Experience in planning and directing research projects will also be taken into account. The Ordinance also requires that, for appointment as Professor, the applicant must have demonstrated the teaching ability necessary for the post and furthermore, unless special circumstances obtain, must have completed a relevant training program in college teaching. The appraisal of teaching skills covers the planning, execution and evaluation of teaching, as well as thesis supervision and examination.

The ability to teach in Swedish or English is a requirement. A successful applicant without knowledge of Swedish will be expected to be able to teach and to take part in departmental meetings in Swedish within two years.

Assessment criteria: In ranking qualified applicants for this appointment, special attention will be paid to scholarly and pedagogic merit, with particular emphasis on scholarship. Equal care will be taken in the appraisal of pedagogical and scholarly qualifications. The recruitment procedure will include a comparison and weighing of relative merits and assessment criteria, such that a candidate whose pedagogical qualifications are significantly superior may be ranked higher than a candidate whose scholarly merits are judged to be only slightly better. Following a comprehensive assessment of accomplishments and skills, together with documented qualifications, the University will primarily consider the candidate who is judged to be best suited to carry out and further develop the duties and functions of the position and to contribute to the advancement of the subject and the Department.

Scholarly qualifications to be considered, aside from individual research, are documented experience of building up research environments, including project initiation, management of research projects and the completion of national or international collaborative research projects.

In assessing pedagogical skills, consideration will be paid to documented experience of the planning, execution and evaluation of teaching, as well as of examination and thesis supervision. Documented experience of strategic work with Ph.D. programs, such as the planning of graduate training, the planning and teaching of graduate-level courses and cooperation beyond departmental and disciplinary borders will be considered significant qualifications.

Administrative skills are important and will be considered. The ability to inform the general public about research and developments at the department and in the field will also be taken into account.

Personal circumstances (such as parental leave) that are significant for assessing the applicant’s qualifications should be included in the documentation and resumé.

The University strives to attain a more balanced gender distribution among its faculty. As the majority of faculty at the level of Professor are men, the University especially encourages women to apply for this Chair.

More information can be found in the University’s Guidelines for Recruitment of Faculty, chapter 7: “Guidelines for Qualifications Assessment in Recruiting Teaching Staff”.

Application process: Applications must be written in English or Swedish and include the following documents in two hard copies:
• A list of qualifications and positions held, together with attested copies of diplomas, certificates and other documents mentioned.
• A brief summary of scholarship, teaching and other activities, including a short discussion of publications (see below). Personal circumstances (such as parental leave) that the applicant deems relevant should be indicated in the resumé of qualifications and experience.
• A brief description of planned research.
• A list of scholarly and teaching-related works mentioned. The applicant is to select no more than 10 pieces of work that s/he deems most representative or relevant, and provide an explanation for selecting these for review.
• Publications (no more than 10) numbered according to the publications list as described above, in two separate packages.
• In this recruitment procedure, the Appointment Committee may make use of interviews, trial-lectures and referees. The applicant should therefore submit a list of referees well-acquainted with the applicant’s professional accomplishments and capacities as well as personal qualities that may be of relevance for the position, e.g. his or her ability to co-operate with others, leadership skills and working methods.
Information: Information about the position may be provided by Mats Persson, Head of Department, tel +46 18- 471 7949 (Mats.Persson@idehist.uu.se), and Professor Otto Sibum +46 18 471 1480 (Otto.Sibum@idehist.uu.se). The union representatives are Anders Grundström, SACO-rådet, tel +46 18-471 5380, Carin Söderhall,TCO/ST, tel +46 18-471 1996, and Stefan Djurström, SEKO, tel +46 18-471 3315.

Applications, marked with log number UFV-PA 2009/436, should be addressed to the Vice-Chancellor of Uppsala University and must reach the postal address: Registrar, P.O. Box 256, SE-751 05 Uppsala, SWEDEN, fax +46 18-471 20 00, e-mail registrator@uu.se no later than April 28, 2009. Any applications sent by fax or e-mail must be followed by a signed original not more than one week after the deadline for applications.

The University’s procedural rules for the recruitment of teachers can be found at
www.personalavd.uu.se/anstordning.