Aalto University is a community of bold thinkers where science and art meet technology and business. We are committed to identifying and solving grand societal challenges and building an innovative future. Aalto University has six schools with nearly 20 000 students and more than 400 professors. Our campus is located in Espoo, Finland.

The School of Arts, Design and Architecture (ARTS) is an institution of higher education for design, media, architecture, motion picture, art education and art. The current key areas of research are design, digital media, audiovisual representation, art, visual culture, welfare architecture and emerging technologies as well as urban planning and design. The school produces specialists and innovators of art, design and architecture with strong artistic and technical skills.

Department of Design is an academic community of approximately 850 students, 70 doctoral students and 70 faculty members. The department conducts research and provides education in bachelor, master and doctoral programmes across a broad range of subjects and themes. Additional information about the department can be found online: http://design.aalto.fi/en/, http://designresearch.aalto.fi

The position is located at Department of Design research groups ENCORE and INUSE.

We are looking for a

Postdoctoral researcher on creative practices for transformational futures.

Department of Design is recruiting a postdoctoral researcher to join the CreaTures project (Creative Practices for Transformational Futures) and Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture. The applicant will join the team at Aalto to conduct research and support the coordination of the project. The selected candidate will be working with prof. Tuuli Mattelmäki (PI) and other colleagues at ENCORE and INUSE research groups.

CreaTures is a three-year EU H2020 Transformations project, starting in January 2020.The project is coordinated by Aalto and gathers a consortium of 11 European partners including universities and research centres, NGOs and creative art and design practices. The project focuses on collaboration, reflection and direct engagement as keys to changing publics’ orientation to ecological issues. The consortium aims to promote action for social and ecological sustainability by identifying those aspects of creative practices that contribute most effectively to socio-cultural transformation. CreaTures’s objective is to produce an open-access framework to support practitioners and policy-makers in guiding positive change. The project works around 3 interconnected efforts: An Observatory, identifying and mapping existing, fragmented and often hidden transformational creative practices; a Laboratory, supporting new experimentation and direct engagement with diverse stakeholders, including members of the public, by mounting several different scales and types of arts production, and;  an Evaluation phase, testing new and existing creative practices in a systematic and concerted way for their impact.

Work duties:

The main duties involved in a post-doctoral position are related to the conduct of research and artistic activities within CreaTures, specifically those related to supporting the development of the experimental productions that form the basis of CreaTures laboratory.

In addition, the duties include:

•  Coordination and interaction with partners and stakeholders within the Creatures project, supporting the PI in the scientific coordination of the consortium

• Administration and dissemination tasks related to the project duties above in collaboration with the project manager appointed by Aalto for the whole project.

• Contribution to general Department’s duties (e.g. meetings and research seminars)

Requirements:

A suitable candidate has a doctoral degree in a relevant area (e.g. design, art, sustainability).

We expect you to have an excellent academic track record and demonstrated capacities for inter- and transdisciplinary practice-based design research or engaged arts experience, as well as production portfolio.

Good command of contemporary ITC tools for group work and project dissemination, interest in using social media for research communication is a plus.

Experience with qualitative methods and familiarity with EU projects and jargon is appreciated.

Very good oral and written proficiency in English is required.

Key selection criteria:

1. Research experience or demonstrable academic interest in the role of creative practices (art, design, etc) in the process of social change
2. Demonstrated ability to work effectively both as a member of a research team and independently when required, to meet project outcomes and milestones
3. Good networking and communication skills and ability to interact with private and public stakeholders
4. Availability for incorporation to the work in January 2020

Salary:

The salary is determined based on the experience and qualifications according to the salary system of Aalto University.

Duration:

36 months, full-time

Applications:

The applications should be submitted via the Apply now button below by 8^th December, 2019. The application consists of

• Motivation letter (max. two pages)
• CV
• List of publications
• Design/art practice portfolio

Please send all your application materials in English and in PDF form.

If you wish to hear more about the position, you can contact Andrea Botero andrea.botero(at)aalto.fi or Tuuli Mattelmäki tuuli.mattelmaki(at)aalto.fi. In questions related to the recruitment process, please contact HR Coordinator Elisa Utriainen; elisa.utriainen(at)aalto.fi.

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