The University of Oulu is an international science university creating new knowledge, well-being and innovation for the future through multidisciplinary research and education. We are an international science community working in close cooperation with research institutes, companies, and the public sector. Together we form a globally significant research hub, relentlessly pushing the boundaries of known for a more sustainable and intelligent future.

We are now looking for talented and enthusiastic scientists to join our inSTREAMS research community at the University of Oulu.

Inorganic Side Streams: From basic research and technology development to sustainable value chains (inSTREAMS)

InSTREAMS is a multidisciplinary research programme aiming to integrate knowledge to anticipate challenges in sustainable value chains. This is achieved by linking value chain analysis to engineering and basic research and feeding information to policy makers and actors in the public and private sectors. The vision is to actively contribute to the move towards clean production ecosystems of the future by identifying and solving key problems with the help of high-quality research. The inSTREAMS community includes researchers in the following faculties: Faculty of Technology, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering and Oulu Business School.

The InSTREAMS research programme includes two broad research themes, TECH and VALUE. The TECH research theme concentrates on the efficient, safe and sustainable use of high-volume inorganic side streams from various industries. The VALUE research theme focuses on creating new, sustainable business models, strategies and value chains based on these inorganic high-value side streams. Altogether, the inSTREAMS programme will open five tenure track positions within these two thematical areas.

Job description

The tenure track position “High value materials based on inorganic side streams in catalysts, composites or battery chemicals” will strengthen inSTREAMS research in the area of TECH.

The research area covers sustainable and high value solutions for the exploitation of inorganic materials recovered from industrial side-streams of e.g. chemical, steel and mining industries. The goal is to maximize the economic and innovation potential of side-streams  by developing value added advanced materials and demonstrating novel technologies associated with for example catalysis (including e.g. photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, sensors, adsorbents, other environmental applications) microelectronics (including e.g. telecommunication and energy applications), or battery chemistry (including e.g. more effective batteries, their regeneration and recycling)  for sustainable production and energy, and environmental applications. Utilization of the state-of-the art research and characterization methods in material development will have an important role in the work. The gained solutions need to be feasible and safe for up-scaling and shall have the true potential also for commercialization. Teaching responsibilities will be determined within the research unit.

The tenure track position is open to highly talented individuals who hold a doctoral degree and have excellent potential for a successful scientific career. We expect you to know your way around with multidisciplinary, national and international collaboration and be familiar with the most common funding instruments such as the Academy of Finland, the European Union and others.

Based on your experience and competence, you can be placed at the level of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Full Professor or Distinguished Professor. You will receive also full benefits provided by the University of Oulu to all its employees, including free time corresponding to holidays and free occupational health care services. A start-up package (from the Associate level onwards) will include funding for hiring a 4-year postdoctoral fellow and a 4-year PhD student.

Salary

The salary of an Assistant Professor will be based on levels 5-6, of an Associate Professor on levels 6-7, and that of a Professor on levels 8-10 of the requirement level chart for teaching and research personnel in the salary system of Finnish universities. In addition to the basic salary, supplementary salary will be given for personal achievement and performance, the sum rising to a maximum of 50% of the basic salary level for the post. The full salary is approximately 3,500 – 4,500 euros per month for an Assistant Professor, 4,000 – 5,200 euros per month for an Associate Professor and 5,500 – 8,800 euros per month for a full professor.

Selection Criteria and procedure

A person appointed to the tenure track position must have a doctoral degree, high-level scientific competence, experience in leading scientific research, ability to provide high-level research-based teaching, and to supervise theses and participate in international co-operation projects in his/her field of expertise.

Candidates will be evaluated according to their career stage taking into consideration:

1. Their potential to establish or currently have a vigorous externally funded research program,
2. Highly visible scientific publications or other merits with scientific value,
3. Demonstrated international collaboration and activeness of the applicant in the international scientific community,
4. Demonstration of interdisciplinary research projects and capabilities,
5. A demonstrated capacity for thinking broadly across disciplines, ability and experience in mentoring and supervising undergraduate, graduate (MA, M.Ed., M.Sc. & Ph.D.) and postdoctoral scientists, and
6. Teaching experience and pedagogic training, ability to produce teaching material, other merits as a teacher and teaching demonstrations.

The selection procedure will be carried out by a Recruitment Committee according to the University of Oulu Tenure Track guidelines. Shortlisted candidates will be evaluated by other academic experts outside the University of Oulu.

The selection criteria for each career level are detailed as follows:

Assistant Professor: The position of an Assistant Professor is initially a fixed-term position for four years. The position is available for applicants who have finished their doctoral dissertation less than ten years ago and are advancing towards a professional research career. The selection criteria for an Assistant Professor are the following:

• Research potential and merit applicable to the position to date (publications, especially internationally refereed publications; participating in acquiring external funding/funding granted; connections with the international community in the field);
• Experience of working in different institutions including international professional experience;
• Demonstrable development of skills is the prerequisite for a continuation period.

Associate Professor: The position of an Associate Professor is initially a fixed-term position for four years with potential for extension after an evaluation. The selection criteria for an associate professor are the following:

• Publications on an international level: dissemination, quality of the publication forums, references to the publications;
• Active role in research training;
• Acquisition of external funding;
• Working in more than one research facility during one’s career (in most fields represented at the University of Oulu this signifies working abroad);
• An active role in the international scientific community;
• Acknowledgements and awards.

Full Professor: The position of a Full Professor requires high-level scientific competence, experience in leading scientific research, ability to provide high-level research-based teaching and to supervise final theses, and merit in international co-operation projects in his/her field of expertise. The position of a Full Professor also requires the ability to act as an academic leader. When evaluating the merits of an applicant, his/her scientific publications and other research results with scientific or artistic value, teaching experience and pedagogic training, ability to produce teaching material, other merits as a teacher, teaching demonstrations and supervised doctoral theses shall be taken into consideration. Other factors to be taken into consideration are the active role of the applicant in the scientific community, practical experience in the field where applicable, success in acquiring supplementary research funding, scientific work abroad, international positions, and leadership and interaction skills.

Distinguished Professor: The position of a Distinguished Professor is for especially distinguished applicants who exceed the criteria for Full Professor.

How to apply

Please submit your application and relevant enclosures through our online recruitment system latest on 30 September 2019 (23:59 Finnish local time). The application should be written in English and include the following documents:

1. A motivation / application letter with contact information, stating the career level on which the person would like to be evaluated at
2. Curriculum Vitae following the guidelines of the Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity: http://www.tenk.fi/en/template-researchers-curriculum-vitae
3. A list of publications following the guidelines of the Academy of Finland (http://www.aka.fi/en/funding/apply-for-funding/az-index-of-application-guidelines/list-of-publications/) with the ten most important ones marked
4. A brief account of research merits (max. 1 page)
5. A brief account of teaching merits or a teaching portfolio (max. 2 pages)
6. Details regarding the acquisition of research funds (max. 2 pages)
7. A brief research and action plan (max. 3 pages)
8. Contact details of 2 persons from whom recommendations would be available

The employment will begin in January 2020 or as agreed on. A six-month trial period will be applied in the positions.

For further information regarding the filling of this post

Questions concerning the project’s TECH research focus and its activities, please contact:
Professor Mirja Illikainen, tel. +358 294 48 2394, e-mail: mirja.illikainen (at) oulu.fi

About the City of Oulu

The City of Oulu is Northern Finland’s largest city, with a population of over 200,000. Located in the Gulf of Bothnia in the Oulu River delta, the city has good access from anywhere. Oulu is a very safe and family friendly community with one of the highest qualities of life in all of Scandinavia. This modern  city with a  beautiful  harbour and  market  area  offers plenty  of  cultural  activities  as  well  as opportunities for exploring the northern nature. Open space and parks can be found all along the Oulu River and throughout the area and they are easily accessed by bike–the favorite mode of transport in Oulu. There is an entire range of outdoor and sports facilities to choose from, not forgetting Finland’s biggest spectator  sport,  ice  hockey. Winter  is  a  season  that  is  highly  celebrated  and  lit bike  trails  and bridges  bring  the city alive. As  the  world’s  northernmost  tech  hub,  Oulu  has  a  highly educated and innovative workforce and the University has a strong role in the community. Oulu is a marvelous place to  live,  work  and  enjoy  a  vibrant  academic  community. Welcome  to  the  home  of  science  with  Arctic Attitude!