The Department of Economics at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense, Denmark, invites applications for one or more vacant tenure-track positions as assistant professor. The starting date is flexible, but we hope to welcome our new colleague on 1 August 2023.

Job description

The Department of Economics is an international department with a strong tradition for excellence in research and teaching within the various areas of economics. The research, teaching, and dissemination activities at the department are organized within four groups: Econometrics and Data Science; Economic History; Macroeconomics; and Microeconomics. A more elaborated description of the department and the groups can be found on the department website.

It is the aim of the department to conduct research of the highest international standard documented through 1) publications in internationally distinguished journals, 2) presentations at international conferences, 3) external funding from competitive programs and 4) dissemination with high visibility and broad societal impact.

The department emphasizes high-quality research-based teaching using the most relevant teaching methods to enhance students' learning and the department explicit articulate our view on studying economics at SDU, which can be read here.

The department is responsible for the undergraduate as well as the graduate programmes in Economics and Mathematics-Economics at campus Odense. Also, the department is responsible for economics courses at different campuses at the University of Southern Denmark with activities in Odense, Sønderborg, and Slagelse. The research activities (and the workplace) are situated in Odense.

It is important for the department that applicants have good interpersonal skills and are dedicated to take part in the daily academic and social interaction of the research groups and at the department.

The Historical Economics and Development Group

The Assistant Professor will be affiliated with Economic History. The Historical Economics and Development Group (HEDG) focuses on research in Economic History with a strong quantitative focus. HEDG is internationally acknowledged as a leading research group and attracts substantial grants and media coverage, as well as publishing books and articles with top outlets.

Research project on social mobility and human capital in the Nordic countries

The candidate joins an international team of researchers and will be involved in a prestigious research project on social mobility and human capital in the Nordic countries funded by the Danish National Research Foundation (for more information see link), headed by Professor Gregory Clark, a world-renowned researcher in Economic History. The successful candidate is expected to contribute to high-quality research on social mobility and human capital and to undertake teaching and supervision within economics at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Further information about the position can be obtained from Professor Paul Richard Sharp, e-mail: pauls[at]sam.sdu.dk or from Head of Department Lone Grønbæk Jørgensen, e-mail: lg[at]sam.sdu.dk.  For general questions regarding housing, taxes etc., the SDU’s International Staff Office can assist - see link.

The Danish tenure track employment

The Danish tenure-track employment is a focused assistant professorship with a guaranteed assessment for a position as an associate professor, not limited in time, within the tenure-track assistant professor’s area of study.

Successful applicants to tenure-track assistant professor positions must be scholars with an internationally competitive research profile, whose potential is at the forefront of their discipline.

The applicants for tenure-track assistant professorships, are assessed based on the criteria of the scholarly guidelines and the applicant's potential to reach an international level of scholarly excellence during the tenure track period.

The tenure-track assistant professor will be assigned a mentor upon employment. The department will further host annual performance- and development reviews to ensure the progress of the assistant professor’s development towards meeting the qualifications of an associate professorship. A formal midterm evaluation will be conducted by a committee consisting of both internal and external researchers with relevant qualifications, with the purpose of ensuring the focus of the assistant professor’s activities, as well as to create the basis for the planning of the remaining period.

The transition from assistant professor to associate professor

Within the 6th year of employment, the tenure-track assistant professor is expected to transition into an associate professor position, following a positive assessment conducted by an assessment committee, consisting of a chairman appointed by the University of Southern Denmark and two external committee members (researchers with relevant qualifications) approved by the dean, the academic council, and the tenure-track committee of the university.

The candidate will only be promoted to associate professor when the assessment committee confirms that the candidate has scholarly merits at a level of international excellence, beyond what can normally be expected for associate professors, with reference to the scholarly qualification policy of the research group, in which the position is announced.

Indicators of relevant scholarly merits could be documented through scholarly output, independent of the PhD supervisor, ground-breaking publications, achievement of excellence grants, and international research network.

The assessment committee evaluates the tenure-track assistant professor based on the appointment guidelines of the department. 

The Recruitment Process for assistant professorships

Appointment to the position requires a PhD or equivalent and will be in accordance with the salary agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations.

An application must include:

• Detailed CV
• An elaborated research plan (max 3 pages) for the next 6 years that describes:
  • the relation of your research agenda to the research project on social mobility and human capital in the Nordic countries
  • the potential to advance the relevant research field
  • relationships to the aim and goals of the relevant research group
  • planned national and international collaborations to support the research plan
  • the plans for obtaining external funding to support the research plan
• Certificates/Diplomas (Master and PhD degree)
• Complete list of publications, indicating which publications are most relevant for the position
• Up to 3 of the most relevant publications. Please upload a pdf for each publication, if the publication has been co-authored, co-author statements are encouraged to be a part of this pdf

Please attach the PhD dissertation as a publication if such exist.

Applicants applying for an assistant professorship are requested to submit a teaching portfolio with the application as documentation for teaching experience as well as supervision qualifications. Formal application instructions and guide for teaching portfolio may be found here.

All non-Danish documents must be translated into English. 

Applications that are incomplete with regards to the above requirements may be rejected without any substantive evaluation.

Assessment of applications will be done under existing Appointment Order for universities. Applications will be assessed by an academic assessment committee that determines whether applicants are qualified to be an assistant professor. The committee may request additional information, and if so, it is the responsibility of the applicant to provide the necessary material. The committee reserves the right to arrive at a decision solely based on the material submitted.

The applicants for tenure-track assistant professorships are assessed based on the applicant’s potential to reach the above-mentioned assessment criteria during the tenure-track period.

Shortlisting may be used in the assessment process.

When the assessment committee has submitted its report, the applicant will receive the part of the evaluation that concerns the person in question. The assessment report will subsequently be forwarded to the head of department who will assemble an appointment committee. The appointment committee will manage and complete a series of job interviews with especially promising applicants. Based on the applications, the written assessments, the job interviews, and a deliberation within the appointment committee, the head of department determines which candidate(s) will be offered the position.

Applications must be submitted electronically no later than March 15, 2023, using the link above. Uploaded files must be in Adobe PDF (unlocked).

Read the guideline for the applicants

Each field can only contain a single file of max. 10 Mb.