Associate professor / assistant professor

Scientific Positions

Associate professor / assistant professor (tenure track) in Biotechnology

The Biological and Chemical Engineering Section (BCE) within the Department of Engineering at Aarhus University invites applications for 3 tenure track assistant or permanent associate professor position in the field of Biotechnology. The University has made an ambitious strategic investment in a 5-year recruitment plan to increase its activities significantly within research and education in the engineering sciences with the vision of bringing AU into the global engineering elite. Therefore, the University seeks exceptional innovative and visionary engineering researchers to be part of this build-up to strengthen and develop BCE at Aarhus University.

The intended starting date is February 1st 2018 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The Department of Engineering and the research unit of Biotechnology
Within the Biological and Chemical Engineering Section, the Biotechnology unit has strong research expertise in medical and industrial biotechnology, immunology, protein and lipid biotechnology, and modelling of biological processes. Close collaborations with the Departments of Molecular Biology and Genetics, iNano, Biosciences and Chemistry are encouraged. The successful applicant will be working with the biological basis of relevant processes and translation into solving relevant societal problems within health, industry, and food. 

These positions will support the strategic agenda of the university by extending the current range of strong competences in BCE within the following key disciplines:
 

Biotechnology of biologics: 
The main activity will be research within the area of expression system engineering in the context of health-related applications and production of biological molecules. A focus area is within the tailored production and modification of biomolecules. Hence research activities will include one or several of the following topics:

1. Engineering of biomolecules for advanced intervention/preventio/prophylaxis strategies. 
2. Manipulation and modification of cellular pathways involved in protein expression. 
3. Tailoring and modifying posttranslational modifications.

The area might further include biochemical, functional and structural analysis of advanced biomolecules and analysis of their impact on patient´s and consumer´s health and disease, which is key to products of increased value and clinical benefit.
 

Biotechnological production: 

The main activity will be research within the area of industrial biotechnology and engineering with a focus on production of biomolecules and biotechnological products with application in health, food, or chemical industry. Hence research activities will include analysis, engineering, modification and establishment of production strategies, which is key to products of increased value and clinical benefit.

1. Manipulation of cellular pathways involved in production of biomacromolecules. 
2. Optimization of production hosts. 
3. Designing posttranslational and bioorthogonal modifications. 
4. State of the art genomic technologies for improved biological activity.

These activities might include and overlap with genetic engineering, genome editing, protein, lipid and carbohydrate directed molecular characterization, and other important biophysical and biochemical approaches.
 

Lipids and ingredient biotechnology: 
The main activity will be research within the area of production and processing of lipids, polysaccharides, polypeptides and derivatives (hereafter biomolecules) for nutrition and health-related applications. A focus area is within exploration of natural resources including design, synthesis or modification of the molecules of interests using enzymes, cells or other technology platforms. Hence research activities will include one or several of the following topics: 

1. Developing, isolating and processing functional biomolecules, from natural sources for use in the food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. 
2. Engineering microorganisms (yeast, algae or bacteria etc) for production of functional biomolecules and downstream process. 
3. Designing and engineering industrially scalable enzymatic or green methodologies for synthesis of biomolecules.

The area might further include biochemical, functional and structural analysis of advanced lipids, polysaccharides, and polypeptides, analysis of their structure-functionality relationship and their impact on nutrition and health, which is key to products of increased value and health benefit.

For each of these positions, it is crucial that candidates hold a deep understanding of real-world systems and application domains such healthcare and nutrition and industrial production.

The positions will be anchored in the department’s BCE section, and the candidates are expected to work closely with other researchers/groups within the section and department as well as with external stakeholders. The ability to work in a multidisciplinary team is essential.

The candidates must have excellent written and verbal communication skills. Relevant industrial R&D experience is considered positive. Candidates must, relative to their career stage, have an exceptional record of research accomplishment, a record of sustained external funding, with concomitant nationally or internationally recognized leadership in their field.

The candidates are expected to be able to drive the build-up of internationally competitive research activities, and/or contribute to strengthening the current research activities. Commitment to excellence in teaching at both undergraduate and graduate levels, including existing courses and development of new courses, is expected.

Application
Your application must contain a CV including research activities, R&D experience, a complete publication list as well as your teaching, fundraising and leadership experience. Also, a teaching plan/statement and a research plan (length of 2-3 pages each, including your planned future teaching and research directions) are required. Please provide your ResearcherID, Google Scholar profile link, and/or a unique search query in Google Scholar and/or Web of Science to retrieve your publication and citation track record. Also, please provide names of references (minimum 3) whom the search committee may contact directly. Finally, you must indicate discipline that you are applying for. 

Place of employment and place of work
The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is Science and Technology, Gustav Wieds Vej 10A, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.

Further information
For more information, please contact Head of the BCE Section Lars DM Ottosen, ldmo@eng.au.dk or Head of Department of Engineering Thomas Skjødeberg Toftegaard, tst@eng.au.dk.

Science and Technology Tenure Track
Aarhus University offers talented scientists from around the world attractive career perspectives via the Science and Technology Tenure Track Program. Highly qualified candidates will be appointed for a period of six years with the prospect of performance-based advancement to a tenured position. 

The aim of the Science and Technology Tenure Track Program is to:

• attract outstandingly talented individuals that are competitive at an international level
• to promote the early development of independent research success early in the career of scientists
• to create transparency in the academic career path

As part of the tenure track position, the candidate will be offered:

• access to research infrastructure
• capability development, including postgraduate teacher training
• a mentoring program
• support to develop scientific networks and to secure interdisciplinary research at the highest level 

As part of the Aarhus University Tenure Track Program, the University carries out a mid-way evaluation to review the progress of the tenure track candidate after three years, according to the same criteria used in the final tenure review. The final tenure review will be conducted after five and a half years. If the review is positive, the candidate will be offered a tenured position as Associate Professor/Senior Researcher at Aarhus University.
Please refer to the tenure track guidelines for the tenure review criteria and for the tenure review process. 

Associate professor
Qualifications for the associate professor level at Aarhus University include a strong academic background, documented successful grant writing and experience with project management, industrial/public sector collaboration, as well as teaching and supervision experience. Criteria for evaluating candidates can be found here. Application procedure Short-listing is used. This means that after the deadline for applications - and with the assistance from the assessment committee chairman, and the assessment committee if necessary, - the head of department selects the candidates to be evaluated. The selection is made on the basis of an assessment of who of the candidates are most relevant considering the requirements of the advertisement. All applicants will be notified within 6 weeks whether or not their applications have been sent to an expert assessment committee for evaluation. The selected applicants will be informed about the composition of the committee and will receive his/her assessment. Once the recruitment process is completed a final letter of rejection is sent to the deselected applicants, including the main considerations emphasized during the selection process. Formalities and salary range Science and Technology refers to the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Danish Universities under the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. The application must be in English and include a curriculum vitae, degree certificate, a complete list of publications, a statement of future research plans and information about research activities, teaching portfolio and verified information on previous teaching experience (if any). Guidelines for applicants can be found here. Appointment shall be in accordance with the collective labour agreement between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. Further information on qualification requirements and job content may be found in the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities. Salary depends on seniority as agreed between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Confederation of Professional Associations. All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background. Aarhus University offers Relocation service to International researchers. You can read more about it here: http://ias.au.dk/au-relocation-service/

Deadline
All applications must be made online and received by: 04.10.2017 

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