Professor of Romance Languages, especially French and/or Spanish Linguistics (Uppsala Univ., Suède)

Professor of Romance Languages, especially French and/or Spanish Linguistics

Uppsala University is a comprehensive research-intensive university with a strong international standing. Our ultimate goal is to conduct education and research of the highest quality and relevance to make a long-term difference in society. Our most important assets are all the individuals whose curiosity and dedication make Uppsala University one of Sweden’s most exciting workplaces. Uppsala University has over 45,000 students, more than 7,000 employees and a turnover of around SEK 7 billion.

The Department of Modern Languages conducts research and provides doctoral (third-cycle) and basic (undergraduate, first-cycle) education in Albanian, Finno-Ugric Languages, Romance Languages, Slavic Languages and German. Further information about the Department’s work is available here.

We educate some 1,600 students a year on our 140-plus courses. In most of our languages, we are engaged in teaching and research in both linguistics, on the one hand, and literary studies on the other. Our languages are taught mainly on campus, but we also provide web-based teaching. Besides freestanding courses, the Department is involved in providing the Bachelor’s Programme in Languages and the Teacher Education Programme, and responsible for the Master’s Programme in Languages, the Master’s Programme in German Studies and the Master's Programme in the Russian Language in International Relations.

Description of subject area: Within the scope of the Romance Languages subject area, teaching and research are currently under way in the following subjects: French, Italian and Spanish. Teaching is also conducted in Catalan.

Within the sphere of education, courses are provided in language proficiency, linguistics, literary studies and cultural studies. The courses are run in freestanding form and within the framework of three programmes: the Bachelor’s Programme in Languages, Master’s Programme in Languages and Upper Secondary School Teacher Education Programme. Education at doctoral (third-cycle) level is provided in Romance Languages, with a choice between the two specialisations of and linguistics, on the one hand, and literary studies on the other.

Research conducted in the subject area today comprises French and Spanish linguistics; French, Spanish and Italian literature studies; and French and Spanish language didactics. The research in linguistics focuses on semantics and pragmatics to a high degree. Our profile areas are argumentation, discourse and interaction, modality, evidentiality, grammaticalisation, tense, mood and aspect. Within these profile areas, both synchronic and diachronic approaches are used.

Work duties: The applicant is expected to be active in Romance languages, especially French and/or Spanish linguistics. The duties of the position include research, teaching, supervision and administration. The research comprises the appointee’s own research and participation in research collaborations. The teaching includes course development at basic, advanced and doctoral level in the subject area, and helping to develop this area; and supervision at every level in the subject area. The position holder is expected to cooperate with external colleagues or other partners. Administration is included in the position.

One important task for the appointee is to take part in, initiate, plan and, where applicable, lead research projects. The holder of the professorship is also expected to actively apply for external research funding, and to foster and help to develop the research and educational environment of the subject area.

The holder of this position must, moreover, be prepared to take on assignments of responsibility and leadership, at faculty and university level as well as in and for the Department.

The position requires the holder’s presence at the workplace to stay informed and contribute to the Department’s and Faculty’s joint work. The working language at the Department is Swedish. An appointee who lacks a command of Swedish as a working language is expected to learn the language within the first two years of being appointed. Where necessary, the University offers courses in Swedish for newly appointed teachers.

Qualification requirements and eligibility: To be eligible for an appointment as professor, the applicant must possess both research and teaching expertise (Swedish Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 4, Section 3). The applicant’s research expertise and professional skills are required to be relevant to the subject content of the position and the work duties it will include. For this appointment, professorial competence, with research qualifications in the subject of Romance languages or equivalent, especially French and/or Spanish linguistics, is required.

Research expertise must have been demonstrated by means of independent research contributions and the fact that the applicant’s work is of a consistently high international standard.

Teaching expertise must have been shown by qualifications in teaching and supervision at all levels of the subject: basic, advanced and doctoral. In addition, the applicant must fulfil the provisions of the Appointment Regulations for Uppsala University (§§ 32–33) and Supplementary Guidelines to Uppsala University Appointment Regulations at the Faculty of Languages (LANGFAC 2013/22).

The applicant is required to have documented experience of teaching of, and in, French and/or Spanish, and also to be able to show a good knowledge of English.

Assessment criteria: Criteria for assessment in the appointment of a professor at the University concern the degree of expertise required for eligibility for the appointment.

In this professorial appointment, particular importance will mainly be attached to research expertise. Furthermore, great weight will be assigned to management expertise and administrative experience. Teaching expertise and qualifications, and qualifications in cooperation with the community at large, will also be considered important. Equally great care will be devoted to assessment according to all four criteria.

All qualifications and other academic achievements must be documented in such a way that enables them to be assessed in terms of both quality and scope.

Research expertise relates to research qualifications. In the assessment of research expertise, the quality of research must be the primary consideration. The depth, breadth and scale of research will also be treated as significant. Great emphasis will be laid on the applicant’s ability to plan, initiate, lead and develop research, and also to establish and maintain research collaborations. The applicant must have demonstrated success in obtaining competitive research funding.

Since the Department has the ambition of strengthening its research environments, weight will be assigned to qualifications in one or more of the following research areas:

Semantics

Pragmatics

Argumentation

Interaction and discourse.

The applicant’s research production will be assessed on the basis of quality and scope of research publications, with the emphasis on the past 10 years. The applicant’s contributions to the research community will also be taken into account. Assignments as an expert or specialist reviewer, the opponent in a public thesis defence (disputation), an editor, a referee (peer reviewer) and a project leader, and also membership of formal networks and the like, will also be considered as qualifying.

A further achievement deemed to be qualifying is if the applicant with research qualifications mainly in French also has some research qualifications in Spanish, or if an applicant with research qualifications primarily in Spanish has some research qualifications in French.

Management expertise and administrative experience relate, in particular, to experience of leadership responsibility, demonstrated by managerial or leading roles and/or positions of trust at departmental, faculty or university level. This category of expertise and experience refers to skill in leading activities and staff, making decisions, motivating other people and generating their engagement and participation, and putting in place the preconditions for others’ efficient attainment of shared goals.

The assessment of management or leadership skills and administrative expertise will involve particular emphasis being laid on the applicant’s ability to foster a well-functioning work environment within the subject area of Romance Languages and its various research orientations, i.e. linguistics, literary studies and didactics.

Teaching expertise relates to qualifications in education and teaching. This expertise must have been shown by means of qualifications in teaching and supervision at all levels, especially doctoral.

In the assessment of teaching expertise, the quality of teaching is the primary consideration. Its scope, in terms of both breadth and depth, will also be considered important. In this connection, particular attention will be paid to experience of course and programme development, teaching, educational administration and successful supervision at all levels. Moreover, weight will be given to the ability to plan, initiate and develop education and teaching, and also the ability to provide teaching that is linked to research, with a solid foundation of subject didactics and academic teaching theory and practice.

Community cooperation expertise relates to proven skill in working with the community at large. The ability to inform others about research, education and development work will be taken into consideration.

Other expertise: in this recruitment the University will, above all, consider a person who, following a qualitative overall assessment of qualifications, expertise and personal suitability, is deemed to have the best capacity to implement and develop the work duties involved and to help bring about favourable development of activities and the work environment.

Application procedure:The Faculty of Languages’ recruitment group will make use of interviews and trial lectures, and obtain references, in this recruitment. Applicants should therefore submit a list of referees who can provide insight into the applicants’ professional skill and personal characteristics of importance for the position, such as their ability to cooperate with others, capacity for leadership, engagement and choice of working methods.

Personal circumstances (such as parental leave, part-time work due to care of children, trade-union duties and military service) that can be credited to the applicant in the qualification assessment should be specified in the applicant’s summary of qualifications and experience.

Uppsala University values the qualities that equal gender distribution and diversity bring to its activities.

A full application, preferably written in English, must include:

Letter of application.

List of appendices.

Curriculum Vitae.

Account of research qualifications.

Future research plans and projects.

Account of teaching qualifications (including supervision at doctoral level).

Account of management expertise and leadership skills.

Account of other qualifications.

List of publications (including a list of peer-reviewed publications).

Research and teaching publications cited (maximum: 10).

List of referees (at least two).

For applicants invited to attend interviews and give trial lectures, travel costs are covered by Uppsala University.

Note that the application and appendices must be submitted electronically in the Varbi recruitment system.

Three hard copies of any publications cited that are not available in electronic format and cannot be scanned must be sent to the Faculty of Languages, Uppsala University, Box 256, SE–751 05 Uppsala, Sweden. Write the following reference number on the envelope: UFV-PA 2020/3974.

For further information, see the Supplementary Guidelines to Uppsala University Appointment Regulations at the Faculty of Languages.

Salary: Subject to individual negotiation.

Starting date: By agreement.

Form of employment: Permanent employment, employment for a trial period may be offered.

Proportion of full-time employment: 100%.

Information about the position is available from: Professor Christina Kullberg, deputy head of the Department of Modern Languages, tel. 46 18 471 1440, christina.kullberg@moderna.uu.se.

We look forward to receiving your application not later than 1 March 2021, UFV-PA 2020/3974.

Please do not send offers of recruitment or advertising services.

Submit your application through Uppsala University's recruitment system.