The Department of Architecture at Aalto University is an internationally renowned education and research unit (within top 3% in the world in architecture). With respect to Finland’s esteemed architectural heritage, we search for new solutions to the challenges of sustainable development. To us, architecture is an art form that requires practical skills and individual artistic development, as well as knowledge on sustainability relevant to design and planning. We educate critical thinkers who accept their responsibility to research and design a socially, culturally, and ecologically sustainable built environment. The Department of Architecture offers degree programmes in architecture, landscape architecture and interior architecture. Currently, the BA level courses are taught primarily in Finnish whilst MA and doctoral level studies primarily in English. For more information, please see: http://architecture.aalto.fi/en/
We are seeking for
Associate or Full professor in Urban Planning
The call is open for associate and full professor levels of the
Aalto University tenure track system. The position will begin 1 August, 2025, or as agreed. The professorship is full-time.
Job description
The professorship focuses on educating urban and regional planners and researching the field. The field includes the planning, development and research of neighbourhoods, policies, regulations and processes for the planning of cities and regions. The professor leads the field’s activities at the School of Arts, Design and Architecture towards creating sustainable environments and places that improve the quality of life for humans and nature alike, as well as take into consideration heritage and other relevant contexts for the field.
The professor is responsible for teaching on all academic degree levels with an already contracted lecturer in the field. The education gives skills for orchestrating planning projects with other experts. The focus is on the strategies, structures and polices of urban and regional planning. Our organisation has another professor for urban design, where the emphasis is instead on design. Most students will become architects.
The role involves an obligation towards societally and ecologically beneficial impacts. External fundraising, multidisciplinary collaboration as well as development and management work within the Department of Architecture are part of the duties. This includes responsibility of urban planning in the architecture and landscape degree programmes of the Department of Architecture, and also participating actively and taking responsibility of the education of the multidisciplinary
Urban Studies and Planning Master Programme in the department. The programme is open to Architecture and Landscape Architecture students, as well as students from other departments within the University and from collaborating universities.
A holistic understanding of the contemporary and historical background of urban and regional planning is necessary to successfully lead the field at Aalto University. The field of urban and regional planning requires skills to use knowledge from various other fields: geospatial knowledge, heritage management, sociology, urban studies, urban economy etc. We expect professors to be proactive members of the Aalto and the international academic community. Collaboration with national and international stakeholders will be important.
Requirements
The applicants will be reviewed based on the quality and potential of their research, relevant projects in urban and regional planning, teaching merits (teaching experience is mandatory), academic leadership skills and societal impact. A master’s degree in architecture and a doctoral degree relevant to the position is mandatory.
A successful candidate is expected to have broad knowledge of urban and regional planning, as well as their applicability to the Nordic context. Peer-reviewed publications, participation in research projects, architectural and planning publications, and contribution to the advancement of sustainability in the field will be considered indications of the applicant’s suitability for the position.
The candidate is expected to be internationally networked and fluent in English. Knowledge of Finnish and/or Swedish is an advantage. The position will require working in Aalto university campus in Finland.
Please find more information on the School of Arts, Design and Architecture’s tenure-track criteria
here.
What we offer
We can give you a possibility to work within a well-resourced learning, research and art & design community. The School of Arts, Design and Architecture has well-equipped infrastructure for research and artistic activities, including top-class workshop premises. We are located on the Aalto University campus in Otaniemi, Espoo, with several other neighboring research institutions and organizations.
The salary will be defined based on the applicant’s qualifications and level of position and will follow the
Aalto University salary system. In addition to the salary, Aalto University provides its employees with occupational health care and excellent learning and development opportunities.
Ready to apply?
The following materials should be submitted in English and in PDF format through our recruitment system
Workday. Maximum size per document there is 30 MB.
We kindly ask you to submit your application materials through our recruitment systems no later than midnight on
02 September 2024 (UTC +3).
If you already work at Aalto University or are a visitor here, please apply for the position by using
your existing Workday user account! Please see how to apply as an internal applicant
here.
After the application period closes, the Departmental Committee will draw a shortlist of candidates who will be invited to a site visit at the Department of Architecture. During the site visit they will be interviewed and asked to deliver a teaching demonstration. The site visit will take place in the fall 2024. In addition, the shortlisted applications will be reviewed by external experts.
Aalto University reserves the right to leave the position open, to extend the application period, to ask for supplementary materials, or to consider additional candidates who have not submitted applications during the application period.
Enquiries
For additional information, please contact Chair of the Departmental Committee, Professor Antti Ahlava: +358 50 324 1179, antti.ahlava (at)aalto.fi
In questions related to the recruitment process, please contact HR Specialist
Satu Pöyhönen: satu.poyhonen(at)aalto.fi
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