Tenure track Assistant Professor / Associate Professor in Medical Biotechnology

The Department of Engineering, Aarhus University, invites applications for assistant professor (tenure track) or associate professor position in the field of Medical 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 exceptionally innovative and visionary researchers to be part of this build-up to strengthen and develop BCE at Aarhus University.

The position is available from 1 May 2021 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 and growing research areas within medical and industrial biotechnology including  e.g. organoid technologies, immunology, functional microbiology, protein and lipid biotechnology, and modelling of biological processes. Close collaboration with the Departments of Molecular Biology and Genetics, iNano, Biomedicine and Chemistry are established and a natural part of our culture. The successful applicant will be working in the research unit of Biotechnology and produce and disseminate knowledge and research results about the biological basis of relevant processes. Translation of results into solving relevant societal problems within health and pharma industry is a highly prioritized aspect of our work. Interactions with AU interdisciplinary centers are encouraged. Further details can be found here.

Working area
The main activity will be research within the area of biotechnology in the context of health-related biological molecules, technologies and applications.
Relevant areas are within biomolecules and cellular technologies with application in the pharmaceutical and medical industry and include engineering, analysis, modification and establishment of approaches for future diagnostics and intervention strategies. These strategies are based on both new research discoveries and deep knowledge, being key to development of new products of increased value and patient´s benefit.

Research activities will include one (or more) of the following topics:

• Biomolecules for advanced intervention/diagnostics/prophylaxis Precision medicine Genome editing technologies, stem cells and cell factories Machine learning and AI in health-related biotechnology Vaccine development

The areas might further include biochemical, functional and structural analysis of advanced biomolecules and analysis of their impact on patient´s and consumer´s health, which is key to products of increased value and clinical benefit. Expertise in pre-clinical and clinical trials might be considered advantageous.
These activities might further overlap with molecular biology, metabolic engineering, protein, lipid and carbohydrate directed molecular characterization, and other important biophysical and biochemical approaches.  

The individual applicant is outstanding in his/her research field and has a strong academic track record relative to career stage. The successful candidate will have to attract external funding, be responsible for teaching and supervision within the research area, and participate in research-based knowledge exchange and dissemination with society and industry.

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 10, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark.

Further information
For more information, please contact Head of the BCE Section Anders Bentien, bentien@eng.au.dk, Head of Department of Engineering, Lars Ditlev Mørck Ottosen, ldmo@eng.au.dk., or Research Manager Medical Biotechnology, Edzard Spillner, e.spillner@eng.au.dk.

Application Deadline: 31 December 2020.

Technical Sciences Tenure Track
Aarhus University offers talented scientists from around the world attractive career perspectives via the Technical Sciences Tenure Track Programme. Highly qualified candidates are appointed as Assistant Professors for a period of six years with the prospect of performance- based advancement to a tenured Associate Professorship.

The aim of the Technical Sciences Tenure Track Programme is to:

• attract outstanding 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 is offered:

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

As part of the Aarhus University Tenure Track Programme, 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 is conducted after five and a half years. If the review is positive, the candidate will be offered a tenured position as Associate Professor at Aarhus University.

Please refer to the tenure track guidelines for the tenure review criteria and for the tenure review process.

Application procedure
Shortlisting 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.

Letter of reference
If you want a referee to upload a letter of reference on your behalf, please state the referee’s contact information when you submit your application. We strongly recommend that you make an agreement with the person in ques-tion before you enter the referee’s contact information, and that you ensure that the referee has enough time to write the letter of reference before the application deadline.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to ensure that letters of reference received after the application deadline will be taken into consideration.

Formalities and salary range
Technical Sciences 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. Research activities will be evaluated in relation to actual research time. Thus, we encourage applicants to specify periods of leave without research activities, in order to be able to subtract these periods from the span of the scientific career during the evaluation of scientific productivity.

Aarhus University offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including relocation service and career counselling to expat partners. Read more here. Please find more information about entering and working in Denmark here.

The application must be submitted via Aarhus University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aarhus University's website.

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A process has been initiated in terms of reorganizing of engineering at Aarhus University. Read more here: https://eng.au.dk/en/news-and-events/news/show/artikel/new-organisation-to-strengthen-engineering-at-aarhus-university-1/

Aarhus University
Aarhus University is an academically diverse and research-intensive university with a strong commitment to high-quality research and education and the development of society nationally and globally. The university offers an inspiring research and teaching environment to its 38,000 students (FTEs) and 8,000 employees, and has an annual revenues of EUR 885 million. Learn more at www.international.au.dk/