Tenure Track Assistant professorship or Associate Professor in Disease Management of Arable crops

The Department of Agroecology at Aarhus University, Denmark, offers an attractive position in the Crop health section focusing on sustainable disease management in arable cropping systems. The candidate will be part of a research environment focusing on integrated pest management with reduced reliance on chemical pesticides. Besides contributing to ongoing research activities within the crop health section, you are expected to attract external funding and develop your own research portfolio on integrated disease management in primarily arable cropping systems that will support the green transition of Danish and European agricultural production. You will also be responsible for teaching, guidance, and examination of BSc and MSc degree students and supervision of Ph.D. students. As part of the department’s responsibilities towards Danish authorities you will also be involved in policy support activities.

We expect that you will be an important part of the international research community on Disease management and that your research is reported in high-impact scientific journals. We also expect that you will contribute positively to the social working environment in the department.

The position is offered as either a Tenure Track Assistant Professor or as Associate Professor depending on the qualifications of the applicant. You must indicate in your application, if you apply for the Tenure Track Assistant Professorship, the Associate Professorship, or both. The position is a full-time position starting on 1 Dec 2023 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Your profile
Your competences as Tenure Track Assistant Professor:
You have independent research-related qualifications at a high international level, and you have the potential of becoming a successful research leader. Assessment of your qualifications is based on research output, including peer-reviewed publications, international research collaboration, potential to perform ground-breaking research, potential to attract external funding, communication skills, ability to collaborate and build relationships, etc. It is positive if you have stayed at or been employed at least at one internationally recognized research institution. Tenure track positions are usually aimed at candidates who have not previously held an assistant professor position.

Your competences as Associate Professor:
You have established yourself as a prominent researcher within your specific field of research and you possess documented solid research and teaching qualifications at a high international level. Assessment of your qualifications are based on research output, including high-level peer-reviewed publications, international research collaboration and long-term research stay(s) at another internationally acknowledged university or research institution, proven ability to attract external funding, demonstrated ability to deliver high-quality undergraduate/graduate teaching and supervision of students, good communication skills and ability to collaborate and build relationships. You should be ready to take co-responsibility for the development of the department’s research and education at the highest international level and for ensuring that we maintain a good work environment.

Besides the formal requirements for either a tenure track assistant professor or associated professor, you must:

• Hold a Ph.D. in disease management, plant pathology or other relevant research areas
• Document experience in scientific writing with several papers in high-quality journals or other high-quality publication channels
• Provide a 2-3 page plan for research over the next 3-5 years within focused parts of the research area and have a clear potential to perform ground-breaking research as well as attract external funding
• If you are selected, the research will be the basis of an application for a starting grant
• Have proven international research collaborations (e.g., joint papers and applications)
• Be dedicated and possess the ability to collaborate and build relationships

Further, we will prefer candidates with some of the following qualifications:

• Experience in planning and conducting field-work and greenhouse trials
• Experience in planning and conducting laboratory work with pathogenic fungi and the use of molecular tools for the characterization of plant-pathogen interactions
• Experience in the area of testing and handling fungicides as well as biological control organisms as a mean of controlling plant pathogens
• Insight into fungicide resistance and the use of the different diagnostic tools
• Experience with collaboration with private companies and or policy support

Who we are
At the Department of Agroecology, our main goal is to contribute to sustainable solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems within the areas of soil, plants, animals, humans, and the environment. In the Crop Health section our research is often directed at solving present crop protection problems, but also at increasing our understanding of the underlying biological processes, so we seek to make a difference by contributing to fundamental knowledge generation and to provide knowledge for the development of sustainable plant production systems. We offer innovative laboratory, greenhouse, semi-field, and field-scale research facilities, advanced computing capacities as well as an extensive national and international researcher network.

The department consists of seven research sections with more than 300 highly dedicated employees, of which approximately 50% are scientific staff. More information can be found here.

What we offer

• An informal and highly professional multicultural research environment, where accountability, commitment, helpfulness, flexibility, and close collaboration is a prerequisite for solving the core tasks
• A good social environment with activities that make it possible to interact and strengthen personal relationships, and where mutual trust, respect, kindness, and professional sparring are emphasized
• A flexible workplace with a good work-life balance
• An exciting and varied working environment, where two days rarely resemble each other. We are often busy, and we work creatively for solutions to societal challenges
• Universal health insurance as a resident of Denmark, including family members officially residing in Denmark
• In connection with childbirth, the right to have a total of 52 weeks shared maternal/paternal leave with full or partial salary pay
• Five weeks paid holiday per year
• Subsidized pre-school childcare and free education from primary school up to university level

Place of Work
The place of work is Aarhus University, Campus Flakkebjerg. The affiliation will be with the Department of Agroecology.

More information can be obtained from Professor Per Kudsk (email:
per.kudsk@agro.au.dk, phone: +45 22283382) and Lise Nistrup Jørgensen (email: lisen.jorgensen@agro.au.dk, phone +45 22283352)

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 question 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 Taxation 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 Taxation and the Confederation of Professional Associations.

Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants.

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.

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 8,300 employees, and has an annual revenues of EUR 935 million. Learn more at www.international.au.dk/