University lecturer in artistic research

Uniarts Helsinki is an open meeting place for the arts – an ambitious university community for bold reformers and experts in tradition. We cultivate a unique environment that helps artists grow and strengthens the power of art as a driver of change. Uniarts Helsinki is among the leading performing arts universities in the world, and it is comprised of the Academy of Fine Arts, Sibelius Academy and Theatre Academy. We have about 2,000 students, 60 professors, and 700 full-time equivalent employees. 

Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts is an international community. It offers high-quality teaching in contemporary art and is a pioneer in artistic research. The Academy of Fine Arts has educated visual artists since 1848.

Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts is now recruiting a university lecturer in artistic research

position starting from 1 January 2021.

 

The position is placed on the tenure track for lecturers at the University of the Arts Helsinki (Uniarts Helsinki), and the employment is valid until further notice. Further information about Uniarts Helsinki’s career system and tenure track is available here. 

 

Teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts combines theory and practice in a way that supports students’ development. The Academy of Fine Arts offers three programmes: Bachelor’s and Master’s Programme in Fine Arts, Master’s Programme in Exhibition Studies (Praxis) and Doctoral Programme in Fine Arts. The university lecturer’s position is based in the Doctoral Programme in Fine Arts.

The Academy of Fine Arts has offered doctoral education since 1997, and the programme’s focus is on art-making and artistic processes. The basis of teaching activities is the holistic idea that the discursive, material, technical, social, intellectual and political aspects of research-oriented art-making are organically intertwined with each other in individual processes. The doctoral programme aims to support these connections in constructive way. Doctoral education at the Academy of Fine Arts emphasises collegiality and high-quality artistic work in the context of artistic research. The doctoral programme is actively involved in international networks. The special asset of doctoral studies within the Academy of Fine Arts is the cooperation with Uniarts Helsinki’s other academies and with postdoc researchers. About half of the current doctoral students registered in the doctoral programme of the Academy of Fine Arts work mainly in Finnish. Most of the seminars are held in English.

The Doctor of Fine Arts degree (DFA, third-cycle degree) extends to 240 ECTS credits, which corresponds to 4 years of full-time studies. The aim of a doctoral degree is for the student to gain a profound understanding of their field, achieve the competence to carry out high-quality work that demonstrates artistic maturity, and become capable of producing new insights through independent artistic research in fine arts.? 

Duties of a university lecturer in artistic research

The main duties of the university lecturer include teaching and planning of teaching in the field of artistic research in fine arts. A special focus area in the teaching duties is the development of methods in artistic research. Besides teaching, the university lecturer has a central role in the mentoring of doctoral students’ studies and providing individual supervision at different stages of students’ thesis projects. Other duties include the development of supervision practices in doctoral studies and the development of cooperation between the doctoral programme and other units at the Academy of Fine Arts. To the duties of the university lecturer belong additionally various tasks in the university community, especially related to the curriculum development. The university lecturer is also expected to carry out their own artistic research work and to follow the international field of fine arts and artistic research. The university lecturer participates actively in societal engagement in the role of an expert in artistic research.

 

Selection criteria of a university lecturer in artistic research

One of the objectives mentioned in Uniarts Helsinki’s new strategy is developing the university’s education, teaching and pedagogy by using research-based approach. A person selected for the position of a university lecturer in artistic research is required to have an applicable doctorate and merits in independent artistic research in fine arts. The person is also required to have versatile teaching skills, pedagogical competence, and the ability to provide high-quality teaching and supervision that is based on research. Experience in developing artistic research activities and university communities and being socially engaged is considered an advantage. An essential requirement for successfully performing duties of a university lecturer is possessing excellent cooperation skills. The exact criteria of the Uniarts Helsinki’s tenure track for lecturers can be found here.

The recruitment decision is made based on an overall assessment of the applicant’s teaching, pedagogical, research-related and cooperation skills and motivation to develop the field. The applicant’s experience in working in a university community and societal engagement are also taken into account.

 

Language skills

The languages of instruction at Uniarts Helsinki are Finnish, Swedish, and English. All applicants are required to have excellent language skills either in English or in Finnish/Swedish. Finnish applicants are also required to have good English skills and satisfactory skills in the other national language. Language skills will be assessed in relation to the duties of the post.  

 

Salary and working time

The position’s working hours will be based on a total annual workload of 1,612 hours, as defined in the collective agreement. The job-specific salary component will be based on level 6-7 of the requirement scheme for teaching and research positions in the salary system of Finnish universities. In addition, the appointee will be paid a salary component based on personal work performance. The annual salary of a full-time position is about 46,000-55,000 euros at the beginning of the employment. 

Applying

Apply for the position by 31 August 2020 at 23:59 (UTC +2) by the latest by using Uniarts Helsinki’s online recruitment system, which you can access here. You will receive an acknowledgement of receipt after submitting your application (it is a good idea to check the spam folder if you cannot find the email with your username information in your inbox). Attach the following documents as PDF files in Finnish, Swedish or English in your application:

 

1. A free-form letter of motivation/application (max. 2 pages)
2. A portfolio of artistic research including 3-5 most important work samples (max. 20 pages in total)
3. Curriculum vitae (in accordance with TENK’s instructions), including a list of publications
4. Teaching portfolio (in accordance with Uniarts Helsinki’s instructions)

Without jeopardising the uniform treatment of applicants, Uniarts Helsinki reserves the right to leave the position unfilled or to continue the application period.

 

More information

For more information on the position, please contact Professor Mika Elo, and on the recruitment process, HR Specialist Leena-Kaisa Paananen. Email addresses follow the format etunimi.sukunimi@uniarts.fi.