Professor/Associate Professor (Tenure Track), Technical Physics

The University of Eastern Finland is inviting applications for the post of Professor/Associate Professor (Tenure Track) of Technical Physics at the Department of Technical Physics of the Faculty of Science, Forestry and Technology on the Kuopio campus. The position will be filled from 1 September 2026 (or as agreed).

Please find more information below and submit your application no later than 11 May 2026.

Role and salary

At the Department of Technical Physics there are several active research groups that belong to two Academy of Finland Centres of Excellence and three Flagship programmes. The degree programme in Technical Physics was launched in autumn 2023. The department’s research and education are organized around four main focus areas: medical physics and biomedical engineering, aerosol physics, computational engineering, and materials engineering. The Department of Technical Physics is ambitious and growing, currently publishing about 170 high-quality peer-reviewed articles per year, operating with staff of 180 FTE years and producing over 50 university degrees per year.

The field of research and teaching of the post of Professor/Associate Professor is Technical Physics. Related research topics include the combination of high-quality scientific computing and innovation with medical engineering, materials technology and/or atmospheric physics and industry. The duties include conducting, developing and leading research in the field and related national and international education, as well as responsibility for scientific postgraduate education in the field in accordance with the job title. The professorship emphasises comprehensive leadership and responsibility for research and education in the field.

The Professor/Associate Professor will be responsible for the acquisition of external funding and for international research cooperation and networking in the field. The post also includes societal expert and interaction activities.

The post of Professor will be filled as of 1 September 2026 (or as agreed) until further notice. The post of Associate Professor will be filled for a four-year term as of 1 September 2026 (or as agreed). The post of Associate Professor is filled for a fixed term due to it being a Tenure Track position. A probationary period is applied to all new members of the UEF staff.

The criteria, objectives and results to be achieved during the term, which are required for progression to the next level of the tenure track (Professor), shall be agreed in detail with the person appointed as Associate Professor at the time of signing the employment contract. Fulfilment of the agreed criteria is a prerequisite for promotion to the permanent professorship through the tenure track.

External expert evaluation will be used in the recruitment. Expert statements are part of the overall evaluation process for the position. Interviews related to the filling of the position will be arranged separately.

The salary of the post is based on the salary system for the teaching and research staff of Finnish universities. In the case of a Professor, the salary is based on levels 8-11 of the job requirement level chart (EUR 5,581 - 8,063 /month) of the salary system for the teaching and research staff of Finnish universities and in the case of an Associate Professor (Tenure Track), on level 7 of the job requirement level chart (EUR 4,525 /month). In addition to the job-related salary element, the salary is supplemented with a personal salary element, which can be a maximum of 50% of the job-related salary element.

Our requirements and expectations

Requirements

Please find the description and the requirements of the post of Professor/Associate Professor of Technical Physics in the description of the post: Description of the post (pdf)

Qualification requirements of the position are:

• A doctoral degree in engineering, physics, or another relevant field
• Scientific qualification and demonstrated research expertise in the research area of the position
• Good teaching skills
• The language of instruction in the position may be English

If the position is filled at the Associate Professor level, the appointee is required to attain the qualifications of a Professor within a specified time frame (4 years).

The following will be considered an advantage

• A strong track record of acquiring research funding and international activities; and experience in supervision
• A clearly defined independent research profile and the readiness to establish one’s own research group at the University of Eastern Finland
• Experience and demonstrated merits in innovation activities within the research field, including invention disclosures and patents

Your benefits

You will have access to the university’s staff benefits, including

• opportunity for flexible multi-location work
• excellent opportunities for professional development and continuous learning
• extensive occupational health care
• broad selection of staff training
• staff discount on lunch in our campus restaurants, as well as on a range of other services
• affordable sports services

Please read more in the Work at UEF section on our website.

You will have an opportunity to work in an interesting, meaningful and diverse role as part of our international, creative, participatory and inclusive academic community.

Enjoy your life in Finland! Known for its cleanliness, welfare know-how, modern technology and superb education system, Finland is an exotic and safe country to work in. Please visit the Life in Finland section on our website to learn more.

How to apply?

Submit your application by using our electronic application form no later than 11 May 2026 by 24:00 (midnight) Finnish time (UTC+3).

The following documents must be enclosed with the application:

• CV (Template for CV, TENK web page)
• a portfolio of teaching merits (Instructions, a portfolio of teaching merits PDF)
• a list of publications (Instructions, Research Council of Finland Web page)
• a separate list of the publications and other works (Professor: 20, numbered and indexed; and Associate Professor: 10, numbered and indexed) with which the applicant wishes to demonstrate their qualification and merits for the post
• the publications and other works referred to in the above list with which the applicant wishes to demonstrate their qualification and merits for the post
• a short, written description (2–4 pages) of the merits and activities relevant to the post, including the applicant’s views on how to develop research and teaching in the field
• copies of academic degree certificates / diplomas (highest degree)

The application with appendices should be submitted in English (excluding any publications published in Finnish) in case the applicants’ qualification and merits are assessed by international experts. The applicant must ensure that the contact details specified in the application remain up-to-date throughout the recruitment process.

If your degree certificate is not in English, Finnish, or Swedish, you must provide official English translations of your degree certificate documents. All translations must be issued by the awarding educational institution or an authorized translator. Each page of the official translation must bear the translator's stamp and/or signature. Official translations must be accurate translations of the original documents. Translations made by the applicants themselves will not be accepted.

Questions?

For further information, please contact Professor Petro Julkunen, tel. +358 50 096 0181, petro.julkunen@uef.fi

For further information on the application procedure, please contact HR Specialist Noora Hämäläinen, e-mail: noora.hamalainen@uef.fi, tel. +358 29 445 8302 or HR Specialist Iiris Korhonen, e-mail: iiris.korhonen@uef.fi, tel. +358 29 445 8161 or Executive Head of Administration Arja Hirvonen, e-mail. arja.hirvonen@uef.fi, tel. +358 29 445 3002.