Assistant/associate professor in digital social sciences (tenure track)

LUT University's Department of Social Sciences is looking for a professor in digital social sciences.

The Department of Social Sciences was founded in 2022 under the LUT School of Engineering Sciences. The department understands society and human activities in relation to global sustainability problems and consists of two disciplines, social science and communication sciences.  In autumn 2024, three master’s programmes in social sciences and communication sciences has started at the department. The department will eventually detach and form an independent school of its own at the university.

The professorship falls under the social sciences programme at the Department of Social Sciences. Social Sciences at LUT has identified its central targets as sustainable citizenship, enabling renewable societies, and the connections of people and technology.

The position is situated at the assistant/associate professor levels of the tenure track and will be filled through an open call for a fixed term of four years on LUT’s Lappeenranta campus, Finland. The tenure track system offers researchers a possibility to advance to a full professorship. The work will start with a six-month trial period.

We are looking for a future-oriented candidate interested in digital social science, with a focus on how digitalisation changes societies and business and/or on developing methodologies for studying digitalised societies.

The ideal candidate has a doctoral degree in a field of social sciences and a research focus on digital social sciences. The candidates are expected to demonstrate a high level of academic competence and have ambition for ground-breaking academic research in the field of digital social sciences. This requires the capability to publish in top-tier publications of this new and emerging field. The candidates should have good command of advanced quantitative methods – either traditional ones or methods involving machine learning. 

Examples of desirable topical specialisations include: 

• changes in society and the state due to digitalisation 
• the joint digital and green transition in society 
• governance of the impacts of digitalisation 
• social science perspectives in infrastructure studies methodologies and approaches 
• changes in social sciences research methods due to digitalisation

The candidates are also expected to provide evidence of the ability to obtain research funding, establish and supervise a research group, cooperate with industry partners, and conduct research with societal impact. Skills for collaborating both within LUT and with national and especially international partners are crucial to the position. Spoken and written fluency in English is required.  

A global perspective and international experience are strong merits, and candidates with international academic experience are especially encouraged to apply.

The general duties related to the field of research include the following:

• high-impact international research and publishing 
• planning and implementation of bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral education
• supervision and evaluation of final theses and doctoral studies
• acquisition of research funding
• cost-conscious leadership and project management 
• preparation of national and international research 
• preparation of international education projects
• communicating and networking actively, thereby increasing awareness in a way that serves LUT and its educational and industrial partners 
• close collaboration and interaction with businesses in the field
• societal engagement: collaboration and interaction with related public-sector or international organisations
• taking part in the preparation of projects in other LUT units as an expert
• general administrative work related to the university's operation
• teamwork, as most of the research and work is conducted in research groups and teams

The appointment process description explains the qualification requirements and tenure track appointment criteria.

All application documents must be in English and in PDF format. The application must include:

• a curriculum vitae (max. 10 pages)
• a copy of the candidate’s doctoral degree certificate
• a full list of publications including the candidate’s Scopus and Google Scholar details: the Scopus ID and Google Scholar profile URL, the total number of publications, and the total number of citations and h-indices
• a separate list of the 10 publications selected for expert evaluation
• the 10 publications mentioned above
• a teaching portfolio or an equivalent account of the candidate's teaching qualifications, presenting courses taught by the candidate, related feedback, the candidate’s pedagogical training and teaching philosophy, and courses that the candidate is able to or prefers to teach
• an account of the candidate's merits and activities of significance to the vacancy (max. 3 pages)
• an account of the candidate's vision on the development of education, external funding, research, and projects in the field of the professorship at LUT University (max. 3 pages)

Please specify the tenure track level applied to.

The salary is determined according to the salary system for university teaching and research personnel. The pay will include an individual pay component based on performance and competence. The annual gross salary for an assistant/associate professor amounts to 49 300 – 66 300 euros depending on the qualifications and experience of the candidate. In addition to a competitive salary, the wide range of benefits that come with this job include a holiday bonus, a generous holiday entitlement, research incentive scheme with personal rewards for high quality publications, flexible working hours, occupational health care, a collegial faculty environment and continued commitment for your support, learning, training and development.

The closing date for applications is 31 July at 12:00 noon, Finnish local time (UTC + 3h). Please submit your application and all required attachments by filling out the online form.

For further information, please contact Matti Kojo, head of department and associate professor, +358 50 30 23 920, matti.kojo@lut.fi.

Read more about the Department of Social Sciences.

Read more about the LUT School of Engineering Sciences.

Read more about the information for international staff.

LUT University | Clean energy, water and air are life-giving resources for which we at LUT University seek new solutions with our expertise in technology, business and social sciences. We help society and businesses in their sustainable renewal. Our international community consists of over 9,000 members. Our campuses are in Lappeenranta and Lahti, Finland. We are one of the world's top universities for climate action. lut.fi/en

Technical support for using the recruitment system: recruitment@lut.fi.