Two positions of University Lecturer in Law, both for the period of August 1, 2013 to July 31, 2018

The Faculty of Law is a modern research and educational community. Under the roof of Calonia takes place a well-knit academic community in which the interaction between students, teachers, researchers and administrative staff is easy and uncomplicated. The production of the new research information and the training of the new experts are core tasks of the faculty.

 

The Faculty budget includes salaries for 75 people. This includes roughly 55 people in the research and teaching staff and roughly 20 people in other positions. Each year, 130-165 students majoring in Law begin their studies at the Faculty. There are 1300 students altogether studying in the faculty.

 

The Faculty of Law is not divided into departments or subjects. In-stead, the research and teaching carried out at the Faculty cover all branches of law extensively. The main research fields of the Faculty include constitutionalism and fundamental rights as well as legal research on economic changes. Research at the Faculty is not divided into these two main fields by subject. Rather, different subjects conduct research in both areas. This allows researchers to develop contacts both within the Faculty and with external stakeholders.

 

In accordance with the university research career model, the position of University Lecturer is a third stage career position with emphasis on teaching. The position of University Lecturer contains a wide range of teaching duties, which include teaching both basic and postgraduate level studies and planning the studies, supervising theses and being responsible for the curriculum. The University Lecturer is also expected to conduct independent scientific re-search and to participate in seeking research funding and realizing research projects. In addition, the University Lecturer has administrative duties at the University.  The duties of University Lecturer include a maximum of 160 hours of contact teaching in an academic year.

 

The duties of the University Lecturer in Law are organized as following at the faculty:

 

1) public law

2) a group of subjects including criminal law, process law, legal sociology and criminology.

 

The salary is in accordance with the University salary system for teaching and research personnel, levels 5-7, where the position-specific salary component is 2 820,64 - 3 799,56 euros per month. In addition, there is a component based on personal performance, which is at most 46,3 % of the position-specific salary. The salary for these particular posts is determined when drawing up the employment contract.

 

An appropriate doctoral degree and the ability to give high-quality research-based teaching and to supervise theses are required of persons selected for the post of university lecturer. When assessing the merits of the applicants for the post of university lecturer, scholarly work, practical expertise in the field in question if needed, teaching experience and teacher training, ability to produce study materials, other teaching merits, and a trial lecture will be taken into account.

 

Ideally, the applicant teaches multiple subjects in both positions. A multidisciplinary approach and capability of teaching in English are regarded as advantages.

 

Provisions concerning the proficiency in the Finnish and Swedish languages shall be enacted by Government Decree (15.10.2009/770). University teaching and research personnel should be proficient in the language, Finnish or Swedish, in which the teaching is given. More detailed provisions shall be given in the University of Turku Rules of Procedure.

 

A position announcement will be published. The period during which applications may be submitted is 30 days.

 

Applications must be submitted in writing. Applications must be addressed to the Faculty of Law and delivered to the address Caloniankuja 3, 20500 TURKU, Finland, or by e-mail to mia.fager@utu.fi, not later than 15.45 on the closing day for applications. (For the closing day, please see the official announcement for this position.)

 

 Application must include:

 

1) a freeform application in which the applicant identifies the position he or she is applying for

2) a curriculum vitae in accordance with Faculty practice http://www.utu.fi/en/units/law/research/instructions/Pages/home.aspx

3) an academic portfolio in accordance with university practice https://intranet.utu.fi/en/unit/human-resources/recruitment/other-recruitment-issues/Pages/Academic-portfolio.aspx

4) a list of publications in accordance with Faculty practice http://www.utu.fi/en/units/law/research/instructions/Pages/home.aspx

5) a list of those publications and other works the applicant wishes to submit as proof of his or her qualifications to the position (the publications should be numbered, and the maximum number of publications is 10.)

6) a written statement of not more than two typed pages, setting out the applicant’s vision for the future development of research and teaching in the discipline.

  

In the evaluation phase, the top applicants will be separately asked to deliver the publications and other works (in two (2) pieces) listed under point 5.

 

The applications can be written in Finnish or in English. The publications to be evaluated with the application must be submitted in their original language and not as translations unless the translations have already been published.

 

Applicants are required to state how they may be contacted during the selection process and to declare the address to which written communications should be sent.

 

The Dean shall establish a preparation group to handle the appointment of the University Lecturers. The preparation group should include 2-3 professors, one teacher, researcher or other staff member and one student. The Dean nominates one professor to act as the chairman of the preparation group and the Head of Administration as its secretary. The members of the group must be unchallenged for the task.

  

The preparation group submits a proposal for the selection of Assessors and makes the appointment proposal for the position in question. The preparation group may also contribute to the assessment of teaching skills and interview the applicants if necessary.

 

The preparatory group first makes a pre-selection of the applicants based on the information presented in the applications and their appendices. After this, the preparatory group obtains expert statements on the scholarly merit of the top applicants chosen through the pre-selection process and takes care of the other practical arrangements related to the selection process. The preparatory group will make the appointment proposal. The group may assist in evaluating applicants’ teaching skills and interview them if necessary.

 

The Faculty invites statements on the qualifications and competence of the applicants from no less than two Assessors. The Dean chooses the Assessors. The selection of Assessors is based on the post being filled. The appointed Assessors may not be persons disqualified under Section 27-29 of the Administrative Procedure Act (434/2003). The Applicants will be informed of the selection of the Assessors. Assessors, once selected, may not participate in the subsequent stages of the appointment procedure.

 

The Assessors are required to submit written statements. In their evaluations, the Assessors are asked to put a special emphasis on the scientific competence and merits of the applicants. The statements are public, and they must justify the Assessors’ opinions as to which applicants are primarily to be taken into account in filling the position. The Assessor should consider the position in question, its qualification requirements as well as any other circumstances affecting the evaluation of the merits of the applicants. The Assessor is also to place the top candidates in order of preference. If there are no more than three applicants, the Assessor is required to submit reasoned evaluations of all the applicants. If there are more than three applicants, then such evaluations should be sub-mitted of at least three applicants. However, the Assessor is required to submit reasoned evaluations only of those applicants whom he or she considers serious candidates for appointment. The statement must explicitly state the criteria used for compiling this shortlist and for excluding those applicants not considered in detail. The Assessors may consult with each other, and they may submit a joint statement.

 

The Assessor will be provided with the Appointment Specification for the vacant post, copies of application documents relevant to the task and the publications and other materials submitted with the applications. The statement must be given within three months from when the documentation has become available to the Assessors, unless the time period has been extended for special reasons. The statement becomes public once the statements from all the experts have reached the University.

    

After the experts have submitted their statements, the Faculty may make arrangements to allow the applicant to give a teaching demonstration. The demonstration lecture is open to the public, and it will be reviewed. The teaching skills evaluation committee will assist in the evaluation by giving a written statement about the teaching merits of the chosen applicants.

 

The top candidates will be interviewed.

 

Following the submission of the expert statements and other necessary information, the preparation group shall make a reasoned proposal about which candidates it deems suitable to the post.

 

Further information concerning the appointment procedure may be obtained from the Head of Administration at the Faculty of Law, Mia Fager, phone +358 2 333 5500 and email mia.fager(at)utu.fi.