Tenure-track position as Assistant Professor in Human Security, Department of Anthropology, AU

The Department of Anthropology, School of Culture and Society, invites applications for a tenure track position as assistant professor in Human Security. The position will commence on 1 September 2027 or as soon as possible thereafter.

An assistant professorship is a full-time, training position that involves research and teaching at the BA, MA and PhD level and includes an obligatory course in university teaching for assistant professors.

The tenure-track position begins with a full-time, fixed-term three-year appointment as assistant professor with a view to permanent employment as associate professor. Tenure as an associate professor is subject to necessary funding and conditional upon the assistant professor being assessed as qualified for the position of associate professor before the end of the third year of employment at the latest or, if the tenure-track candidate requests, before the end of the third year. The assessment is based on the assistant professor’s fulfilment of the qualification requirements that apply to associate professorships and the criteria stated in this advertisement. If the assessment is positive, the candidate will be offered a tenured position as an associate professor at Aarhus University.

Place of employment: Aarhus University, Department of Anthropology, Moesgård Alle 20, 8270 Højbjerg, Denmark.

Don’t feel you meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that some groups of people are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. We are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about the position but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly, we encourage you to get in touch or to just apply. You may be just the right candidate.

In its pursuit of academic excellence, The Faculty of Arts is committed to creating an inclusive working environment and therefore encourages all qualified candidates to apply, regardless of personal background, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, ethnicity etc.

The Position
The position is a combined teaching and research position.

For this position, we are seeking an innovative and dedicated scholar who will contribute to Aarhus University’s core activities in research, education, talent development, and knowledge exchange. The successful applicant will also be expected to coordinate the interdisciplinary master's degree program in Human Security and contribute to our general anthropology programs anchored at the Department of Anthropology.

Research
The Department of Anthropology emphasizes high-quality research and attaches great importance to interdisciplinary collaboration, participation in collective research projects, and the ability to attract external research funding. The successful applicant is expected to have a background in the social sciences or humanities and a strong research profile within human security. We are particularly interested in candidates whose research addresses themes such as crisis, security, pandemics, climate change, conflict, violence, post-conflict recovery, displacement, security governance, governmentality, and nation-building. The position is not restricted to a particular geographical region. However, applicants with documented research experience employing ethnographic and qualitative approaches, including extensive field-based research, will be preferred.

Education & talent development
The Department of Anthropology is home to three education programs: A bachelor and master program in anthropology, including a general track and a track in visual anthropology, and an international master program in Human Security. The assistant professor will be expected to teach and supervise students across these programs, at both BA and MSc level. The successful applicant will teach and supervise students in English at all levels (BA, MA, and PhD) and contribute to curriculum development across our educational programs. They will be responsible for developing and coordinating our MA program in Human Security and for teaching core courses. We therefore particularly value candidates who can teach courses related to human security, conflict and violence, humanitarian crises, peace and conflict studies, post-conflict reconstruction, migration and displacement, and ethnographic research methods.

The candidate is also expected to engage in innovative teaching practices and collaborative approaches to student learning. We emphasise the importance of maintaining a dedicated and respectful relationship between staff and students, so applicants should be able to demonstrate and exemplify their commitment to participatory teaching initiatives and student involvement as part of their teaching portfolio.

The successful candidate will contribute actively to talent development within the field of human security. This includes supervising MA students and PhD candidates and developing doctoral-level training in areas related to human security, conflict studies, violence, and ethnographic research methodologies.

Knowledge Exchange
The successful applicant will be expected to engage actively in knowledge exchange with governmental, non-governmental, humanitarian, and civil society organisations. Candidates should demonstrate an ability to communicate research findings to broader audiences and contribute to public debates on issues such as conflict, violence, humanitarian crises, post-conflict recovery, and human security. Experience collaborating with practitioners, policy actors, international organisations, or community-based partners working in conflict-affected settings is highly desirable.

Qualifications
Applicants must hold a PhD degree or equivalent qualifications in a field directly relevant to Human Security and have documented teaching qualifications relevant to the department’s degree programs.

• An internationally recognized publication profile in areas relevant to human security. Applicants must submit a full publication list and a maximum of three publications.
• Substantial ethnographic and/or field-based research experience, preferably conducted in conflict-affected, crisis, or post-conflict settings.
• Teaching experience in areas relevant to human security and demonstrated excellence in teaching in English.
• Experience with interdisciplinary collaboration.
• Experience and interest in attracting external research funding.
• Experience supervising student projects and interest in contributing to researcher talent development.
• Experience collaborating with non-academic stakeholders, including governmental agencies, NGOs, humanitarian organisations, or local communities.

Research qualifications will be assessed in relation to the period of active research, the originality and quality of academic contributions, and publications in internationally recognised peer-reviewed journals and leading academic presses. If the successful applicant is not fluent in Danish, he or she will be expected to learn Danish within approximately two years.

Only submitted publications will be assessed; a list of publications is not sufficient. As a result, applications without submitted publications will not be assessed.

References or recommendations should not be included with the application. Applicants who are selected for a job interview may be asked to provide professional references

For further information about the content of the position, please contact Head of Department Nina Holm Vohnsen nina.vohnsen@cas.au.dk.

For further information about the application procedure, please contact iks-hr-sag@au.dk

The work environment
The Department of Anthropology offers a welcoming atmosphere, a caring and including collegial environment, a superb student population, explorative and internationally orientated research and teaching environments, and good possibilities for career development, project funding, and administrative support at the school and the faculty levels.

The Department of Anthropology is one of Europe's largest and most vibrant teaching and research environments within its field. Scientific staff currently consists of 32 associate and full professors, 12 assistant professors and postdocs, and 28 PhD-fellows, we are also the temporary home of a number of visiting and affiliated researchers.

We are an open and dynamic community of staff and students that explores the fascinating diversity of the worlds that humans inhabit and addresses the burning issues of our time, developing new theoretical and methodological approaches along the way in order to understand and tackle them. We have broad collaborations with various disciplines, including philosophy and history of ideas, biology, and medicine and host numerous externally funded research projects. Our research is critically engaged attending to contemporary issues on a local and global scale while seeking to push the boundaries of the state-of-the-art within our field. See a more detailed description of our research activities here: Research. The department is located at the Moesgaard Campus in the beautiful woodlands south of the city of Aarhus, adjacent to Moesgaard Museum.

As a collegial environment, we emphasize the importance of mutual support and non-hierarchical interaction among all academic and non-academic staff. We are deeply passionate about our educational programs, and we are excited about our students, which is easy because they are brilliant, curious, and brave. We care about each other. Applicants are expected to contribute to the department’s academic and social environment, and the person appointed will therefore be expected to be present at the department a minimum of three days a week, in accordance with school policy.

The School of Culture and Society

The School of Culture and Society is a vibrant research community dedicated to understanding the cultural and social conditions that shape human life. Our work examines how people interact with their environments, from prehistory to the present, and across both local contexts and global dynamics. Through cross-sector and cross-disciplinary partnerships, we aim to drive research innovation and contribute to address the major questions facing society. In both research and education, we are committed to bringing the humanities into active dialogue with partners beyond the university.

The School is committed to:

• Fostering an international environment characterized by strong academic and interdisciplinary collaboration.
• Embracing an innovative and experimental approach to research, teaching, and communication.
• Cultivating a school that both generates knowledge and educates students for the present and future.
• Advancing a broad engagement with digital humanities.
• Upholding a strong commitment to both local and global societal challenges.
• Creating an inclusive, diverse, and sustainable workplace and organization.

Read more about the school here School of Culture and Society - Aarhus University

International applicants
International applicants are encouraged to check Family and work-life balance in Denmark (au.dk) and Attractive working conditions (au.dk) for further information about the benefits of working at Aarhus University and in Denmark, including healthcare, paid holidays and, if relevant, maternity/paternity leave, childcare and schooling. Aarhus University offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including a Relocation and onboarding services for international AU staff and career counselling for expat partners. For information about taxation, see Taxation aspects of international researchers’ employment by AU

Qualification requirements
Applicants should hold a PhD or equivalent academic qualifications.

Formalities

• Faculty of Arts refers to the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Danish Universities (the Appointment Order).
• Further information on qualification requirements and job content may be found in the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities.
• Further information on the application and supplementary materials may be found in Application Guidelines.
• The application must outline the applicant's motivation for applying for the position, attaching a curriculum vitae, a teaching portfolio, a complete list of published works, a research plan, copies of degree certificates and examples of academic production (mandatory, but no more than two examples). Please upload this material electronically along with your application. Please note that although the application process can be completed in the Aarhus University system without up-loading publications or a teaching portfolio, applications that do not include uploaded publications as well as a teaching portfolio (or equivalent documentation of teaching experience and qualifications) will not be considered.

If nothing else is noted, applications must be submitted in English. Application deadline is at 11.59 pm Danish time (same as Central European Time) on the deadline day.

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.

Shortlists may be prepared with the candidates that have been selected for a detailed academic assessment. A committee set up by the head of school is responsible for selecting the most qualified candidates. See this link for further information about shortlisting at the Faculty of Arts: shortlisting

Please read the full job description and apply at the university homepage