Assistant Professor in Chemistry for Life Sciences

Assistant Professor in Chemistry for Life Sciences

Uppsala University

Uppsala, Sweden

Much of the research conducted at the department focuses on understanding the chemical processes and molecules that occur in living organisms. Our purpose is to understand the mechanisms behind various disease processes, to develop new methods for studying and diagnosing diseases and to identify new drug candidates and target proteins. Development of new synthetic methods is also an important field of research, partly to create new molecules for use in, for example, pharmaceutical development, and partly to be able to replace existing synthetic methods with more efficient and environmentally friendly alternatives. We also work on developing methods and techniques for the analysis of complex biological samples and molecules, and we are particularly strong in mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy. The department hosts three infrastructure facilities: NMR Uppsala, the SciLifeLab platform for biophysical screening and characterization, and a local platform for mass spectrometry-based proteomics. In addition, the Centre for Chemical Mechanisms of Life, an excellence initiative of the Swedish Research Council, is led by professors of our department.

Subject area

The subject area of the position is chemistry in the life sciences with a focus on experimental organic chemistry. The broad scientific field includes, for example, synthetic method development, organometallic chemistry, and catalysis.

Duties

You will work with:

• Teaching. Teaching includes course responsibility, course administration and supervision of doctoral students. The teaching assignments will focus on organic chemistry;
• Research. To establish an independent and internationally recognized research profile in organic chemistry. To establish collaborations with research groups at the Department of Chemistry for Life Sciences and within the Faculty of Science and Technology. Actively applying for and securing external grants;
• Administration. To participate in the general academic duties of the Department of Chemistry for Life Sciences. This includes serving on committees, taking on responsibilities beyond your own research and teaching assignment, contributing to the evaluation and development of teaching and research activities, working collaboratively with colleagues, and providing support and constructive feedback to colleagues;
• Keeping up to date in your subject area and following developments in society that are relevant to your work at Uppsala University.

In choosing between eligible candidates, emphasis will primarily be given to research and teaching expertise, according particular weight to research expertise.

Qualifications required

You must have:

• a Ph.D. in chemistry with a focus on organic chemistry, or in related fields, such as inorganic chemistry or chemistry with focus on nanoscience. Preference will be given to applicants who have completed their PhD or attained equivalent expertise no more than seven years before the deadline for applications;
• research expertise in organic chemistry. In addition to academic qualifications, research qualifications from other activities may also be taken into account, such as development of technology and capacity for innovation;
• had your main employment and conducted your research activities outside Sweden for at least the past four years immediately prior to the application deadline. Shorter stays in Sweden of a total of no more than twelve months may be accepted;
• teaching expertise, according particular weight to teaching and supervision. In addition to academic qualifications, educational and teaching qualifications from other activities may also be taken into account, which include, for example, supervision, internal training or mentoring programs. The ability to link teaching to research is important;
• completed at least five weeks of teacher training for higher education of relevance to the organisation and its activities or be considered to have acquired the equivalent knowledge. The required training for teachers in higher education may be completed during the first two years of employment if there are exceptional grounds;
• documented ability to teach in Swedish or English;
• ability to work with other people and otherwise meet the demands of suitability required to perform the duties well;
• documented experience in teaching organic chemistry;
• Documented skills and expertise in productive research collaborations and in successfully leading projects;
• Documented ability to successfully compete for and secure external research funding;
• published work in the most prominent interdisciplinary and chemical journals such as Science, Nature, Nature Chemistry, Angewandte Chemie or Journal of the American Chemical Society;
• teaching expertise and research expertise that are relevant to the subject area and the duties that the position involves.

Other desirable qualifications

It would be an advantage if you have:

• established your own independent research;
• been awarded larger research grants in competition, such as a starting grant for a period of at least 3 years from a university or from external research funder;
• your PhD and postdoctoral experience from an internationally leading university/research institute.