Professor in Environmental Law - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Lund University is a full-scale and research-intensive university, and the only Swedish university to be part of the strong international networks League of European Research Universities (LERU) and Universitas 21 (U21). Lund University has partner universities in close to 70 countries and attracts more international students than any other higher education institution in Sweden.

The Faculty of Law is characterised by internationalisation, the intertwining of education and research, interdisciplinarity, as well as close and boundary-crossing collaboration with wider society. The Faculty’s research environment and PhD-education are markedly international and, alongside the professional law degree, the Faculty offers several international Master’s programmes.

Lund University and the Faculty of Law offer an inclusive work environment that fosters development within the broader dynamic research and innovation area of the Öresund region.

Subject

Environmental law

Subject description

The topic Environmental Law includes those parts of the legal system that aim to protect the environment and to promote ecologically sustainable development, in a broad sense. This includes, inter alia, issues concerning protection of ecosystems or parts of them (water, air, species, biodiversity etc.), environmental aspects on chemicals, goods, waste management and transport, mitigation, and adaption regarding climate change and the interplay between various factors for successful protection of the environment. Further, the topic includes issues concerning the efficiency and adequacy of the legislation in relation to the purpose of environmental protection, including control, sanctions and instruments for voluntary action, the balancing between the need for environmental protection and competing interests, access to justice and the design of legal proceedings.  

Work duties

The Faculty’s strategic plan for 2018–2026 states that education and research are to be intertwined, to strive for the highest quality and to have an ethical basis. All research is to be conducted in creative and dynamic environments, and all education is to be linked to research and characterised by critical and reflective perspectives as well as educational creativity in interaction with the development of society and technology. Boundary-crossing cooperation and interdisciplinary collaborations are to be encouraged to solve societal challenges, and education, research and external engagement are to be characterised by internationalisation.

A position as professor is the highest teaching position at the University. The work duties of the position include actively leading and developing the organisation, and contributing to a stimulating research and teaching environment and the Faculty’s other activities, such as taking on leadership assignments or elected office, through research, teaching, supervision and collaboration with colleagues and students as well as engagement with wider society.

The work duties include teaching on the professional law degree programme and on the international Master’s programme, in the PhD-education, and within the Faculty’s distance learning and commissioned education courses.

In particular, the work duties include leading and developing the research and education environment in environmental law, in collaboration with colleagues and in line with the Faculty’s strategic plan. For example, this means actively contributing to applications for external research funding, developing national and international collaborations, participating in international debate, highlighting and supporting the work of junior colleagues and working for the educational development of study programmes at all levels. At Lund University, extensive sustainable environment research is conducted, for example within BECC, the Centre for Environmental and Climate Research, the Lund University Sustainability Forum, the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics, and LUCSUS, and the work duties also include developing the interdisciplinary research collaboration.

The researchers and teachers at the Faculty are expected to contribute to a dynamic research environment as well as to other Faculty activities, and to perform work primarily in the workplace provided by the Faculty.

Qualifications

A person who has demonstrated both research and teaching expertise shall be qualified for employment as a professor (Chapter 4 Section 3 Higher Education Ordinance).

The general qualification requirements for a professor at Lund University are to be suited to the position and to have the general ability required to complete the duties of the post well. 

Pursuant to Lund University’s appointment rules, the applicant must also have undergone at least five weeks’ training in teaching and learning in higher education, or have acquired equivalent knowledge in some other way, in order to qualify for the position. If special circumstances apply, a person who has not undergone at least five weeks’ training in teaching and learning in higher education may nevertheless be considered qualified for the position.

Assessment criteria

The assessment criteria applied to an appointment as professor are to be based on the degree of expertise stated as a qualification requirement. Teaching expertise is to be reviewed with as much attention as research expertise. Teaching expertise is to be demonstrated through teaching experience in the first, second and third cycles of study.

For appointments as professor, the following are to form the basis for assessment: 

• a very good national and international standing as a researcher, where the requirement for international qualification is to be assessed with reference to the nature and tradition of the specialisation subject.

• very high level of teaching skill, which means a very good ability to conduct, develop and lead teaching and other educational activities at various levels and using various teaching methods

• a good ability to supervise doctoral students in their studies towards a doctoral degree.
  
  
• a good ability to collaborate with wider society and communicate their activities.
  
  
• a good general ability to lead and develop activities.

Particular emphasis will be placed on well-developed research expertise within environmental law. Well-developed research expertise within Swedish environmental law is a merit.

The ability to master Swedish, Danish or Norwegian is a merit. In order to be fully integrated into the faculty’s education, research and work environment, and to participate in the collegial collaboration and leadership at the faculty, an applicant, who at the time of hiring does not master the Swedish, Danish or Norwegian language, is expected to acquire these language skills as quickly as possible.

Emphasis will also be placed on:

• documented experience of running and leading international research environments, preferably with interdisciplinary elements.
• documented experience of obtaining external research funding and establishing externally funded research projects.

Application instructions

The position is to be applied for electronically via Lund University’s applications portal. Complementary documentation in the form of bound publications/equivalent is to be sent in triplicate to: Faculty of Law, Lund University, to: Helena Josefsson, Box 207, 221 00 Lund. 

Applications are to be structured according to the following template (please follow this link) containing the following: 

• personal cover letter.
• brief curriculum vitae (CV).
• description of research qualifications with attachments (such as a summary of research, research profile, research activities including national and international qualifications, research experiences and qualifications).
• list of publications.
• list of 10 selected publications (including the doctoral thesis) to which the applicant wishes to draw attention. These 10 publications are to be attached to the application. The DOI code for each publication, if available, is to be provided.
• description of teaching qualifications with attachments (such as a summary of teaching activities, a brief self-reflection on teaching, list of teaching qualifications).
• description of qualifications concerning leadership and administration with attachments (such as summary, brief self-reflection on leadership and administration and list of qualifications of leadership assignments and administrative experience).
• description of qualifications concerning cooperation with wider society with attachments (such as summary, brief self-reflection on cooperation and list of qualifications of cooperation initiatives and commitments).
• other documents to which the applicant wishes to draw attention.

Please note that documents submitted or drawn up as a result of this vacant employment position (such as applications, expert opinions and minutes) as a general rule are public. The documents may thus (with the exception if a document is classified as confidential) be read upon request.

Terms of employment

The University applies individual salary-setting. You are welcome to state your salary requirements in your application.