Birgit Rausing Professor of Medical Humanities, with focus on empathy and compassion in a clinical context

Position

We are announcing a position as full professor, to focus primarily on research, but also on education in the field of medical humanities. The professor will be employed by the Department of Experimental Medical Science, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University. The position is linked to Birgit Rausing Centre for Medical Humanities. We welcome applicants from a wide range of academic backgrounds. Given the interdisciplinary profile of the position, applicants will be assessed by representatives from a number of academic disciplines. The position includes a start-up package of SEK 1 million per year for the first three years.

Birgit Rausing Centre for Medical Humanities

Since 2021, Birgit Rausing Centre for Medical Humanities (BRCMH) has been working to develop and implement medical humanities at Lund University and to promote medical humanities in healthcare. We see medical humanities as an inclusive, broad and heterogeneous field of knowledge that concerns education, research and clinical practice relevant to medicine and healthcare. The approach is interdisciplinary and may include concepts and methods from the humanities, social sciences or the arts, but also law, economics or engineering. The position reflects medical humanities in this broad sense.

BRCMH is organisationally placed at the Department of Experimental Medical Science, Faculty of Medicine. To date, BRCMH has about 40 affiliated academic teachers and researchers from different disciplines working in an organically growing interdisciplinary research and education knowledge environment. The centre is strategically managed by its own board and operationally by the centre management. Within Lund University, BRCMH works closely with the Medical Humanities Research Node, the project milieu Narrative Medicine – Stories and Narrative in Medical Education and Clinical Practice and the History of Medicine Unit. The research infrastructures Lund University Core Facility Humanities Lab and Movement and Reality Lab are also of relevance.

Focus area of empathy and compassion in a clinical context

The focus area “empathy and compassion in a clinical context” is to be seen in light of medical humanities as an interdisciplinary knowledge field, where concepts and methods from the humanities, social sciences or the arts are integrated into medicine and health sciences in order to address complex challenges beyond the reach of any one discipline. Research and education on empathy and compassion are represented in a number of scientific fields and are of fundamental importance, not only to patients and health professionals but also, in the longer term, for the sustainability of healthcare. This position, and its focus area, is intended to strengthen both the theoretical understanding and the practical application of empathy and compassion in a clinical context, with an innovative interdisciplinary approach.

Tasks and responsibilities

The position is primarily focused on research and research supervision. The potential assignment as centre director of the BRCMH is a future option, not inherent to the position.

The position includes developing medical humanities in collaboration with BRCMH, so that the knowledge field enriches and promotes the Faculty of Medicine and Lund University. Work will be carried out in close cooperation with relevant international, national, local, academic or societal stakeholders. The professor must actively apply for research funding, lead and participate in research projects and supervise researchers at doctoral and/or post-doctoral level. Furthermore, the professor will have the opportunity to teach and supervise first- and second-cycle students and to participate in the strategic development of medical humanities in the health profession programmes at the Faculty of Medicine. These responsibilities and tasks require a physical presence to a great extent.

Other tasks may also be involved.

Eligibility

According to Chapter 4, Section 3 of the Higher Education Ordinance, those who have demonstrated both research and teaching expertise are eligible for appointment as professor. 

Unless there are special reasons, applicants must have completed at least five weeks of courses in higher education pedagogy. In the event that the professor is deemed to have special reasons for not having completed five weeks of courses in higher education pedagogy at the time of taking up the position, the professor shall complete such courses within two years of taking up the position (see Lund University appointment rules). 

In the employment of teaching staff, a general eligibility requirement is that candidates are suitable for and otherwise have the ability to fulfil the duties of the position well.

Assessment criteria

Applicants must be able to clearly document excellent and up-to-date academic qualifications including research, research project management and research supervision. In the assessment of applicants, particular attention will be paid to research expertise.

Research expertise shall be demonstrated by independent research at a high international level. Proven experience in interdisciplinary research is required. Experience in international research collaborations in the field of medical humanities is considered a merit. 

Research expertise is further demonstrated by publications in international journals or by publishers in accordance with relevant research traditions, a documented ability to plan and lead interdisciplinary activities, and relevant grants obtained as principal applicant, in competition.

Research expertise will be assessed on the basis of the applicant’s qualifications and in the light of his/her ability to present an innovative, long-term and feasible interdisciplinary research programme within the focus area of the position, based on the applicant’s own competence and experience.

Teaching expertise is demonstrated by documented ability and experience in planning and implementing education and supervision at first-, second- and third cycle and/or postdoctoral level. It is further demonstrated through experience in summative assessment and teaching development, including contributions to innovative teaching elements. 

The applicant’s leadership ability is demonstrated by experience in leading interdisciplinary projects or environments. Particular attention will be paid to the applicant’s ability to organise, develop and manage research, his/her communication skills and his/her ability to promote development of staff.

Consideration will also be given to the applicant’s collaborative ability, as demonstrated by good collaborative skills and a proven ability to interact with the community. Experience in collaborative projects with relevant societal stakeholders is considered a merit.

In addition to what follows from the Swedish Higher Education Ordinance, the Lund University employment regulations and the Faculty of Medicine’s ‘General person specification and assessment criteria for appointment as professor’ apply to academic appointments: https://www.medicine.lu.se/faculty-medicine-lund-university/work-us/guidelines-academic-appointments.

The Faculty of Medicine’s ‘General person specification and assessment criteria for appointment as a professor’ specifies in greater detail the type of documentation that can be used to prove the applicant’s competence in terms of research expertise, teaching expertise, collaboration and application.

Other information

More information available upon request from:

Centre Director, Birgit Rausing Centre for Medical Humanities, Martin Garwicz, phone: +46-46 222 77 55, e-mail: Martin.Garwicz@med.lu.se 

Head of Department Tomas Deierborg, phone: +46-70 970 82 12, e-mail: Tomas.Deierborg@med.lu.se 

Dean Maria Björkqvist, phone: +46-46-222 80 84, e-mail: Maria.Bjorkqvist@med.lu.se 

For information regarding the application procedure, please contact Robert Norrman, Recruitment Coordinator, phone: +46-46-222 44 10, e-mail: Robert.Norrman@med.lu.se

The position is filled on the basis of a proposal from the Medical Teaching Staff Proposal Board.

Application procedure

The position is applied for electronically via Lund University's applicant portal no later than 31 October 2025.

Applications must be submitted in accordance with the Faculty of Medicine's guidelines for academic appointments (see https://www.medicine.lu.se/faculty-medicine-lund-university/work-us/guidelines-academic-appointments under heading ‘Instructions for applicants’).

Please note that the application should be written in English. Transcripts of records and service certificates, however, need not be translated.

The applicant's name will be published on the website of the Faculty of Medicine - otherwise, contact the recruitment coordinator.

The University applies individual salary setting. Please state expected salary in your application.