The Faculty of Social Sciences is looking for visiting professors to provide international perspectives on how to better understand, explain and improve social and political challenges and articulate visions of reimagined futures.

Lund University Visiting Professors Programme

Lund University invites expressions of interest for its Visiting Professor Programme. We seek individuals eager to engage with our vibrant research environment, renowned for its academic excellence and global engagement. Our university hosts a significant number of international students and faculty, fostering a multilingual setting where English is widely spoken. As a visiting professor, you will experience Nordic academic culture, known for its high quality, flat organisational structure, and openness to collaboration beyond academia.

Read more about the University joint announcement: Shape the future of research

About us: Faculty of Social Sciences 

The Faculty of Social Sciences at Lund University is one of Sweden’s leading units for research and education within the social and behavioural sciences. With activities in both Lund, Helsingborg and Malmö, a staff of over 800 and around 6 000 full-time equivalent students, the faculty is one of the largest at the University. The faculty's daily activities are concentrated at its 9 departments and a number of research centres: Departments and units. We offer a creative academic environment with engaged students and employees.

About the role

We are seeking a visiting professor who will contribute actively and with great commitment to empirical, methodological and conceptual development while keeping research relevant to the society we live in. Specifically, we expect the guest professor to contribute to training our PhD students, hosting seminars and workshops, and identifying new paths for collaborative publications and externally funded research projects.

The position will be in one of the following departments:

• Lund Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS)
• Department of Communication
• Department of Human Geography
• Department of Service Studies
• Department of Sociology (including gender studies, social anthropology and sociology)
• Department of Sociology of Law
• School of Social Work (including social work and social policy).

Applicants are asked to clearly indicate which department they are interested in being placed at and justify their choice of subject affiliation.

The following research areas are prioritized: 

Lund Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS)
We are looking for a visiting professor who will contribute to build inter- and transdisciplinary methodological competencies in research and education. We are especially interested in candidates that can contribute to the further development of innovative pedagogical approaches in relation to sustainable development. 

Department of Communication
We are looking for a visiting professor with experience in interdisciplinary research within the fields of media and communication who can strengthen and further develop the research environment by working across journalism, media and communication studies, and strategic communication. 

Department of Human Geography
We are looking for a visiting professor with expertise in spatial inequalities, such as urban segregation, experienced in urban analytics methods, who can contribute to teaching in planning and human geography and actively develop and fuel our future research agendas. 

Department of Service Studies
We are looking for a visiting professor who can contribute to our research fields in sustainability research, e.g. in mobility, consumption, and community planning. We are extra interested in the fields of post-sustainability, resourcification, de-growth, and service societies research. 

Department of Sociology
We are looking for a visiting professor who can support our research on social inequalities perpetuated or exacerbated by crisis, political and social turbulence, and marginalisation. We are particularly interested in candidates who are theoretically and methodologically innovative across our research environments. 

Department of Sociology of Law
We are looking for a visiting professor who can strengthen and develop our research on how legal norms and institutions are mobilized by social actors to achieve political and social change. We value theoretically and methodologically innovative scholars who can contribute across our research communities. 

School of Social Work
We are looking for a visiting professor who can contribute to our research on children and families. Candidates conducting research on youth at risk, youth crime, and prevention are of particular but not exclusive, interest.

About you 

You are currently employed as a full professor at a higher education institution outside of Sweden, and meet the requirements presented below. 

Requirements – essential qualifications to carry out duties

We are looking for candidates who:
o    Are currently employed as full professor at higher education institutions outside of Sweden.
o    Demonstrate an outstanding scientific track record of the highest international standard within their field of expertise.
o    Possess unique competencies valuable to our departments, specifically in relation to the research areas mentioned above.
o    Demonstrate strong academic leadership, with a proven ability to develop research environments and academic communities.
o    Have excellent communication skills.
o    Are proficient in both oral and written English.

Additional qualifications

We very much want you to thrive at Lund University and be able to make the best of your time at our faculty. For that reason we consider it preferable if you can also demonstrate that you:
•    Have long-standing experience of PhD training and mentoring early-career scholars
•    Have a strong commitment to interdisciplinary and international research collaboration.

Form of employment

Fixed-term position, 2 years, in accordance with Chapter 4, Section 12 of the Higher Education Ordinance. Employment rate 20 %. The specifics of how to plan the visit will be determined on an individual basis.

Application

Applications are to be made electronically via Lund University's applications portal by the 28th of August 2025 . The applicant is responsible for making sure that the application is complete, in accordance with the vacancy announcement and instructions, and for submitting it to the University by the application deadline through the recruitment portal.
The application is to include:
1.    Short presentation (1-2 pages) detailing your interest in Lund University and the Faculty of Social Sciences and outlining your goals as a visiting professor. Clearly indicate which department you are interested in being placed at and justify your choice of subject affiliation.
2.    Short CV (2-3 pages)
3.    List of publications
4.    Name of a current faculty collaborator – if applicable

Contact

•    Lund Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS): Director Barry Ness (Barry.Ness@lucsus.lu.se) 
•    Department of Communication: Head of Department Tobias Linné (tobias.linne@iko.lu.se) 
•    Department of Human Geography: Head of Department Ola Hall (Ola.Hall@keg.lu.se) 
•    Department of Service Studies: Head of Department Malin Zillinger (Malin.Zillinger@ses.lu.se)
•    Department of Sociology: Professor Simon Turner (Simon.Turner@soc.lu.se) 
•    Department of Sociology of Law: Head of Department Anna Lundberg (Anna.Lundberg@soclaw.lu.se)
•    School of Social Work: Head of Department Katarina Jacobsson (Katarina.Jacobsson@soch.lu.se)