University Lecturer in Crop science Full-time NEW

University Lecturer in Crop Science

The Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry invites applications for the permanent position of University Lecturer in Crop Science. The appointee is expected to demonstrate strong research expertise in crop science. Particular merit will be given to a systems-oriented research approach that integrates the measurement and analysis of plants' internal and external characteristics and metabolic processes in the study of yield quantity and quality formation in field crops. The field of research of the university lecturer in crop science focuses on the sustainable improvement of the quantity and quality of field crop yields. The research emphasizes plant hormonal regulation, carbon and nitrogen metabolism, and the partitioning of these resources within plants. The aim is to advance understanding of the mechanisms underlying plant growth and yield formation at both the individual plant and crop canopy levels. The appointee is required to have strong expertise in crop physiology of field crops as well as experience in the application of metabolomics and phenomics in research. The position emphasizes the ability to integrate these approaches in system-level studies of plant and crop growth, yield formation, and the quality and nutritional value of yield. Expertise in statistics, soil science, and food chemistry will be considered an advantage. Experience in dynamic plant modelling will also be regarded as a merit. The university lecturer must have the readiness to acquire research funding. The duties of the University Lecturer in Crop Science include research and teaching in the Bachelor's and Master's Programmes in Agricultural Sciences. The position involves teaching at the Bachelor's and Master's levels, supervising theses, and participating in the supervision of doctoral researchers. The duties also include developing teaching and pedagogical practices in collaboration with colleagues and actively contributing to the development of both discipline and higher education teaching. The appointee will serve as the responsible teacher for the following courses: AGRI-241 Field Crop Quality, Lectures and Practicals AGRI-249 Crop Ecological Physiology AGRI-245 Crop Science and Horticulture Practicals In addition, the university lecturer will have teaching responsibilities and participate in teaching on other courses. The appointee will participate in the management of degree programmes, joint teaching, and other related tasks. The appointee gets to develop teaching and research of the field as a member of the Department of Agricultural Sciences, the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, Viikki campus and the University of Helsinki together with relevant stakeholder groups. The position offers a possibility to teaching and research with new and future technologies in agriculture and utilisation of digital methods in teaching and research. The appointee must have the necessary pedagogical skills for teaching and motivation for renewing and developing research and teaching. The responsibilities of the university lecturer also include participating in collaboration with other educational institutions in their field, student marketing for the bachelor's and master's programmes, as well as engaging in societal interaction. According to the University of Helsinki Regulations university lecturers must hold an applicable doctoral degree and be capable of providing high-quality, research-based teaching and supervising theses. The assessment of applicant merits considers scholarly publications and other research outputs of scholarly value, teaching experience and pedagogical training, the ability to produce learning materials, other teaching merits and, if necessary, a teaching demonstration. The degree requirement (doctoral degree) must be met by the end of the application period. In this position, the teaching and supervision responsibilities will be conducted also within Finnish-language degree programmes. Success in this role requires command of both spoken and written Finnish. For those who have received their basic education in Finnish, a satisfactory proficiency in Swedish is also required (virkamiesruotsi). If you do not yet speak Finnish or Swedish, we expect you to achieve intermediate language proficiency within a reasonable time after being selected for the position in either language. The University provides support for language learning and time for language studies can be included in annual work plan. Successfully performing the duties of the position requires good spoken and written English skills as the position includes teaching in an English-language MSc programme and active participation in international research collaboration.