University of Passau
The University of Passau owes its strong visibility and good repute to excellent research, innovative teaching and its tight-knit international academic networks. Some 12,000 students from 100 countries and more than 1,200 staff study and work on our University campus, which is located a stone’s throw from the historical Old Town of Passau and combines state-of-the-art technical infrastructure with award-winning architecture. Internationally successful high-tech companies and a vibrant start-up scene, coupled with a rich culture and Lower Bavarian traditions, give Passau and the surrounding area a special appeal that makes it a great place to live and work.
The Chair of Political Communication with a Focus on Eastern Europe and the Post-Soviet Region (Professor Florian Toepfl) invites applications for the position of
Assistant Professor – Akademische Rätin/Akademischer Rat auf Zeit (1.0 FTE)
for immediate start. This is a 1.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) position, based on a fixed three-year contract with the option of extension. Remuneration is in accordance with pay grade E13 of the German public-sector collective agreement TV-L; the salary step is dependent on your qualifications and experience. If you meet the criteria, you may receive temporary civil servant status (‘Beamter auf Zeit’) and obtain remuneration in accordance with pay grade A13.
Job description
- Working largely independently, you will have manifold opportunities to advance your own research agenda and develop an internationally competitive track record of publications with leading academic journals or publishing houses, centred on the field of political communication.
- You will have the chance to collaborate and exploit synergies of your own work with the ERC RUSINFORM research group (please visit www.rusinform.uni-passau.de for details).
- You will plan, administer and deliver classes of five teaching contact hours per week (i.e. you will teach approximately 2.5 courses per semester). Your teaching efforts will be centred on the discipline of communications. The courses you will teach may range from introductory classes for bachelor’s programmes all the way to advanced, research-oriented seminars for master’s programmes. In addition, some of your classes will reach out to students of other social science disciplines with a strong interest in Eastern Europe and the post-Soviet Region.
Person specification/selection criteria
- An excellent doctorate in the discipline of communications or an adjacent social science. You need to have your doctoral certificate in hand by the time you start the position.
- A master’s degree or equivalent in communication science, a related social science discipline such as sociology or political science, or an interdisciplinary, social-science-oriented course of study with a geographical focus on the post-Soviet region.
- Evidence of an emerging, strong track-record of peer-reviewed publications in major international communications journals, or of book publications with internationally leading publishing houses.
- A strong interest to pursue research that focuses on Russia, Eurasia, or Eastern Europe.
- Highly motivated candidates with or without prior work experience are strongly encouraged to apply.
- Experience with the application of traditional (qualitative or quantitative) methods of socialscience research (essential).
- Knowledge and experience with new computational methods (highly desirable).
- Excellent English-language skills (essential).
- Good knowledge of German or willingness to learn German (essential).
- Very good knowledge of at least one language spoken in the post-Soviet region (highly desirable).
- Evidence of ability and willingness to work as part of a team of researchers (desirable).
- Evidence of flexibility, autonomy and creativity (essential).
- Evidence of strong communication skills (desirable).
- Evidence of strong analytical and critical skills and clear academic writing (essential).
- Willingness to assist in organisational and support functions (essential).
What we offer
- This postdoctoral position comes with an internationally competitive salary, stipulated in accordance with the German collective agreement for the public sector (TV-L E13; minimum gross salary: 49,900 euros per annum) or the A13 pay grade for civil servants (both at the 1.0 full-time equivalent level).
- You will have the opportunity to cooperate closely with the RUSINFORM ERC consolidator research group, its principal investigator, Professor Florian Toepfl, and leading international scholars affiliated with this research project. The community of researchers affiliated with the Chair of Political Communication with a Focus on Eastern Europe and the Post-Soviet Region aspires to be a vibrant, friendly and energetic academic environment with flat hierarchies, in which everyone has great enthusiasm for their shared research interests.
- Assistant professors may invite leading scholars in their field to join this community for a limited period of time in the framework of the visiting fellows’ programme of the ERC project.
- You will be encouraged to vigorously pursue your own ideas, strengthen your track record of independent academic publications, and energetically advance your own academic career.
- Generous support for participation in a wide range of conferences, workshops and methods-training courses.
- A high level of freedom when it comes to establishing your work processes.
- An enjoyable work climate in a family-friendly research environment, in a medium-sized town offering a high quality of life, on a modern, verdant university campus situated a few minutes’ walk from the historic Old Town.
As the University of Passau wishes to raise the proportion of women in research and teaching, female academics are expressly encouraged to apply. This post may be available part-time, provided a suitable number of candidates are willing to work on a work-share basis. Furthermore, this post is suitable for those who are registered disabled. Registered disabled persons are given preference over non-disabled applicants who do not otherwise have statutory preferential status if their overall personal aptitudes, skills and qualifications are equal.
How to apply
Your full application (in English or German), sent as a single e-mail attachment in PDF format, should include the following documents:
- Your curriculum vitae.
- Your bachelor’s and master’s degree certificates as well as your doctoral certificate.
- Letter of motivation (maximum two pages) stating why you would like to join the Chair of Political Communication, the avenues of independent research you would like to explore, and potential areas of collaboration with the RUSINFORM project. Please provide evidence with regard to the selection criteria listed above.
- One to three pieces of academic writing (for instance, your doctoral thesis, a book chapter, or a journal article).
- Contact details and phone numbers of one to three referees (at least one academic, for instance, the supervisor of your master’s or doctoral thesis).
Please send your application by e-mail to sarah.miedl@uni-passau.de, using the subject line ‘POLCOMM-PROF’, by 1 November 2020 (whilst we may be able to consider applications received after this date, this is not guaranteed.)
We look forward to receiving your application! If you have any questions related to this vacancy, please feel free to contact Professor Florian Toepfl (florian.toepfl@uni-passau.de), Sarah Miedl (sarah.miedl@uni-passau.de) or one of the doctoral researchers at the Chair.
Once the application process has been completed, we will retain your application on file for six months before deleting it from our computer systems. Please visit www.unipassau.de/en/university/current-vacancies for our data privacy statement.
