Assistant Professor: For Hiring Consideration

Information on the recruitment procedure for the recruitment of Assistant Professor (level 2) within the research-oriented tenure track system.

The eligibility requirements for a position as Assistant Professor are established in Hanken's Personnel Instruction (2024) and in Guidelines for the implementation of Hanken's (2023) research-oriented tenure track system.

Application Documents

Applicants to the position(s) will submit:

CV (proposed content at https://tenk.fi/en/advice-and-materials/template-researchers-curriculum-vitae), including list of publications.
Personal statement, which includes a description of past research and its scientific quality, academic impact, plans for future research and a description of the candidate’s service to the own department and university, and a description of the candidate’s societal impact. The personal statement needs to be written with the announced position in mind.
Copies of no more than five research publications, including a ‘job market’ paper which is an original piece of research by the candidate that constitutes their best research to date.
A teaching portfolio (to the extent applicable, for proposed content, see https://www.hanken.fi/en/faculty-staff/job-opportunities/job-opportunities/applications-and-selection-process).
Three letters of reference from academic researchers to be submitted directly to Hanken via humanresources@hanken.fi.

Qualification Requirements

An assistant professor is required to have a doctoral degree and the potential to conduct high quality research and provide high quality teaching, as well as institutional service and societal impact. (Personnel Instruction, 6 §)

The Department Committee assesses all complete applications using both qualitative and quantitative indicative examples of evidence for the extent to which each candidate fulfils the criteria in the Hanken Personnel Instruction (2023) and the criteria in the table below.

Standard for each of the four qualification areas	Indicative Examples of Evidence Evaluation of candidates should be made using a holistic consideration of all submitted materials. The candidate’s personal statement should discuss how the candidate believes they meet the standard and provide documentary evidence in support. Research is the most important of the four different qualification areas followed by teaching, and then service and societal impact.
*Research*
Potential to conduct high quality scientific research.	Scientific quality of published and unpublished research manuscripts Candidate’s contribution independently or collaboratively to manuscripts Peer-reviewed publications in recognised and important journals and/or books or anthologies in the candidate’s field, e.g., from various ranking or quality assessments of journals widely used (such as journals in the highest levels in for instance the AJG list) Contributions to scientific seminars and conferences Work-in progress, i.e., pipeline, including papers under review and plans for own future research that show development potential
*Teaching*
Potential to provide high quality teaching.	Experience of teaching, e.g., courses, tutorials Experience in supervising bachelor and/or master's degree students Experience in developing own teaching skills, e.g., having completed an ‘Introduction to teacher training course’ or attending other pedagogical training
*Service*
Potential to contribute through institutional service.	Demonstrated contributions to institutional and academic communities, e.g., experience of reviewing for journals or funding applications, conference or workshop organisation, managing research or administrative projects
Societal Impact
Potential to contribute through societal impact.	Demonstrated dissemination of research and engagement outside the academic community, e.g., experience of engagement with businesses or other organisations, writing white papers or government reports

Department Committee

A Department Committee is appointed by the Rector based on a proposal from the Head of Department (HoD) and will consist of a minimum of a Chair who should be a professor of the subject and could be the HoD, 3 department academics who are associate professors or professors, one associate professor or professor from another department/university, and one person from HR as secretary.

Hanken’s recommendations regarding conflict of interest will apply in terms of academic cooperation with an applicant by any member of Department Committee. In short-listing processes where a member has reported a conflict of interest/been disqualified in relation to individual applicants due to academic collaboration, the member’s participation in the decision-making process shall be limited only to the extent necessary to ensure an impartial and transparent process. If a member has reported a conflict of interest /been disqualified in relation to a short-listed applicant, the member shall resign from the Department Committee.

Selection Process

The position(s) will be advertised with usual particulars.
The Department Committee assesses all complete applications using both qualitative and quantitative indicative examples of evidence for the extent to which each candidate fulfils the criteria in the Hanken Personnel Instruction (2023) and the criteria in the table above (see Qualification Requirements). The Committee shortlists candidates (usually at least 2-3), organizes and conducts all interviews, organizes the job talks including a research seminar presentation of the ’job market’ paper, and obtains a Publication Report from the Library for the short-listed applicants.
The Department Committee meets to assess and rank all short-listed applicants, prepares a proposal for the Faculty Recruitment and Promotion (FRP) Committee in which it explicitly states which of the ranked candidates fulfil the requirements and are deemed suitable to be hired.
The FRP Committee assesses all supporting documents underlying the Department Committee’s proposal and within three business days of receiving the documents votes online whether or not it supports the proposal made by the Department Committee.
- The FRP Committee may request clarifications from the DC. If needed, the FRP committee may organise a meeting, to which the Chair of the Department Committee is invited to present the case, after which Chair must leave the meeting. The FRP provides its collective recommendation to the Rector.
Rector makes the final decision to offer, or not offer appointment to Assistant Professor Level 2.
Rector informs the candidate about the decision and invites the candidate as well as the Head of Department (or the Chair of the Department Committee) to a meeting to discuss the work contract.
Head of Department submits the material for the work contract to HR; HR completes the work contract, which is signed by Rector and the candidate.
The Chair of the Department Committee informs the other short-listed candidates about the outcome.

Employment as Assistant Professor

The assistant professor position is always fixed-term for 5 years with the possibility to apply for an extension of another 2 years. The basis for the fixed-term employment is merit for career level 3. An assistant professor is subject to evaluation of their qualifications to determine whether they meet the requirements for tenure and promotion to associate professor, in accordance with Hanken’s promotional guidelines and processes. More information about the evaluation process for tenure and promotion can be found here.

For extension consideration

The employer and the employee may agree on a two-year extension of the contract as assistant professor. Between 18 months and 15 months before the end of the fixed-term contract, the candidate will write the Head of Department (HoD) requesting that a one-time only extension to the term be granted and provide a justification and supporting documentation for such an extension. Extensions can be sought and granted for the following reasons:

The candidate has made significant progress towards meeting the tenure qualification requirements but requests an extension to further demonstrate his/her qualifications.
Long-term illness or significant family obligations have significantly impeded the candidate’s progress towards meeting the tenure qualification requirements.

Supporting documentation should include as much of the materials required for the normal full tenure process outlined here as is available. All the following must take place no later than 3 years and 9 months after the beginning of the 5-year contract to enable an extension decision:

HoD and a professor who is a topic expert from the department/subject meet the candidate to discuss, based on the material provided by the candidate and the request made by the candidate for an extension.
HoD and the professor who is a topic expert prepare a document based on the candidate’s supporting documentation and justification and meeting with the candidate to provide a recommendation to the Rector.
Rector makes the final decision to award, or not award an extension.
If a decision to award an extension is made, the normal full tenure process outlined above begins no later than 1 year and 3 months before the extension term ends.
If a decision not to award an extension is made, the normal tenure process outlined for tenure consideration (Associate Professor Level 3) begins as soon as possible but no later than 4 years after the beginning of the 5-year contract in any event.
Rector informs the candidate and the HoD about the decision.
In case of a decision to award an extension is made, the Head of Department submits the material for the work contract to HR; HR completes the work contract, which is signed by Rector and the candidate.