Assistant professor in Technology and Social Change

Ref LiU-2025-03894

We have the power of over 40,000 students and co-workers. Students who provide hope for the future. Co-workers who contribute to Linköping University meeting challenges of today. Our fundamental values rest on credibility, trust and security. By having the courage to think freely and innovate, our actions together, large and small, contribute to a better world. We look forward to receiving your application!

Work assignments

The purpose of the employment is that the assistant professor is to be given the opportunity to develop independence as a researcher and to obtain both the research and teaching qualifications required for employment as associate professor.

Technology and Social Change (Tema T) is a nationally and internationally leading environment for research and education, where social science, humanities, and interdisciplinary perspectives on technology, science, medicine, and social change are central. Research and teaching focus on how people create and use technology, and how technological change is intertwined with knowledge, politics, practice, and ethics. The division offers a PhD program as well as undergraduate and postgraduate education, with a focus on issues related to technology and social change. The educational offerings include a bachelor's and a master's program in urban and regional planning, as well as courses in, for example, philosophy of science and the history of technology.

This position is linked to the establishment of a new research area: Nuclear Futures, focusing on cultural, sociotechnical, environmental, and political issues related to nuclear power, nuclear weapons, and nuclear waste. The research area is part of the Nuclear Studies research environment at Tema T and is funded by a grant from the initiative Mistra Environmental Research Leaders (ref. no. 2024/6:14). As an assistant professor, you are expected to participate in the development of the research area and lead an interdisciplinary research group consisting of a PhD candidate and a postdoctoral researcher. You will have considerable freedom to shape the research area, but possible research directions include humanities and social science perspectives on the establishment of new uranium mining, emerging nuclear power technologies, deep time horizons in relation to long-lived radioactive waste, and civil society engagement in issues related to nuclear power, nuclear weapons, and nuclear waste—particularly in light of the current geopolitical situation. Empirical studies may be conducted in Sweden as well as in other relevant countries.

As an assistant professor in Technology and Social Change, you teach at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels in Swedish and English and supervise students across various courses and educational programs within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Teaching within this position is primarily conducted in the bachelor’s program in Urban and Regional Planning and the master’s program in Strategic Urban and Regional Planning. The work also includes course design, thesis supervision, and course coordination responsibility.

You are active in the research community, participate in the division's activities such as seminars and workshops, participate in research projects, communicate results through scientific publications and help attract external research funding.

You contribute actively to the university's development work. Collaboration is an integral part of the university’s research and educational mission. Collaboration in research involves disseminating, making accessible, and utilizing research. Within the new research area Nuclear Futures, collaboration is expected to include engagement with relevant authorities, civil society organizations, industry, local communities, and museums.

The position may also involve administrative and collegial responsibilities, such as serving as a reviewer within the framework of the PhD program and holding trusted roles in advisory and decision-making bodies at the division, department, and faculty levels. We also welcome your participation and interest in leadership assignments. As part of the research area’s funding, you will participate in two leadership development programs.

Your work includes monitoring developments nationally and internationally within your field of study and other societal developments that are important to your work.

You are flexible and have the ability to move between different types of pedagogical and scientific contexts. You share knowledge and contribute to the working group’s professional development, collegial ways of working and social community. The fact that you are present and active is something we see as self-evident in order to ensure that you are able to perform your duties in an optimum way and enjoy your working community.

Qualifications

We are looking for candidates who have a doctoral degree or equivalent scientific competence. We are primarily looking for candidates who have obtained their doctoral degree in the past five years.

For this employment particular attention will be paid to academic expertise, second to pedagogical expertise, and third to other proficiencies which are judged to be equivalent to each other.

In terms of academic expertise, the following will be assessed:

Requirements for the position include documented proficiency in humanities or social science research.
Of particular merit for the position is documented proficiency in research that empirically explores cultural, sociotechnical, environmental, or political dimensions of energy production, waste management, industrial and post-industrial landscapes, civil society, nuclear power, nuclear weapons, nuclear waste, or related areas.
Of particular merit for the position is documented proficiency in research that theoretically explores intersections between nature and culture, human and more-than-human habitats, conceptions of deep time horizons, intergenerational ethics, sociotechnical perspectives on waste, risk, expertise, or related areas.
Of particular merit for the position is documented proficiency in interdisciplinary research and interdisciplinary collaborations.
Of particular merit for the position is documented proficiency in leading research activities.
Of merit for the position is documented proficiency in research-based collaboration with, for example, public authorities, stakeholder organizations, industry, museums, and artistic practices at local, national, and international levels.
Of merit for the position is documented proficiency in communicating research results outside academia.
Of merit for the position is documented proficiency in applying for and obtaining external research funding in competition.

In terms of pedagogical expertise, the following will be assessed:

Requirements for the position include documented proficiency in teaching within the humanities or social sciences at the undergraduate level.
Of particular merit for the position is documented proficiency in teaching within human geography, environmental humanities, science and technology studies, urban and regional planning, futures studies, or related areas.
Of particular merit for the position is documented proficiency in developing, designing, and coordinating new courses within the humanities or social sciences.
Of merit for the position is documented proficiency in supervising student theses within the humanities or social sciences.
Of merit for the position is documented proficiency in teaching qualitative methods relevant to the humanities and social sciences.

Other proficiencies that will be assessed for this position are:

Of particular merit for the position is strong leadership ability, demonstrated through leading and motivating others, coordinating groups, and fostering engagement and participation.
Of particular merit for the position is documented ability to collaborate effectively, contributing to collegial working methods.
Of merit for the position are additional language skills beyond English, relevant to conducting empirical studies in countries or regions where English is not sufficient.

Since both teaching and research are conducted in English and Swedish, you must be able to demonstrate the ability to teach and conduct research in English, and it is desirable that you are able to teach and conduct research in Swedish within two years.

The workplace

Please, read more about our reasearch and education at Technology and social change and the Department of Thematic Studies .

The employment

The length of employment for this position is four years, full time. Starting date by agreement.

An assistant professor may be employed until further notice, for a minimum period of four years and a maximum period of six years, as determined by the institution of higher education before the employment begins. The employment may be renewed, by a maximum period of two years, if, as a consequence of sick absence, parental leave, or other special circumstances of the assistant professor, additional time is necessary in order to achieve the purpose of the employment.

An assistant professor shall, after application, be promoted to associate professor if he/she is qualified for employment as associate professor and has been assessed following a test to be suitable for such employment according to the grounds for assessment that the University has determined.

For more information on eligibility requirements, assessment criteria and recruitment procedures for teachers, see Linköping University’s rules of appointment. Linköping University’s rules of appointment.

Salary and employment benefits

The university applies individual salaries.

More information about employee benefits is available here.

Union representatives

Information about union representatives, see Help for applicants.

Application procedure

Apply for the position by clicking the “Apply” button below. Your application must be received no later than 1 December, 2025.

Applications and documents received after the date above will not be considered.

Please attach your selected research publications electronically, in pdf or word format, in the application template. Research publications, e.g. monographs, which cannot be sent electronically should be sent in three sets by mail to the University Registrar at Linköping University, University Registrar, S-581 83 Linköping, Sweden. The publications must be received by Linköping University no later than the deadline for application.

Please note that printed publications will not be returned. They will be archived at Linköping University.

In the event of a discrepancy between the English translation of the job announcement and the Swedish original, the Swedish version shall take precedent.

We welcome applicants with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives - diversity enriches our work and helps us grow. Preserving everybody's equal value, rights and opportunities is a natural part of who we are. Read more about our work with: Equal opportunities.

We look forward to receiving your application!

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