On 29 February, the University of Latvia (UL) announced an open call for the position of tenured professor in Educational Sciences, the subfield of School Pedagogy. The call has been published on the Latvian and foreign official vacancy websites. The deadline for submitting applications is 28 April.
The announcement is published on the website www.lu.lv, on the vacancy portal of the State Employment Agency of Latvia www.nva.gov.lv and on the European Commission’s official vacancy portal euraxess.ec.europa.eu.
The main tasks of tenured professor include identification of the priority research areas and directions in the relevant field, attraction of funding required for implementation of the research programme, leading research projects, as well as participating in international consortia and projects. It is no less important to develop study programmes and courses at the master’s and doctoral level, to supervise development of doctoral theses, as well as to promote wider recognition of the science in society.
Applicants must hold a doctorate in science and have work experience in research or education, as well as in organizational work and team management. The applicants who permanently reside in Latvia must have a proficiency of Latvian and English at the level C1. For foreign applicants, a document certifying proficiency in the official language will be required, if the study courses in which the tenured professor will be involved are conducted in the official language. Additional qualification requirements for each tenured professorship position are specified in the regulations of the competition.
Submission of applications
Applicants who wish to participate in the competition must electronically submit an application for participation in the competition, a research plan for six years, as well as a description of the applicant’s life and career (CV), indicating research, educational and organizational work experience, major achievements and qualifications, addressed to the UL Rector by 28 April.
Copies of documents certifying scientific and academic degrees must be enclosed in the application package.
The tenure system has been introduced in several European countries, including Latvia. It provides that the elected academic staff, upon obtaining a certain academic position, such as the position of associate professor or professor, and fulfilling certain professional and scientific qualification criteria, will be provided with an open-ended employment contract.
At the end of 2023, UL announced the first open competition for the positions of tenured professors. After evaluating the received applications, tenured professors were elected in six branches of science – medicine, physics, computing, linguistics, philosophy and social sciences. More information about the elected tenured professors – on UL portal lu.lv.