You can find the general principles for recruiting staff to ÅAU and qualification requirements for different personnel categories (i.e.. professors, lecturers, researchers) in the Regulations on Personnel (approved 1.4.2022).
The specific eligibility requirements and other conditions set for the employment are defined in a job description and advertisement before the start of the recruitment.
All open positions are advertised in the university recruitment system Laura.
For each position, the advertisement states the appendices to be submitted to support the assessment of the applicant’s qualifications.
As of Autumn 2021, it is recommended that the applicant’s qualifications are documented in a curriculum vitae prepared in accordance with recommendations of the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity (TENK). A complete list of publications is included in the curriculum vitae. The dispositions of the list of publications follows the classification of publication types established by the Ministry of Education and Culture. The teaching portfolio comprises among other things the applicant’s teaching experience and work with developing their pedagogics and teaching activities.
Please click here for more information about the application format.
When you apply for a position as a teacher, researcher and other staff member at ÅAU, an overall assessment of your suitability for the position is made in relation to the evaluation criteria and work description in the job announcement. Your qualifications are assessed based on your merits from different areas of expertise. If you are a researcher or teacher, the qualification requirements will normally contain scientific and pedagogical requirements as well as expectations regarding societal collaboration. In addition, there are language requirements for both academic and other staff members. Language requirements at Åbo Akademi University are defined in 78 § of the University Act (558/2009) and in the Åbo Akademi University internal language instructions (accepted by the ÅAU Board 25.2.2010). The teaching and administrative language of the university is Swedish. Teachers need to have excellent Swedish skills. If you are an international applicant or a non-native Finnish citizen you need to show sufficient knowledge of Swedish or, depending on the position and teaching language, are exempt from the requirement to have knowledge of Swedish and Finnish. The language board of ÅAU will upon request arrange a test for the applicant’s demonstration of excellent/sufficient Swedish skills. The university will support you as an international staff member with language courses.
Recruitment committees or the recruiting supervisor will participate in the recruitment process. An appointed committee will make an overall assessment of your suitability and then put forward a recommendation for employment. The overall assessment of your documented merits can also include external expert evaluations, interviews, teaching demonstrations, language tests or other aptitude tests. The Faculty Dean, Rector, a Director or another representative from the employer’s side will make the decision of employment.
When assessing the scholarly merits, Good practice in researcher evaluation. Recommendation for the responsible evaluation of a researcher in Finland including the National recommendation on the responsible use of publication metrics, will be used.
When assessing your relevant pedagogical experience, a matrix for evaluation of the teaching portfolio will be used. In addition, the recruitment committee might as for a public teaching demonstration.
A public teaching demonstration should be as authentic as possible, i.e. provide a relevant teaching situation for the sought position. The audience of the demonstration consists of students of the subject. The goal of the teaching demonstration is to assess your pedagogical skills, for example how well you manage to make the audience understand, take an interest in and problematize the subject, as well as to relate it to the rest of its studies. The length of the teaching session is normally 30 minutes. The recruitment committee will provide details about the teaching demonstration. The evaluation of teaching demonstrations follows the guidelines set in the document assessing teaching demonstrations.
By implementing the European Commission’s Human Resources Strategy for Researchers (HRS4R), Åbo Akademi University is committed to continuously developing and maintaining a stimulating work environment for researchers, developing working conditions in a purposeful way, and giving special attention to the recruitment of new employees to the work community.
The Strategy for Open, Transparent and Merit-based Recruitment (OTM-R) is available here: https://www.abo.fi/en/about-abo-akademi-university/come-work-with-us/human-resources-strategy-for-researchers/