162792 Professor of Applied Ethology with a focus on Animal Welfare

Professor of applied ethology with a focus on animal welfare

Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences  
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
University of Copenhagen

The University seeks to appoint a professor to the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences   to commence as soon as possible.

Information on the department can be found at: https://www.sund.ku.dk/.

Job description
The prime role for the professorship is to study how the many forms of animal use found in modern society affect the well-being of the animals involved. A successful candidate to the professorship must therefore cover different species and forms of animal use.

A key discipline underpinning the study of animal welfare is applied ethology, where the behavioural reactions of the affected animals are used as indicators of either positive or negative animal welfare. Other disciplines of relevance for the study of animal welfare include veterinary pathology, stress- and pain physiology, veterinary epidemiology, and bioethics. A successful candidate for the professorship must have their main research focus in applied ethology but must have documented the ability to collaborate with colleagues from the other relevant disciplines.

The field of Animal Welfare Science has undergone dramatic developments during recent decades with emergence of methods to assess animal welfare at farm and group level, and with a growing focus on methods to study positive animal welfare. A successful candidate must have documented skills to develop and use such methods to assess animal welfare.

To make an impact Animal Welfare Science must reach out to relevant stakeholders such as national ministries, relevant international organizations such as WOAH and the EU commission, animal industry organizations, dog breeding organizations, horse sports organizations and the like. A successful candidate to the professorship should have a good track record of such stakeholder interaction.

The professor’s responsibilities will primarily consist of:

• Research, including publication/academic dissemination
• Research-based teaching, including associated examination
• Research leadership, including guidance and supervision of researchers
• Obligation to share knowledge with the rest of society, including participation in public debate
• Academic assessments

Required qualifications
To be qualified for a professor position, you will be assessed according to these six overall criteria for recognising merit at the University of Copenhagen: Research, teaching, societal impact, organisational contribution, external funding, and leadership. Find information about each criterion.

Furthermore, each applicant must be able to:

• Document a high degree of original academic production at an international level, including considerable contributions to the development of the academic discipline
• Manage research and other management functions, e.g. engage in the university’s external academic activities, as well as knowledge and technology transfer
• Provide research-based teaching

When considering applications for the professorship, the main emphasis will be on the applicant's ability to document a high level of original scientific work at an international level within the area of applied ethology with a focus on animal welfare of terrestrial animals in human care.

The professor is also required to possess good interpersonal and communicative skills.

Terms of employment
The position is a permanent position.

The average weekly working hours are 37 hours per week.

Salary and other terms and conditions of appointment are set in accordance with the Agreement between the Ministry of Finance and AC (Danish Confederation of Professional Associations) or other relevant professional organisations.

The position is covered by the Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities 2020.

Questions
For further information, please contact Head of Department Birgit Nørrung birgit.noerrung@sund.ku.dk   

Foreign applicants may find the university’s International Staff Mobility useful.

Application
The application must be submitted in English and must include the following documents:

• Application (Including motivation for applying for this position (Maximum 2 pages))
• Curriculum vitae (Including information about external funding)
• Diplomas (Master’s, PhD and other relevant certificates)
• A complete list of publications
• Research plan (3‐5 pages)
• Uploads of maximum 10 publications to be considered in the assessment
• Teaching plan
• Teaching portfolio (Guidelines)

Application procedure
After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the Appointments Committee.  All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment. The Dean then appoints an expert assessment committee in order to make an assessment of the selected applicants for the specific post. Selected applicants are notified of the composition of the committee and each applicant has the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicant him/herself. You can read about the recruitment process at the university's Job Portal.

Please note that the applicant will be contacted if the assessment committee requires further documentation.

The applicant will be assessed according to the Ministerial Order no. 242 of 13 March 2012 on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities.

The University of Copenhagen encourages all interested applicants to apply for this position.

Please submit the application with the required attachments. The closing date for applications is 23.59 p.m. CET, 24 November 2024.

Interviews for this position are likely to be held on 19 March 2025, afternoon.