Associate Professor in epidemiology of vector-borne diseases
Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

University of Copenhagen

The University seeks to appoint an Associate Professor to the Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences to commence February 2024 or earlier.

Information on the Department can be found at: https://ivh.ku.dk/ or Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences – University of Copenhagen (ku.dk)

Job description

The position advertised is in the field of quantitative veterinary epidemiology with a strong focus on diseases transmitted by vectors between animals and/or between animals and humans. A broad documented knowledge of veterinary epidemiology is a requirement. The applicant will be working in the Vector group within the Group of Epidemiology and Disease Control at the Section of Animal Welfare and Disease Control situated at the historic Frederiksberg Campus in Copenhagen City. Apart from the Epidemiology group, the section also contains an Ethology group, a Bioethics group and a group of Breeding and genetics.

The applicant will continue to develop the research area, which presently prioritizes quantifying spatio-temporal disease risk and predicting transmission potential of endemic and emerging vector borne diseases in primarily Denmark but also in the rest of Scandinavia and in the EU. However, the Vector group also operates the national vector surveillance program of the temporal abundance of biting midges, mosquitoes and ticks for the veterinary authorities. The research focus is therefore on quantitative epidemiology for national decision-making. The research focus may be extended to emerging diseases and may thus include emerging non-zoonotic vector borne infections in Europe. The Vector group provide risk assessments and decision support to the national veterinary authorities regarding prevention and control of important vector borne diseases. The Vector group also works with the husbandry industry, with individual farmers and collaborate with the pharmaceutical industry, both the veterinary (production as well as companion animals) and the human oriented pharma industry.

Many of the projects at the section are collaborations between the groups and with the section for Parasitology and Aquatic Pathobiology and willingness to collaborate is essential. The applicant is expected to support other research groups, colleagues and PhD students with specific expertise in spatial analysis and in modelling of environment driven diseases in general.

The duties of the position includes research and teaching as well as participation in the public sector support continuously provided for the veterinary authorities. Associate Professors at the department are also expected develop the area further and to attract research funding.

The Associate Professor’s responsibilities will primarily consist of:

• Research, including publishing in international scientific journals and other academic dissemination
• Research-based public sector support within vector borne diseases and partly also within environment driven and emerging diseases
• Teaching in epidemiology for undergraduate students at the vet-school and teaching in postgraduate courses including associated examination
• Research leadership, including guidance and supervision of PhD students, Postdocs and Assistant Professors
• Obligation to share knowledge with the rest of society, including participation in public debate
• Academic assessments
• Attract own research funding

Required qualifications
The successful applicant should be able to document:

• Research qualifications at the level that can be achieved by satisfactorily completing a period of employment as an Assistant Professor/Postdoc, but may also be obtained in other ways
• Academic production at an international level
• Strong analytical skills including experience with spatial modelling e.g. machine learning
• Experience with vector abundance models or R0 modelling
• Experience with monitoring/surveillance, risk assessment and public sector support
• Fieldwork experience and research management
• Experience with international research collaboration
• Teaching qualifications and pedagogical competencies
• Research-based teaching

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

In addition, we encourage applicants to inform themselves of the university's six overall criteria for recognising merit: https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/criteria-for-recognising-merit.

Terms of employment
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 Section Hans Houe, [e-mail: houe@sund.ku.dk], https://sund.ku.dk/.

Foreign applicants may find this link useful: https://www.ism.ku.dk/ (International Staff Mobility).

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

• Application, including motivations for applying for this position (Maximum 2 pages)
• Curriculum vitae, including a list of publications
• Diplomas (Master’s, PhD, and other relevant certificates)
• A complete list of publications
• Research plan (3‐5 pages)
• Uploads of maximum 5 relevant publications to be considered in the assessment
• Teaching plan
• Teaching portfolio (Guidelines: https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/job-application-portfolio)

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 https://jobportal.ku.dk/.

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. Only online applications will be accepted. The closing date for applications is 23.59 p.m. CET, 12 September 2023.

Interviews for this position are likely to be held in the first half of December.

Part of the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU), and among Europe’s top-ranking universities, the University of Copenhagen promotes research and teaching of the highest international standard. Rich in tradition and modern in outlook, the University gives students and staff the opportunity to cultivate their talent in an ambitious and informal environment. An effective organisation – with good working conditions and a collaborative work culture – creates the ideal framework for a successful academic career.