The Department of Political Science and Public Management, University of Southern Denmark, Odense invites applications for one three-year assistant professorship in Public Administration as of May 1, 2023, or as agreed.

The position is part of the research project “Changing Professionals’ Attitudes to Volunteers” (CPAV)” led by Associate Professor Mette Kjærgaard Thomsen and funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark, Inge Lehmann (please see link to project). The goal of the project is to study the interplay between service professionals and volunteers, and the effect of different volunteer management practices on service professionals’ attitudes towards volunteers. Methodologically, the project plans to apply interviews, collect large-scale survey data and conduct two larger randomized controlled trials. The applicant will be part of a collective research team and is expected to engage in collaborations with Mette Kjærgaard Thomsen and the other members of the team.

The successful applicant(s) will be affiliated with the Public Administration Section. Members of the Public Administration Section study public management, leadership, organization, governance paradigms, public employees, civil servants, public finances, citizen-state interactions, local and central government, and local elections. Members of the section publish both in leading public administration, management and leadership and political science journals as well as Danish and English monographies and anthologies. For more information about the section’s strategy for 2022-2026, please see link.

For applicants to qualify for the position, the following criteria must be met (please also consult the Scholarly Qualification Matrix):

• Delineate a research profile aligned with the strategy of the Public Administration Section
• Document a strong research outcome and publishing experience with international peer-reviewed journals/presses
• Document the ability to engage in professional networks
• Document university-level teaching experience
• Document experience with knowledge exchange activities

We also emphasize that the successful applicant:

• Has conducted research on volunteering, co-production, service professionals or leadership/management or has interest in these topics
• Has strong skills in qualitative interviews and/or collecting and managing large-scale survey data
• Has an interest in conducting collaborative research
• Can conduct teaching and supervision at the full-time political science programme

It is furthermore important that applicants have good interpersonal skills and are dedicated to taking part in the everyday academic and social environment at the department. Such engagement can be documented by, for example, past engagement in social and professional activities.

The department believes in fostering a stimulating and inspiring environment for both faculty members and students. The department's ambition is therefore to recruit, develop, and retain talented scholars committed to both academic excellence and departmental development. Furthermore, the department wishes our staff to reflect the diversity of society and, thus, welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background.

For further information about the project (including a project description)/position, please contact Associate Professor Mette Kjærgaard Thomsen, [email protected] or Head of Department, Signe Pihl-Thingvad, [email protected].

Application, salary, etc.Appointment to the position requires a PhD or equivalent and will be in accordance with the salary agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations.

An application must include:

• Motivated application (max 3 pages)
• Detailed CV
• A research plan (max 2 pages) that describes:
• how the applicant can contribute to the CPAV project (both in terms of substance and methodology)


• Certificates/Diplomas (Master and PhD degree)
• Teaching portfolio (please see below)
• Complete list of publications, indicating which publications are most relevant for the position
• Up to 3 of the most relevant publications. Please upload a pdf for each publication. NOTE: If publications have been co-authored, co-author statements must be a part of this pdf and must include information like in this example. The statement is just for your inspiration.
• Please attach the PhD dissertation as a publication, if such exist

Furthermore, applicants applying for an assistant professorship are requested to submit a teaching portfolio with the application as documentation for teaching experience as well as supervision qualifications. Formal application instructions and guide for teaching portfolio may be found here.

All non-Danish documents must be translated into English.

Applications that are incomplete with regard to the above requirements may be rejected without any substantive evaluation.

Assessment of applications will be done under existing Appointment Order for universities. Applications will be assessed by an academic assessment committee that determines whether applicants are qualified for an assistant professorship. The committee may request additional information, and if so, it is the responsibility of the applicant to provide the necessary material. The committee reserves the right to arrive at a decision solely based on the material submitted.

Shortlisting may be used in the assessment process.

When the assessment committee has submitted its report, the applicant will receive the part of the evaluation that concerns him/her. The assessment report will subsequently be forwarded to the head of department who will assemble an appointments committee. The appointments committee will manage and complete a series of job interviews with especially promising applicants. On the basis of the applications, the written assessments, the job interviews, and a deliberation within the appointments committee, the head of department determines which candidate(s) will be offered the position.

Applications must be submitted electronically no later that February 1, 2023, using the link "Apply online". Uploaded files must be in Adobe PDF (unlocked) or Word format.

Read the guideline for the applicants

Each field can only contain a single file of max. 10 Mb.