Professorship in Design-based Research for Sustainability

The Royal Danish Academy invites applications for a 3-year part-time position as a professor within design-based sustainability research with particular focus on fashion, clothing and textiles.

The vacant professorship, which is affiliated with the Institute of Architecture and Design, should ideally be filled as of 1 December 2021 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The area of fashion, clothing and textiles design is undergoing rapid development these years. Planetary boundaries as well as challenges with the current linear growth model is affecting this area in particular, as notions of fashion are typically connected with obsolete product design. There is a vital need to stimulate design approaches and ideas that are resourceful as well as relevant, with a focus on local systems and user experiences as exemplary drivers for global change. There is also a need to detach the area of fashion, clothing and textiles from resource depletion in ways that can contribute with new understandings of designer roles and the impact of design. Furthermore, design of fashion, clothing and textiles must address cultural sustainability aspects of today’s important debates on diversity with regards to issues of race, gender, age and class, in order to contribute to actual change of a currently exploiting and excluding system. With the aim of building a strong platform for these strands of research and education at the Royal Danish Academy, we are seeking a professor who will contribute to strengthening and validating our future work.

The professorship should ideally be filled by an internationally recognised researcher who has contributed substantially to the field of fashion and textiles sustainability, and who has paid particular attention to design aspects of making and using in systemic contexts. Ideally, the position can be combined with as a joint professorship or related research activities elsewhere, thus contributing with international research level of excellence to the environment at the Royal Danish Academy.

As a research-based academy, the Royal Danish Academy conducts scientific and artistic research in dialogue with the professional practices for which we provide education at the highest level. Working with research that is embedded in design provides the opportunity to develop new knowledge through experimental exploration of design as a practice field via, among other things, investigation of user and industry practices through collaborative approaches, networking activities for knowledge sharing and knowledge building across stakeholders and country borders, and different representation forms representing new paradigms of design work.

Institute of Architecture and Design

The Institute of Architecture and Design (IBD) educates tomorrow's designers and conducts research at the highest level within textile, and fashion design, strategic design & entrepreneurship, architecture, spatial & interior design, glass & ceramics and furniture. We develop new design methods that equip students with comprehensive innovative and strategic competences, enabling them to take responsibility for complete solutions and processes. We build bridges between a strong Danish design tradition and our present and future ideas of product design. Working with an artistic design practice and state-of-the-art artistic and methodological opportunities, we involve the surrounding world in our work with the development of design proposals and the propagation of design solutions that promote the good life and a sustainable future.

About the position

The professorship will primarily consist of design-based sustainability research and/or artistic research with particular focus on fashion, clothing and textile, facilitating research networking activities at internationally recognized level, validating educational programs and initiatives related to sustainability work, and to some extent Ph.D. supervision, academic management and administrative tasks.

Your tasks will include, among others:

• Management of scientific and/or artistic research tasks, including publishing and dissemination of scientific results within the position’s area of focus in collaboration with relevant external institutions, companies and networks, both in Denmark and abroad, as well as with the other research and development fields at the institute and the Royal Danish Academy as a whole.
• Visionary and productive teamwork in the planning of future research and development projects, including actively participating in applying for external funding of and fundraising for the Academy's activities.
• Take part of validating doctoral education activities through e.g. discussions, seminars, consultancy or other feedback activities to support the building up of research talent
• Supervision, examinations and external examiner tasks as well as specialist assessment work.
• Scholarly leadership in building up and scaling research programs and projects
• Teaching, educational planning and administration relating to these activities for the Royal Danish Academy’s programs

In addition to this, you will collaborate actively with the teachers and researchers around the MA ‘Fashion, Clothing and Textiles; New Landscapes for Change’ and represent the Royal Danish Academy and the Institute of Architecture and Design outwardly, in terms of affect a sustainable change within the area of fashion, clothing and textiles and strength the agenda at the research funds, policy makers, and the general public.

You will also be expected to participate in interdisciplinary teaching and research in collaboration with the Royal Danish Academy’s other institutes and staff, including by contributing to the content and development of the interdisciplinary teaching of common core subjects at the Royal Danish Academy, as well as other relevant tasks.

Personnel management may become a part of the position, subject to further agreement, should the Royal Danish Academy express a wish for this.

Qualification requirements

You have a relevant education at master’s level as a minimum and a PhD degree or qualifications at PhD level. You have completed a period as an assistant professor or have equivalent educational qualifications, and you have experience from an associate professorship or equivalent qualifications.

You can document a high degree of original scientific production at international level, including original contributions to the development of this particular field, conducted artistic research at the highest international level or pursued a significant architectural design career at a high international level.

In addition, you have solid experience of teaching and supervising at bachelor, master and PhD levels, and you have received supervision, upgraded your teaching skills and received a positive written assessment of your educational qualifications. In addition, the Royal Danish Academy requires you to have completed and passed a teacher training course and to provide documentation for this. In exceptional instances, the teacher-training requirement may be waived provided that the candidate can document having completed and passed another teacher training process from a recognized educational institution (such as a teacher-training study program) or has an MA in education.

You have well-documented experience of developing, funding and managing large, externally funded research projects and projects to which business collaboration is affiliated.

Furthermore, we expect you to:

• have contributed substantially to the research area of sustainability within the design area of relevance to this position through recognised publications.
• have a strong international network within leading scholars of this area, and a strong publication list.
• have comprehensive experience in facilitating network activities across industry, NGO’s, research environments and other, with the aim of fostering systemic change and debate.

Finally, it will be a significant advantage if you are part of or can document previous or current collaborations with researchers of the Scandinavian area and if you are familiar with the specific research and educational environments within the Nordic region.

In the overall assessment for the appointment to this position, particular importance will be attached to qualified efforts and new developments within the teaching area.

Importance will also be attached to your ability to handle research management and possibly other managerial functions.

What we offer

We offer a creative, dedicated, developing and visionary educational and research environment. The position involves a high degree of responsibility, contributory influence, and the opportunity to leave your mark on scientific/artistic research and teaching. We value good collegial collaboration with room for mutual inspiration and professional discussion.

Salary and employment conditions

Employment and remuneration will be in accordance with the agreement in force between the Danish Ministry of Finance and a number of organisations under the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC) for academics in public service. It will be possible to negotiate qualification supplements depending on your qualifications and experience.

Employment will also be in accordance with the applicable job structure for artistic and scientific staff at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation, Aarhus School of Architecture and Design School Kolding – Executive Order no. 962 of 24 August 2015.

As a starting point, this is a part-time position with an average of 9,25 working hours per week, but this can be negotiated in connection with an employment offer. The tasks includes scientific/artistic research and teaching, as well as moderate administration duties. The breakdown between scientific/artistic research and teaching will initially be 40/60. The breakdown between the different tasks may vary according to the Royal Danish Academy’s requirements, and you may be asked to undertake other official tasks.

Sideline occupation will be accepted to the extent that this is compatible with handling the job as professor.

Application

Please forward your reasoned application, an updated CV, educational diplomas, documentation for compliance with the qualification requirements listed above, and a description of your research plans, a complete list of your published works, and examples of the works you would like to emphasize (a maximum of seven works, however). Finally, you should enclose material that can shed light on your teaching qualifications. Any former professorship assessment(s) should also be enclosed.

An application with associated appendices must be submitted electronically by pressing the ‘Apply for the position’ button below so that the application is received by the Royal Danish Academy no later than 15 August 2021.

Please mail four copies of any supporting appendices that cannot be forwarded electronically with the application to the street address below so that these are received by the Royal Danish Academy before the application deadline to the address below:

The Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation

Attn.: Lykke Cooper

Philip de Langes Allé 10

1435 Copenhagen K

Denmark

Marked 'Professorship within Design-based Research for Sustainability'

Applications and application material received after the application deadline will not be included in the assessment.

Application process (shortlisting)

Please note that the position is being advertised and will be filled in accordance with the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science's 'Executive Order of 12 April 2019 on the employment of artistic and scientific staff at the higher artistic educational institutions within the Ministry of Higher Education and Science's area'.

After the expiry of the application deadline, the head of the institute, taking advice from the employment committee, will select the applicants who are to be assessed. The selection will be made according to an overall assessment of which applicants best meet the criteria in the vacancy notice according to the submitted application documents. In your application (including appendices), you should therefore make sure to document your compliance with the qualification requirements described in the vacancy notice.

After this, all applicants will be notified of whether their application has proceeded to evaluation, and the selected applicants will be informed of the composition of the committee. Subsequently, an expert assessment committee will assess the selected applicants in relation to the specific position. The assessment will be sent to each applicant with an option for the applicants to submit comments.

The appointment as professor will therefore be based on a concrete assessment by an expert assessment committee. The assessment committee will conduct their assessment based on the qualification requirements listed in the job advertisement and on all the application documents. In your application (including appendices), you should therefore make sure to document your compliance with the qualification requirements described in the vacancy notice.

Further information

Information about qualification requirements, the application process, and the e-recruitment system can be obtained by contacting HR Partner Lykke Cooper by email to [email protected] or by tel. +45 4170 1695.

Details about the academic content of the position can be obtained by contacting Head of Institute Mathilde Serup by email to: [email protected] or by tel. +45 5190 2292.

General information about the Royal Academy and the Institute of Architecture and Design can be found at www.royaldanishacademy.com.

The Royal Danish Academy is a versatile workplace that regards diversity as a strength. Therefore, we urge all qualified, interested applicants to apply for the position.

About the Royal Danish Academy

The Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation is an internationally recognised academy, which educates professionally creative graduates to the highest level, and develops new knowledge that creates value for society and the labour market. The Royal Danish Academy is a government institution under the Ministry of Higher Education and Science, and it has approx. 1,700 students and 350 full-time staff equivalents. Further details about the Royal Danish Academy are available on our website www.royaldanishacademy.com.

Kilde: Jobnet.dk