Tenure Track Assistant or Associate Professor or Full Professor, Applied Geophysics, Faculty of Technology

The University of Oulu is a multidisciplinary, international research university, with about 4000 employees who produce new knowledge based on high-standards research and provide research based education to build a more sustainable, smarter, and more humane world. The University of Oulu community has about 19,000 people in total. Our northern scientific community operates globally and creates conditions for the emergence of innovations. The University of Oulu is ranked in the top 3% of the world’s universities.

We are now looking for a

Tenure Track Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Full Professor in Applied Geophysics

to join the Oulu Mining School Research Unit at the Faculty of Technology.

The Oulu Mining School (OMS) Research Unit is one of 12 research units within the Faculty of Technology. The Faculty operates in all the strategic focus areas of research at the University of Oulu. Researchers have active collaboration with companies, research institutes, and the public sector. External competitive research funding forms more than half of the total budget of the Faculty. The OMS is an education and research unit in engineering and geosciences, whose main target is to significantly strengthen the University’s expertise in natural resources and sustainability. The OMS gathers core disciplines of the mining value chain in the geosciences, geophysics, mining engineering and mineral processing sectors. The OMS is committed to providing high-level evidence-based education in these disciplines at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. A particular interest of the unit is related to specific problems related to sustainable mining in Arctic climate and weather conditions.

About the Job

In this role, you will:

• Provide vision, leadership, and mentoring in the research and education of applied geophysics at Oulu Mining School.
• Conduct and supervise scientific research at a high international level.
• Build national and international research collaborations and secure external research funding.
• Deliver both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and thesis supervision, including lectures, practical teaching, and hands-on training in instrumentation, data processing, modelling and inversion.
• Develop postgraduate training with a focus on professional activities and collaboration with major stakeholders.

The applied geophysics group of OMS specializes in the application of geophysical techniques at different stages of the mine life cycle, from exploration to mine closure. The major research topics include both traditional and advanced methods that can be used in mineral exploration, characterization, and monitoring of mining waste, engineering geophysics applications, with particular emphasis on the development and application of environmentally friendly methods, like passive seismic and myography. The group operates its own geophysical instrumentation, e.g., a gravimeter, magnetometer, resistivity meter, and GPR for near-surface geophysical studies. Via participation in the FINNSIP National Pool of Seismic Instrumentation, the group has access to the most advanced seismic N-array and broadband seismic instrumentation. The group collaborates with the other research units at the University of Oulu and with private companies in the development of novel imaging and AI-based data analysis techniques. The appointed professor will play a central role in fostering such collaboration across disciplines in research, education, and innovation.

What We Offer

• The support of an experienced and enthusiastic team, where you can share your expertise and grow as an expert.
• Meaningful work with strong societal impact.
• A collaborative and multidisciplinary research and teaching environment.
• Access to modern seismic instrumentation of FINNSIP.
• Wellness benefit ePassi covering sport, culture, and well-being. Read more about other staff benefits.
• Work that matters and a workplace that promotes flexibility and work-life balance. Read more about working with us.
• We have an HR Excellence in Research -quality label, which is a recognition awarded by the European Commission for the development of researchers’ working conditions and careers. 
• Comprehensive relocation support for international recruits.
• Finland is one of the most livable countries in the world, with a high quality of life, safety, an excellent education system, and a competitive economy. Read more about living in Oulu.

Who Are You

You are an experienced specialist with a doctoral degree and practical experience in applied geophysics.

In order to succeed and enjoy the position, we require from you;

You should have excellent potential for a successful scientific career. The top candidates undergo an evaluation by external experts and are required to reach a rating of “excellent” or “outstanding”, both in the overall grade and in the category of “scientific excellence”. In addition, top candidates are asked to give a teaching demonstration as part of the assessment of teaching skills. Find out more about our tenure track system, entry criteria, evaluation procedure, and advancement on our careers website.

Teaching competence is assessed by the recruitment committee. The candidate will also be asked to give a teaching demonstration as part of the assessment of teaching skills. The assessment is carried out using the University of Oulu’s unified instructions for teaching portfolios and teaching demonstrations. The candidate’s teaching competence is assessed on a scale of 1–5 (poor/weak–excellent). In the evaluation of teaching skills, the person selected for the tenure track position must achieve at least the grade “good” (3/5). The person selected for the position of full professor must achieve at least the grade “very good” (4/5).  

For Assistant Professor:

• Doctoral degree in an applicable research field.
• Ability to work independently and have proven teaching skills.
• To be eligible for a position as Assistant Professor, you must have received your doctoral degree not more than ten years ago.
• Fluency in English. A good command of Finnish is considered an advantage. The teaching language of MSc courses at OMS is English, but some courses at the BSc level are in Finnish. In addition, some knowledge of Finnish is useful for communication during field work in Finland.
• Commitment to participate and organize field work.

When assessing the candidate’s merits for the position of Assistant Professor, attention will be paid to scientific excellence, such as research outputs, international scientific activities and collaboration, supervision of undergraduate students, pedagogical competence, societal relevance, impact and potential of scientific activities, and services for the academic community.

For Associate Professor:

• Doctoral degree in an applicable research field.
• You must demonstrate evidence of scientific research work and relevant teaching skills.
• You must have the ability to lead research and experience of acquiring external research funding.
• We also expect you to have sufficient and relevant experience in international scientific work and evidence of international cooperation.
• Fluency in English.  A good command of Finnish is considered an advantage. The teaching language of MSc courses at OMS is English, but some courses at the BSc level are in Finnish. In addition, some knowledge of Finnish is useful for communication during field work in Finland.
• Commitment to participate and organize field work.

When assessing the candidate’s merits for the position of Associate Professor, attention will be paid to scientific excellence, such as research outputs, acquisition of competitive research funds, international scientific activities and collaboration, teaching, supervision of undergraduate students and doctoral researchers, mentoring activities and pedagogical studies, societal relevance, impact and potential of scientific activities, services for the academic community and leadership skills.

For Full Professor:

• Strong scientific competence with an international professor-level track record.
• Proven ability to lead research, supervise doctoral students, and secure external funding.
• Proven ability and motivation to teach at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
• Proven active international collaboration and engagement with the geophysical scientific community.
• An interest in advancing multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary research.
• Fluency in English.  A good command of Finnish is considered an advantage. The teaching language of MSc courses at OMS is English, but some courses at the BSc level are in Finnish. In addition, some knowledge of Finnish is useful for communication during field work in Finland.
• Commitment to organize and lead field experiments.

We Also Appreciate

Experience with various geophysical methods and instrumentation, and with processing and interpretation of geophysical data. A subspecialty expertise in any subfield of applied geophysics.

When assessing the candidate’s merits for the position of Full Professor, attention will be paid to:

• Scientific excellence: Research outputs, such as publications, research data, methods, scientific quality, openness, scientific renewal, and impact.
• Research activities, such as acquisition of competitive research funds, presentations, workshops and seminars, trans- or multidisciplinary, awards, and honors.
• International scientific activities and collaboration.
• Teaching, supervision of undergraduate students and doctoral researchers, mentoring activities, and pedagogical studies.
• Societal relevance, impact, and potential of scientific activities, such as patents and inventions, stakeholder activities, expert work, science popularization, promotion of the SDGs, and citizen science.
• Services for the academic community, such as peer review, editorial work, academic expert, and administrative tasks.
• Leadership and interaction skills.

Salary

Those hired at the Assistant or Associate level will be tenure-track positions with five-year terms at each level, with the right to be evaluated to the next tenure level until full professorship if the assessment criteria are met. The Professor position will be a permanent, tenured position.

The position is permanent (full professor)/fixed-term (assistant and associate professor) for 5 years as of 1.11.2026 or as soon as possible thereafter.

In Assistant or Associate Professor positions, the salary is based on levels 6–7, and in the Professor position, on levels 8–10 of the demand level chart for teaching and research staff of Finnish universities. In addition, a salary component based on personal work performance will be paid (maximum of 50 % of the job-specific component). Starting gross salary will be approximately between  4500– 5500 € per month for an Assistant or Associate Professor and 6400 – 7200 € per month for a Professor (before taxes). A trial period of 6 months is applied in the position.

How to Apply?

Interested? If yes, please apply by 9.8.2026 (23:59 Finnish local time) through our recruitment system.

The application should be written in English and include the following:

1. Cover letter, stating the career level at which you would like to be evaluated, and contact details of 2–4 persons available for recommendation.
2. CV following the guidelines of the Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity
3. [OPTIONAL] Narrative CV, using the given template (more information: principles for the assessment of research and researchers at the University of Oulu)
4. List of publications following the guidelines of the Research Council of Finland , with the ten most important ones marked.
5. Brief account of research merits.
6. Brief account of teaching merits or a teaching portfolio.
   1. Teaching philosophy, teaching strategies, and methods.  
   2. A description of oneself as a teacher and an implementer of educational work.
   3. Practical experience in teaching and efforts to improve teaching, digital teaching skills and giving feedback, possible participation in continuous learning provision, and international educational collaboration.
   4. Production and use of learning materials, including open educational resources.
   5. Maintaining and developing one’s own teaching and supervision competence; description of one’s pedagogical training; the significance of research in maintaining and developing one's teaching and supervision competence.
   6. Feedback received on teaching (student evaluations, peer evaluations, awards, and assessed test lectures).
   7. Vision for the development of one’s teaching.
7. Details regarding acquisition of research funds.
8. A brief research and action plan.

The selection process follows the University of Oulu tenure track guidelines and is carried out by a recruitment committee. The candidates are subjected to publication analyses based on their publication lists. The candidates who are considered most suitable by the recruitment committee will undergo an expert evaluation. Top candidates will also be invited to an on-site or remote interview and asked to give a teaching demonstration as part of the assessment of teaching skills. All applicants will be notified during the selection process.

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, including people of different ages, genders, languages, cultures, and minority communities.

Contact Information

For further information about this post, please contact the Professor of Geophysics, Applied Geophysics Elena Kozlovskaya, [email protected].

For technical questions, you can contact the secretary of the nomination preparation committee Satu Pitkäaho, [email protected].