Professor of Practice in Contemporary Art Photography

Aalto University is a community of bold thinkers where science and art meet technology and business. We are committed to identifying and solving grand societal challenges and building an innovative future. Aalto University has six schools with nearly 20 000 students and more than 400 professors. Our campuses are located in Espoo and Helsinki, Finland.

The School of Arts, Design and Architecture (ARTS) is an institution of higher education for design, media, architecture, motion picture, art education and art. The current key areas of research are design, digital media, audiovisual representation, art, visual culture, welfare architecture and emerging technologies as well as urban planning and design. The school produces specialists and innovators of art, design and architecture with strong artistic and technical skills.

The Department of Media http://media.aalto.fi/en/ is an academic community of approximately 500 students and 50 faculty members created through a restructuring of the School in January 2010. The department conducts research and provides education in bachelor, masters and doctoral programmes across a broad range of subjects and themes. The study programmes and research of the department are organized within three units: The Media Lab, Visual Communication Design and Photography (https://medialab.aalto.fi/, https://graphicdesign.aalto.fi/, http://media.aalto.fi/en/studies/programmes_and_majors/photography/ )

The Department of Media invites applications for:

PROFESSOR OF PRACTICE POSITION IN CONTEMPORARY ART PHOTOGRAPHY

The position will be filled on the basis of artistic merits and the successful candidate will be appointed for a fixed 5-year term with the title of Professor of Practice. The position will commence on 1st August 2017.

Aalto Professor of Practice system is intended especially for the fields of art, design and architecture but can be applied to other fields as well. The Professor of Practice position provides departments with the possibility to hire highly respected professionals for opening new areas of teaching and research/ artistic and professional work. The position also provides possibility for re-evaluation and dynamic development of a field.

Professors of Practice are expected to exercise and guide artistic activity and education, and/or research. They are also expected to follow the advances of their field, to participate in service to the Aalto University community, and to take part in societal interaction and international collaboration in their field.

Job description

Within the unit of Photography, the successful candidate will be expected

–       to be a practicing artist in the field of contemporary art photography
–       to take responsibility for the Master-level studies in Photography
–       to take responsibility for the Helsinki School activities with respect to Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture.

Requirements

Professor of Practice is considered a professor position with subject to external evaluation. Artistic merits will be emphasized in the selection process: the applicant is expected to have significant artistic achievements that, in terms of qualifications, are comparable to a doctoral level degree, good knowledge of contemporary artistic and curatorial practices and wide practical experience in the field of photographic art. The applicants will be reviewed on the basis of the following areas: artistic merits, teaching, research, collaborative skills, and activity and leadership in the artistic or academic community.

Aalto University follows the salary system of Finnish universities, but applicants may also provide salary requirements.

How to apply

The application process includes two phases. In the first phase the applicants are required to submit the following material:

  1. Motivation letter
  2. Curriculum vitae
  3. List of publications (the most important ones to be marked with an asterisk)
  4. Artist’s portfolio including 5 most significant projects in a single PDF file (max. file size 100 MB).
  5. Brief (max. 1000 words) overview of your ideas regarding the future development of the field and how these might be implemented in a Master’s program.

All application materials should be submitted in English. Aalto University does not accept any letters of recommendations during the first phase of the application process.

From amongst the applicants in the first phase, Aalto University will select those who will be asked to supplement their application materials with e.g. a teaching portfolio, and to visit the School of Arts, Design and Architecture in January 2017. Supplemented applications are submitted for review by external experts (the second phase of the application process).

Please submit your application through the eRecruitment system no later than 1st November 2016. The link to the eRecruitment system can be found at the bottom of the page.

General instructions for applicants including evaluation criteria, language requirements and guidelines for compiling CV are given at www.aalto.fi/en/tenure_track/for_applicant.

For additional information please contact Chairman of Departmental Committee, Professor Philip Dean, email firstname.lastname@aalto.fi. In recruitment process related questions, you may contact HR-Coordinator Johanna Glader, tel. +358 50 524 0728, firstname.lastname@aalto.fi.

Aalto University reserves the right for justified reasons to leave the position open, to extend the application period and to consider candidates who have not submitted applications during the application period.