Adjunkt/lektor i arkitektur (Assistant/associate professor of architecture)

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The Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation invites applications for a permanent, full-time position as an assistant or associate professor of architecture for its Kalundborg-based architecture programme.

We are seeking a colleague who is committed to developing the open, experimental academic environment centred on the new architecture programme in Kalundborg. You are interested in shaping this new programme and in working closely with the Royal Danish Academy’s other environments to build a strong research environment, preferably drawing on capacities from your national and international networks and in dialogue with local stakeholders in Kalundborg.  You have a broad architectural and research horizon; you have an inclusive academic and human outlook; and you can see the value of working with tutors and researchers across the Kalundborg and Holmen campuses to develop the programme in keeping with relevant academic and research agendas.

Our buildings, towns, cities and landscapes are being impacted by major, rapid changes: demographic shifts, the effects of the climate and biodiversity crises, the green transition of the energy and agricultural production sectors, changes in working and trade patterns, the effects of globalisation, to name a few. Small and medium-sized provincial towns and their catchment areas therefore find themselves having to tackle many interacting transitional processes involving numerous interests, requirements and agendas, as well as major spatial challenges. Their function and importance are changing, and their self-perception and identity are thus also heading in new directions. Our relationship with nature, the landscape and rural areas is likewise undergoing rapid change in line with these dynamics.

We expect our new colleague to navigate within these themes with ease and confidence, in both their research and their academic work.

The vacant position is affiliated with the Institute of Architecture, Urbanism and Landscape (IBBL) in Kalundborg. We hope to fill the position by 1 August 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Read more about the programme at Kalundborg here

Institute of Architecture, Urbanism and Landscape – Holmen and Kalundborg

The Institute’s disciplines are architectural design, cities and cultural landscapes, and their spatial transformation and development, current and historical. Our focus is on how we can produce well-founded, sustainable proposals for cities, buildings, urban spaces and landscapes that are informed by relevant academic and artistic research as well as the knowledge of practice. The Institute spans a wide variety of disciplines, and we believe architecture gains its meaning and experiential impact through a close dialogue with the specific surroundings and conditions – human, spatial, economic, geological, urban, landscape, climatic and political. IBBL offers a Bachelor’s degree programme at Campus Kalundborg, and starting in 2026, a Master’s degree programme as well as a Bachelor’s programme and two Master’s programmes at Campus Holmen.

The architecture programme at Kalundborg emphasises the importance of seizing the opportunities the town offers for building an open, experimental and innovative study and research environment in collaboration with Kalundborg’s other educational institutions, businesses and civil society. A strong local foundation goes hand in hand with a global outlook: a global outreach that springs from solutions rooted in the community. We strive to cultivate an academic environment that exploits the differences between town and country as tools for academic questioning and openness – a springboard for ways of investigating and exploring the world. Both the Bachelor’s and the Master’s programmes are under development. Starting in the autumn of 2025, the first three undergraduate years will be studying for their Bachelor’s degree, and in 2026, the first graduate students will embark on the English-language Master’s programme. In developing the Bachelor’s programme, we have moved away from finished, complete solutions to pre-defined problems and instead embraced an approach based on empathetic, inquisitive co-creation that seeks to identify opportunities – rather than simply problems – in the town as it already exists. With specific proposals for urban development, construction projects, pop-ups and interventions in the centre of Kalundborg and its social life, we hope to showcase opportunities to develop the town that start at grassroots level and that focus on the particular and specific. Alongside teaching, academic and artistic research, we will work closely with the other IBBL tutors and researchers, the rest of the Royal Danish Academy and leading international environments within our disciplines.

Read more about the Institute of Architecture, Urbanism and Landscape here

The position

The position will consist of research, teaching and related administrative duties.

It is crucial that you possess good collaborative skills, a pioneering spirit and willingness to take personal initiative. Your ability to motivate and excite others would be a great advantage.

Your research and academic work must contribute to the themes encompassed by the position: the crucial task of proposing and critically rethinking the ways we develop, plan and live in our buildings, towns, cities and countryside – and accordingly also our perception of and co-existence with nature and its landscapes.

Your duties will include:

• Contributing to building and profiling a strong research position in Kalundborg, together with the other researchers.
• Contributing to developing and profiling the programme.
• Research, including publishing and otherwise presenting scholarly knowledge, preferably in collaboration with relevant external institutions, enterprises and networks nationally and internationally, as well as the other R&D areas at the Institute and the Royal Danish Academy as a whole.
• Planning future R&D projects, including actively participating in applying for external funding and fund-raising for the Institute’s activities.
• Teaching, curriculum planning and the associated administration related to the Royal Danish Academy’s programmes and interdisciplinary teaching, including participation in fieldwork and study trips.
• Supervision, examinations and external examining duties, as well as assessments of scientific work if you are appointed as an associate professor.
• Participation in a number of Royal Danish Academy committees and, where appropriate, collegiate bodies.
• Strengthen the research field across Royal Danish Academy institutes, in collaboration with external partners and with a particular focus on Kalundborg and its environs.

Qualifications

As a minimum, you hold a Master’s level degree in architecture and a PhD or PhD-level qualifications.

You will be appointed assistant professor or associate professor depending on your qualifications. An assessment committee will assess your academic qualifications as a whole. If you are appointed assistant professor, we will set a period for your assistant professorship that enables you to attain associate professor level within a period of no more than six years.

As an assistant professor, you are expected to document the following in your application:

• Peer-reviewed publications in recognised journals and/or books/anthologies
• Participation in scientific seminars and conferences where you have made personal contributions
• Initial experience in participating in research fund application
• Experience in teaching and/or presenting your own research
• Ability to put research and teaching into a societal perspective
• Experience in describing research in a popular science format
• Willingness to join the Institute’s official forums and working groups
• Interest in and motivation to join interdisciplinary collaborations
• Interest in working with external parties
• Initial experience in managing small research projects or parts of larger ones.
• A plan for your research that demonstrates your development potential within the themes encompassed by the position.

As an associate professor, you are expected to document the following in your application:

• Experience and professional qualifications at, as a minimum, the level that can be achieved based on a satisfactorily completed period as an assistant professor, or have in a similar way acquired qualifications corresponding to, or above, this.
• Relevant peer-reviewed publications in recognised journals and/or books/anthologies.
• Strong research track record reflected in research at a high international level and/or citations in recognised journals and/or books/anthologies.
• Participation in national and international scientific networks and conferences where you have made personal contributions.
• Solid teaching experience, including examination work and experience in practical course organisation that draws on knowledge about learning, teaching and educational programmes.
• Having received supervision, upgraded your teaching skills and received a positive written assessment of your teaching qualifications.
• Completed and passed the Danish one-year postgraduate teacher training diploma course (Pædagogikum), and provide documentation of this. In exceptional cases, the Royal Danish Academy may dispense from this requirement, provided that you complete and pass the diploma course within two years.
• Experience in communicating research to relevant players and stakeholders, including students.
• Contribute to presenting your own research to the public.
• Experience in joining official institutional forums and working groups.
• Experience in applying for and securing research funds – as a minimum for your own PhD or postdoc studies/period as an assistant professor.
• A research plan that focuses on the themes encompassed by the position.

We would prefer applicants to have experience in participating in public debate as well as an interest in presenting academic and research agendas to broad audiences, particularly in and around Kalundborg. Such dialogue is expected to provide much of the impetus for the programme.

Other qualifications that will count favourably in the assessment of an applicant:

• Documented experience in participating in interdisciplinary and inter-institutional partnerships, nationally and internationally.
• Architectural experience and preferably proven results within IBBL’s disciplines, for example, urban development, citizen involvement, housing and institutional architecture, architectural policy, landscape architecture and urban space planning.
• Experience in conducting artistic research as part of an academic appointment – preferably involving themes related to the content of the position.
• English at a professional level.
• Interest in academic leadership and in further developing personal leadership competencies.

If you apply for the position of assistant professor, your application should include a proposed research plan for your assistant professorship period.

If you apply for the position of associate professor, your application should include a well-defined outline of a vision and strategy for your research field for the next three years. The outline should also include proposals for developing new junior research positions through external financing.

As regards both job categories, it would be an advantage if your plans cover your thoughts about how research and education in Kalundborg can benefit from collaborations with the academic environments in the rest of the Royal Danish Academy as well as with the residents of Kalundborg, NGOs, institutions, authorities and businesses. Your plan should preferably indicate which national and international environments might be relevant collaboration partners.

What we offer

• An inspiring workday at one of the world’s newest institutions of architectural education
• Good working relationships with colleagues united by a strong pioneering spirit, in a free-thinking environment, with broad horizons and in a setting conducive to mutual inspiration and discussion.
• The opportunity to be involved in setting the direction and academic focus for the architectural programme at Kalundborg.
• The opportunity to set strong academic agendas in close dialogue with the local community.
• The opportunity to develop new, original fields of research.
• Affiliation with the Royal Danish Academy and its many strong academic environments at Holmen, Esplanaden, Kalundborg and Nexø.

Salary and terms of employment 

The terms of pay and employment 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 academic staff in public service. A qualification allowance will be negotiable, depending on your skills and experience. 

The position will also be filled in accordance with the applicable job structure for artistic and scientific staff at the Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation; Aarhus School of Architecture; and Design School Kolding – Executive Order no. 1190 of 21 August 2023.  

This is a full-time position with an average of 37 working hours per week and includes research and teaching duties, as well as a limited amount of administrative work. The distribution between research and teaching will generally be 50:50 for an assistant professor and 40:60 for an associate professor. The distribution of your duties may differ as deemed necessary by the Royal Danish Academy, and you may be required to undertake other job-related duties.

This is a permanent position. However, the period of assistant professorship cannot exceed six years, and permanent tenure is conditional on attainment of a positive assessment for promotion to associate professor at the end of the fixed assistant professorship period. In the associate professor assessment, emphasis will be placed on whether you: 

• have satisfactorily completed the assistant professorship period 
• can document having conducted international-level research
• have received supervision, upgraded your teaching skills and attained a positive written assessment of your teaching qualifications, including having completed and passed the Danish one-year postgraduate teacher training diploma course (Pædagogikum). 
• satisfy the other criteria listed above for an associate professorship. 

The place of employment is Kalundborg.

Application 

Please submit a letter of motivation, an up-to-date CV, academic diplomas and certificates, and documentation of your qualifications as listed above. The application material can be in Danish or English.

In addition, your application should include the following attachments:

• A proposed research plan describing how you will contribute to developing a strong research environment in Kalundborg, based on the academic themes set out in the notice (max. two pages).
• A complete list of your published works, including copies of works you wish to highlight (maximum five works).
• Documentation attesting to your teaching qualifications in the form of a teaching portfolio or similar material.
• Any assessment(s) of previous assistant professor/associate professor positions held.

You should submit your application with attachments online via the “Søg stillingen” (Apply for position) button, to reach the Royal Danish Academy no later than 6 April 2025.

Applications and application documents received after the application deadline will not be considered.

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 application deadline, in consultation with the appointments committee, the head of the institute will select applicants for assessment. Applicants will be selected on the basis of an overall assessment of which applicants best meet the criteria set out in this call for applications based on the application documents submitted. In your application, including attachments, please provide evidence that you meet the qualification requirements described in the call for applications. All applicants will then be informed as to whether or not their application will proceed to the next stage of the selection procedure, and those selected will be informed of the composition of the committee. An expert assessment committee will then assess the selected applicants for the given position. Each applicant will be sent their assessment, with an option to submit comments.

Further information 

Information regarding qualification requirements, the application process and the e-recruitment system can be obtained on request from HR assistant, Ellen Kruse Jacobsen, e-mail: [email protected], tel. +45 41701539.

Details about the academic content of the position can be obtained on request from Head of Institute Katrine Lotz, e-mail: [email protected], tel. +45 41701689.

General information about the Royal Danish Academy and the Institute of Architecture, Urbanism and Landscape can be found at www.royaldanishacademy.com.

The Royal Danish Academy is an inclusive workplace that regards diversity as a strength. We therefore encourage all qualified and interested applicants to apply for the position.  

About the Royal Danish Academy 

The Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design and Conservation is an internationally recognised academy that 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 state institution under the Ministry of Higher Education and Science and has approximately 1,700 students and 350 full-time staff equivalents. Find out more about the Royal Danish Academy on our website www.royaldanishacademy.com.