Professor in risk assessment of chemicals

The Department of Environmental Science at Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark invites applications for a position as full Professor in risk assessment of chemicals to enhance and expand the research capability, and the research-based teaching and advisory activities at the department. The position is to be filled by August 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter, subject to negotiation. 

Expected start date and duration of employment

This is a permanent position from August 2025 or as soon possible thereafter.


Job description

The selected candidate is expected to:

• Establish and consolidate a robust externally funded research program within environmental chemistry and risk assessment of chemicals
• Develop and enhance interdisciplinary collaboration within the department, and bridge with other departments at the faculty as well as relevant national and international research communities
• Contribute to advisory activities of relevant regulatory authorities (national and EU) and private organizations
• Supervise graduate (Master and PhD level) students in thesis research projects
• Contribute to the teaching of graduate courses and the implementation a new online education in chemical risk assessment
• Engage in public outreach and knowledge exchange, promoting the impact of chemical risk assessment research on society.

 

Your profile

The position requires a comprehensive background in environmental chemistry and risk assessment of chemicals. The ideal candidate has experience within several of the following research fields:

• Environmental chemical risk assessments of mixtures and contaminants of emerging concern
• Risk assessment and climate change
• Environmental safety and chemical regulation
• Emerging frameworks for chemicals strategy for sustainability
• Environmental and human exposure to organic contaminants

Applicants should have several years of highly productive post-graduate research after completed PhD, and extensive publication experience. An established capability in securing external research funding, combined with a robust publication history in high-ranking, global peer-reviewed journals, is necessary. Publications with high-level publishers (according to BFI (The Danish Bibliometric Research Indicator) of the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science) are also recognized.
Accomplished research leadership and ability to draw grand research projects and to effectively guide PhD students and Master theses/Bachelor projects is required. The applicant should have extensive international research collaboration (e.g. joint papers and proposals) and have an ability to provide inspiration and guidance for colleagues. Furthermore, the candidate is expected to work in an interdisciplinary academic environment. Additionally, the chosen applicant will need to exhibit qualities that promote values of equality, diversity, and inclusion. The position, therefore, requires a highly motivated scientist who is comfortable working in teams.
 

Who we are

The Department of Environmental Science is an interdisciplinary department under the Faculty of Technical Sciences at Aarhus University. The knowledge base encompasses fields such as social science, geography, economics, and policy analysis, in addition to mathematical modeling, physics, chemistry, toxicology, and microbiology. Both pure and applied research is conducted on some of the major challenges facing society, such as pollution and pollution control mechanisms, management of land, soil, water, air and biodiversity, protection of ecosystem services and climate change. Research based advisory services within these areas are offered to ministries and other stakeholders and central to the Department economy. Currently, about 150 staff and PhD-students are working at the department. Further information may be found at http://www.envs.au.dk.

The selected candidate will be affiliated with the Section for Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology. The section conducts research and research-based advisory work targeting a better understanding of the transport and fate of organic pollutants in the environment, as well as a better understanding of the links between environmental chemistry, toxicology and human exposure. This includes tools to identify and quantify impacts, which can act as indicators of emerging problems. The aim is to provide the highest capability in Denmark for assessing risks associated with the distribution and fate of organic pollutants in the environment.
 

What we offer

The department and section offer:

• a well-developed research infrastructure, laboratories with high-end analytical equipment
• an interdisciplinary environment with both national and international collaborators as well as authorities and private companies
• a research climate encouraging lively, open and critical discussion within and across different fields of research
• a work environment with close working relationships, networking and social activities
• a workplace characterised by professionalism, equality and a healthy work-life balance.

 

Place of work and area of employment

The place of work will be at Aarhus University, RISØ Campus, in Roskilde, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark. The city of Roskilde (www.roskilde.dk) is located close to Copenhagen. The area provides immediate access to a wealth of cultural and recreational pursuits.
 

Contact information

For further information, please contact: Head of Section, Pedro Carvalho, +45 8715 8462,  [email protected] or Head of Department, Carsten Suhr Jacobsen, +45 2537 7667, [email protected].
 

Deadline

Applications must be received no later than 1 April 2025

 


Application procedure

Shortlisting is used. This means that after the deadline for applications – and with the assistance from the assessment committee chairman, and the assessment committee if necessary, – the head of department selects the candidates to be evaluated. The selection is made on the basis of an assessment of who of the candidates are most relevant considering the requirements of the advertisement. All applicants will be notified within 6 weeks whether or not their applications have been sent to an expert assessment committee for evaluation. The selected applicants will be informed about the composition of the committee and will receive his/her assessment. Once the recruitment process is completed a final letter of rejection is sent to the deselected applicants.


Letter of reference

If you want a referee to upload a letter of reference on your behalf, please state the referee’s contact information when you submit your application. We strongly recommend that you make an agreement with the person in question before you enter the referee’s contact information, and that you ensure that the referee has enough time to write the letter of reference before the application deadline.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to ensure that letters of reference received after the application deadline will be taken into consideration.

If you wish to add a referee after you have submitted your application, you must send this person’s details (name, job title, place of work, and email address) as well as the name of the position you have applied for to: [email protected]


Formalities and salary range

Technical Sciences refers to the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Danish Universities under the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

The application must be in English and include a curriculum vitae, degree certificate, a complete list of publications, a statement of future research plans and information about research activities, teaching portfolio and verified information on previous teaching experience (if any). Guidelines for applicants can be found here.

Appointment shall be in accordance with the collective labour agreement between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. Further information on qualification requirements and job content may be found in the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities.

Salary depends on seniority as agreed between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and the Confederation of Professional Associations.

Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants.

Research activities will be evaluated in relation to actual research time. Thus, we encourage applicants to specify periods of leave without research activities, in order to be able to subtract these periods from the span of the scientific career during the evaluation of scientific productivity.

Aarhus University offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including relocation service and career counselling to expat partners. Read more here. Please find more information about entering and working in Denmark here.

The application must be submitted via Aarhus University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aarhus University's website.
 


Aarhus University

Aarhus University is an academically diverse and research-intensive university with a strong commitment to high-quality research and education and the development of society nationally and globally. The university offers an inspiring research and teaching environment to its 38,000 students (FTEs) and 8,300 employees, and has an annual revenues of EUR 935 million. Learn more at www.international.au.dk/