Joensuu, Finland - The University of Eastern Finland has announced the opening for professor of Church Music at its Joensuu campus.

Philosophical Faculty, School of Theology, Joensuu Campus

Professor of Church Music (post no 31050)

Description of the post

The Professor of Church Music is responsible for academic studies and scientific research within the specialisation of church music in the degree programme of Orthodox theology. The Professor of Church Music is required to have scientific familiarity with Orthodox church music, especially with the Byzantine and Slavic music traditions which serve as the foundation for the Finnish chant tradition, as well as with the international contemporary trends in Orthodox chant. The duties of the professor also include the preparation and execution of research projects, international cooperation, and administrative tasks.

Sufficient language proficiency in Finnish is needed in order to successfully carry out the duties associated with the post and the duties may also include teaching given in the English language. The Professor of Church Music is required to be scientifically qualified and have practical familiarity with the field of the post, which refers to knowledge of the environments in which church musicians operate, as well as to skills in leading the application of scientific knowledge and academic theology of chant in practice.

Legislation and University of Eastern Finland decisions relating to the post of professor

The duties of a professor are defined in the Universities Act, Section 33. A professor shall conduct and supervise scientific research or artistic work and give education based on it and follow developments in science or art and participate in societal interaction and international cooperation in his or her field.

According to the Administrative Regulations of the University of Eastern Finland, a person to be appointed to a permanent professorship or to a professorship of over a two-year term shall be scientifically or artistically qualified, have good teaching skills and, if relevant to attending to the duties, practical familiarity with the domain (Section 32). The Faculty Council makes a proposal on the scope of duties and the definition of tasks of a professorship and decides whether practical familiarity with the domain is required of a professor.

Furthermore, the Faculty Council selects the experts to issue their statements on the applicants to a professorship or on a person to be invited as a professor, and makes a proposal to the Rector on the person to be appointed to the post (UEF Administrative Regulations, Section 11). The post is placed on levels 8-11 of the job demands level chart for the teaching and research staff.

Tasks of the experts and appointments procedure

Experts An assessor’s statement concerning the qualification and merits of the applicants are requested from a minimum of two experts. The selection of the experts shall observe the field of the post to be filled and the provisions on disqualification in Section 28 of the Administrative Procedure Act (434/2003) apply. A scholar who has been selected as an expert may not participate in the processing of the matter at a later stage. 

The assessor’s statement should be issued in writing and the expert is requested to focus on assessing the scientific qualification and merits of the applicants in particular. The statement is a public document and it should be substantiated for those applicants whom the expert considers best qualified in view of the post and its qualification requirements and other factors affecting the assessment of the applicants. The expert shall also place the suitable applicants in an order of preference. 

If there are no more than a maximum of three applicants for the post, the statement should be substantiated on each of the applicants' merits; or, if there are more than three applicants, a substantiated statement should be given on at least three of them. However, substantiated statements need to be given only on the applicants whom the expert considers qualified for the post. The statement should indicate why some of the applicants have been chosen for a more detailed review and why the rest are not assessed in more detail. The experts may negotiate with one another and they may also issue a joint statement. 

The experts shall be delivered the instructions for appointment, copies of the relevant application documents, publications and other works attached to the application. The Faculty decides a deadline by which the experts shall issue their statements. Once all the experts’ statements have arrived at the faculty, the statements will become public. 
 
Trial lecture After the experts have issued their assessor’s statements, the faculty may reserve an opportunity for the applicant to give a trial lecture.  The trial lecture is open to public. 

Interview When the applicant gives the trial lecture, time will also be reserved for an interview for discussing the applicant’s plans concerning the work and its development.

Members of the university’s teaching and research staff are required to have command of the language they give teaching in (Finnish or Swedish). The language skills in the teaching language may be demonstrated in a manner specified in the university’s regulations (Government Decree on Universities 770/2009).

Any queries should be addressed to Head of the School of Theology, Professor Matti Kotiranta (+358 50372 1553/matti.kotiranta@uef.fi) or Executive Head of Administration Kari Korhonen (+358 50 4323826/ kari.korhonen@uef.fi).

Application submittal and further information

The application should be accompanied by the following documents:
All material (excluding publications) should be submitted in English in case the applicants’ qualification and merits are assessed by international experts.

1) A certified CV 
2) A portfolio of the applicant’s teaching merits composed in compliance with the university’s instructions
3) A complete list of publications
4) a. A list of publications (no more than 15, numbered and indexed) and other works with which the applicant wishes to demonstrate his or her qualification and merits for the post
b. The publications and other works referred to in the list; and  
5) A written explanation (no more than 2 pages) of the applicant’s views on how to develop teaching and research in the field. 

The applicant should notify the faculty of how he or she can be reached during the appointment process and give an address where written notifications concerning the matter may be sent.

Instructions on the delivery of the copies included in the application to the experts will be given after the closing of the application deadline. 

The written application with the required appendices should be addressed to the Rector of the university.

Additional information

Deadline for applications is April 14.