The Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill invites applications for a faculty teaching position. The opening is for a candidate at the Teaching Assistant Professor level beginning spring semester 2027. The position is for an initial term of three (3) years and is renewable upon review. We seek a dynamic person to teach undergraduate physics, primarily at the introductory level in a large-enrollment setting. The successful candidate will also be expected to participate in the administrative tasks involved with large-enrollment courses comprising a team of educators. Required qualifications include a PhD in Physics or a closely related field, and experience in teaching at the college level.
Friday, May 8, 2026
Associate Professor in Physics specialised in Physics Education Research, Uppsala University, Sweden (European Union)
https://www.uu.se/en/about-uu/join-us/jobs-and-vacancies/job-details?query=917527
Are you ready to shape the future of research and education? At Uppsala University, your ideas matter. We welcome top talents in Physics and/or Astronomy Education Research (PAER) to a world-class environment driving innovation and collaboration.
Do you want to be part of our internationally renowned and broad research environment in physics, astronomy and education? Do you want to advance your research at Sweden’s largest department in the field? We are now looking for a university lecturer/assoc. professor in physics education research who wishes to be involved in developing and strengthening our research and education in physics and astronomy. You will work within the physics education research program at the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Our workplace at the Ångström laboratory includes national and international laboratories, research infrastructures, and excellence centres for research, which offers a unique work environment. Our researchers work in all areas of physics and astronomy, from theoretical physics and particle physics to astronomy and space physics and physics education research. You will be part of the physics education research (PER) division. The division conducts outstanding research in physics and astronomy education at tertiary level.
The Department of Physics and Astronomy is one of Uppsala University’s largest departments and is located at the Ångström Laboratory. Nearly 400 people work at the department, including around 60 professors and more than 100 doctoral students. We conduct world-leading research and education in both theoretical and experimental physics, including the development and use of large-scale infrastructures. We also collaborate extensively with external partners. Our research is organized into 14 different research programs, spanning topics from the innermost building blocks of matter through consideration of molecules and materials to the structure and development of stars and the universe.
This full spectrum is also reflected in the department’s courses and study programmes. Each year, approximately 2,500 students take undergraduate- and master’s-level courses at the department.
You can find more information about us here.
Subject area
The Physics Education Research (PER) program at Uppsala University focuses on issues relating to the learning and teaching of university level physics, with the principal aim of producing new theoretical and practical knowledge. This involves deep knowledge of physics and astronomy both as research and an educational endeavour, as well as the discipline of educational science in terms of theoretical, philosophical and methodological underpinnings. The work of the PER programme at Uppsala University has developed international prominence through their contributions to theoretical and methodological advancements in PER. Most recently these have been situated in three areas – representations as a function of social semiotics; qualitative explorations of learning challenges, such as comprehension of large and small spatio-temporal scales; and, how the processes of teaching and learning can be modeled and understood using complexity theory thinking. Current emerging areas are exploring how to optimize the education of pre-service physics teachers and exploring the use of information and communication technologies in physics, in particular generative AI and visual language models (VLMs).
Duties:
It is expected that the holder will collaborate and support collaboration with other areas of the Department and the University, including pre-service physics teacher education, and educational development within the Department. There will also be the administration and management tasks associated with the research group.
You will work with:
- research. Research in Physics and/or Astronomy Education, supervision and teaching at third-cycle level and teaching at first- and second-cycle. Research in the holder’s field of specialization. Information about research and development and participation in the planning of research projects. Publishing research results in internationally recognized peer-reviewed journals and presenting them at leading international conferences; actively applying for and securing external research funding from national and international funding agencies and/or through interdisciplinary collaborations.
- teaching. Teaching includes responsibility for courses, course administration, and supervision of doctoral students, in both Swedish and English and responsibility for education of pre-service physics teachers and didactical development at the department. If you are not initially able to teach in Swedish, Swedish language training aimed at achieving this competence will be included in your duties.
- administration. Participate in the general academic duties of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. This includes serving on committees, taking on responsibilities beyond your own research and teaching assignments, contributing to the evaluation and development of teaching and research activities, working collaboratively with colleagues, and providing support and constructive feedback to colleagues.
- keep abreast of developments within the subject area and following developments in society that are relevant to your work at Uppsala University.
- contributing to collaboration with the wider society.
- colleagues to ensure a healthy and supportive work environment.
In choosing between eligible candidates, emphasis will primarily be given to both research and teaching expertise, which will be accorded equal weight. In addition, attention will be given to administrative and management expertise, as well as collaboration and outreach expertise.
Qualifications required
It is necessary that the pedagogical skills, the research expertise and the professional skills are relevant to the content of the employment and the tasks that will be included in the employment.
You must have:
- a PhD in physics with specialisation in physics education research, astronomy education research, a combination of these, or directly related fields.
- documented supervision experience of PhD students.
- research expertise in higher education. Your research focus must be deeply embedded in the discipline of physics and/or astronomy education and focuses on the teaching and learning challenges in the discipline(s). In addition to academic qualifications, research qualifications from other activities may also be taken into account, such as development of technology and capacity for innovation.
- a research plan that clearly demonstrates an independent research profile and shows how the proposed research will strengthen, enhance, and/or complement research within the physics education research programme at the department.
- teaching expertise, according particular weight to teaching and supervision in physics and/or astronomy. In addition to academic qualifications, educational and teaching qualifications from other activities may also be taken into account, which include, for example, supervision, internal training or mentoring programmes.
- completed at least ten weeks of teacher training for higher education of relevance to the organisation and its activities or be considered to have acquired the equivalent knowledge. The required training for teachers in higher education may be completed during the first two years of employment if there are special reasons.
- a documented ability to teach in Swedish or English, unless there are special reasons.
- an ability to work with other people and otherwise meet the demands of suitability required to perform the duties well.
- an ability to link research to teaching, based on the subject concerned, subject didactics and teaching and learning in higher education, and to interact on issues of teaching and learning in higher education with actors within and outside the University.
- a documented ability to obtain external grants.
- documented skills and expertise in productive research collaborations and in successfully leading projects.
- administrative expertise. Capacity to plan, organise and prioritise activities and to work in a structured manner that demonstrates an awareness of goals and quality.
- a research plan that clearly demonstrates an independent research profile and how the proposed research will strengthen, improve and/or complement research within the department's physics education research program.
- research and teaching expertise or other professional expertise. The teaching expertise, research expertise and professional expertise must be relevant to the subject area and the duties that the postion involves.
Other desirable/valuable qualifications
It is valuable if the applicant has:
- docent/reader title or associate professor position
- established an independent research profile, for example through the award of substantial competitive funding, such as a start-up or establishment grant for at least three years from a university or external funding body.
- collaborative and outreach skills with society at large through popularization of research results. Popular science publications and lectures as well as public debate are examples of interactions with society at large.
- teaching expertise, according particular weight to teaching physics/astronomy at pre-service physics teacher education and physics/astronomy at candidate and master’s level.
- in addition to academic qualifications, educational and teaching qualifications from other activities that can be taken into account, such as supervision, internal training or mentoring programs.
- management expertise. Developing, coordinating and leading operations and staff.
For more information on assessment and assessment criteria, see the Appointment Regulations for Uppsala University and the Faculty of Science and Technology’s Guidelines for the Appointement and Promotion of Teachers.
All qualifications must be documented in a manner that makes it possible to assess both their quality and their scope.
In this recruitment, the University will give primary consideration to the candidate who, following a qualitative overall assessment of their competence and expertise, is judged to have the best potential to perform and develop the relevant duties and to contribute to the positive development of the department/equivalent.
Application
Parental leave, part-time work due to childcare, trade union responsibilities, military service or similar activities are treated as work experience and should be listed in the CV.
Instructions for applications for employment
About the position:
This is an open-ended appointment, with a probationary period for 6 months. The position is full-time. Starting date 1 January 2027 or by agreement. Place of work: Uppsala.
Further information about the position is available from: Programme responsible professor Urban Eriksson (+46 18-471 35 29, urban.eriksson@physics.uu.se) and Head of Department Professor Richard Brenner (+46 18 471 76 16, prefekt@physics.uu.se).
We look forward to receiving your application by 15 June 2026, UFV-PA 2026/1056.
In the event of any disagreement between the English and the Swedish versions of this announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence.
We offer you
Sweden offers good working conditions, including comprehensive social benefits such as generous family-focused policies that make healthcare, childcare, and children’s education available and highly affordable. At Uppsala University, we offer the opportunity for new international staff to learn Swedish through our language courses. If you have family, they will get new contacts and support through the Uppsala International Citizen hub.
If you are an international candidate, you will find a lot of information about working and living in Sweden at http://www.uu.se/joinus.
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