Assistant Professor / Associate Professor in Translational Metabolism
The Faculty of Medicine invites applications for the SWAN profiling area (Sustainable Wellbeing across lifespan) for the position of
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR / ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN TRANSLATIONAL METABOLISM
The position is set to begin on April 1, 2026, or at a mutually agreed-upon date.
The successful applicant will be appointed to a fixed-term (5 years) assistant / associate professorship (tenure track), with a clear and predictable path towards potential future tenuring as full professor https://www.helsinki.fi/en/about-us/careers/academic-careers/university-helsinki-tenure-track
Duties
We are looking for candidates who would complement the scientific profile of the Faculty of Medicine: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/faculty-medicine/research. The position is part of a profiled research area focusing on Sustainable Wellbeing Across Lifespan (SWAN), which aims to consolidate University of Helsinki’s world-leading research on healthy aging.
The appointee is expected to 1) perform high-profile biomedical science addressing mechanisms of conditions that reduce healthy lifespan. 2) Engage in collaboration with other SWAN members to build an interdisciplinary network of scientific excellence, working towards a long-term goal to reorient from managing chronic diseases to prevention and promoting increase of healthy years in the population. For further information about SWAN, see https://www.swan-helsinkiuni.net.3) Participate in the teaching and development of Bachelor’s and Master’s courses in suitable degree programs of the Faculty of Medicine https://www.helsinki.fi/en/faculty-medicine/education-and-studying/degree-programmes.
Selection criteria
The candidate is expected to have a track record in research related to metabolic mechanisms of diseases. Suitable research topics include, but are not limited to, molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of cellular metabolism and the physiological and pathophysiological implications of cellular metabolism, with relevance to human health. Experience in utilizing and developing relevant experimental approaches, such as metabolomics, lipidomics or other techniques relevant for metabolic research, as well as disease models, is considered an advantage. The selected candidate is expected to build up and lead an independent research group, acquire external research funding, and conduct innovative research as well as to be committed to excellence in researcher training and undergraduate education.
An appointee must have a doctoral degree, have the ability to conduct independent scholarly work and have the teaching skills necessary for the position. Other requirements include the ability and motivation to pursue a scientific career and to supervise theses and dissertations.
When considering the applicant’s qualifications, special attention will be given to the strength of the applicant’s overall scientific profile, components of which include: scientific publications and their impact in the applicant’s field of research, applicant’s research training, success in obtaining research funding, scientific cooperation and research networks and other activity in the scientific community. Experience and achievements as an independent group leader (including merits in research training) will be assessed for candidates at a more advanced career stage, but early-stage candidates approaching scientific independence are also encouraged to apply and will be evaluated with respect to their career stage. A strong applicant is expected to have, or have high potential for, a strong internationally visible profile in their research field and competitive external funding (e.g. Research Council of Finland, ERC). A strong applicant is also expected to show commitment, vision and skills for giving and developing research-based education. The applicants will be evaluated for (with respect to career stage) pedagogical competence and vision, teaching experience, experience in supervision of undergraduate and graduate theses, as well as participation in doctoral education. Skills in student-centered and blended learning approaches using digital tools are considered an advantage.
The University of Helsinki has signed the DORA Declaration and applies its principles when assessing the scientific merit of applicants.
Trial period of six months will be applied.
Requirements for language skills
There is no requirement to be proficient in Finnish. To successfully attend to the duties of the position, the appointee must have good skills in English.
Salary
The starting annual gross salary for assistant/associate professors typically amounts to 65,000 - 77,000 euros, depending on the appointee’s career stage and scholarly qualifications.
The University of Helsinki offers comprehensive services to its employees, including occupational health care and health insurance, language courses, sports facilities, and opportunities for professional development. The International Staff Services office (https://www.helsinki.fi/en/university/working-at-the-university) assists employees from abroad with their transition to work and life in Finland.
Application documents
Please submit the application documents (in English) as a single PDF-file
1) A letter of motivation, including justification for the suitability to tenure track stage (max. 2 pages)
2) CV (max. 3 pages)
3) A report including the applicant’s previous research activities and acquired external funding as well as a research plan for how the applicant intends to develop their research activities in the future (max. 3 pages)
4) Faculty of Medicine/Report on teaching qualifications. Please fill the e-form Formjack - H300 Faculty of Medicine / Report on teaching qualifications and attach a copy of the email you receive after saving the report to the application (please see the evaluation guidelines at https://www.helsinki.fi/en/faculty-medicine/about-us/work-us)
5) A numbered list of publications in English and other works with which the applicant wishes to demonstrate their competence and merits, with maximum 10 most important publications highlighted with brief explanations of their scientific importance.
Please notice that the documents regarded for this call differs from the documents listed on the Faculty’s site.
How to apply
Applications must be submitted through the University’s electronic recruitment system by clicking on the link below. Internal applicants (i.e., current employees of the University of Helsinki) must submit their applications through the SAP HR portal. The deadline for applications is 2 December, 2025.
Further information
Further information can be obtained from Vice Dean for Research, Professor Henna Tyynismaa, henna.tyynismaa (at) helsinki.fi, tel. +358 2941 5654.
Enquiries regarding the recruitment process: HR Specialist Tania Sawkins, tania.sawkins(at) helsinki.fi tel. 02 941 26619.
Technical support for using the recruitment system: rekrytointi (at) helsinki.fi
The University of Helsinki is an international scientific community of 40,000 students and researchers. It is one of the leading multidisciplinary research universities and ranks among the top 100 international universities in the world. We are an equal opportunity employer and offer an attractive and diverse workplace in an inspiring environment with a variety of development opportunities and benefits. The Faculty of Medicine (https://www.helsinki.fi/en/faculty-medicine) is Finland’s premier hub for medical research and education, located at the Meilahti campus, next to the Helsinki University Hospital. The research and teaching activities at the Meilahti Campus are supported by state-of-the-art infrastructures including core facilities for e.g. DNA sequencing and genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, stem cell center and light microscopy (https://www.helsinki.fi/en/helsinki-institute-of-life-science/hilife-research-infrastructures).
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