Assistant Professor / Associate Professor / Professor of Production Animal Medicine

The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine invites applications for the following position:

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR / ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR / PROFESSOR OF PRODUCTION ANIMAL MEDICINE (in Finnish: tuotantoeläinten terveyden ja sairaanhoito / in Swedish: hälsa och sjukvård för lantbruksdjur)

The applicant may be appointed as an Assistant/Associate Professor (tenure track) or as a full Professor, depending on their qualifications and career stage. All stages of the tenure track can be entered directly depending on the applicant’s career stage. The aim of the tenure track system is to grant tenure and a permanent position as Professor.

The position will be at the Department of Production Animal Medicine in Mäntsälä campus (approximately one hour north of Helsinki). The appointee will be responsible for teaching, research and continuing education of health and diseases of monogastric production animals. The main focus will be in pig health and diseases, however, the appointee will also carry responsibility for coordinating teaching of poultry medicine. The appointee will be required to have experience in clinical pig medicine, including diseases of individual animals and population level preventive healthcare.

This position includes teaching and supervising veterinary undergraduate and postgraduate students in production animal medicine, with focus on pig and poultry medicine. The teaching responsibility will be shared with teachers of pig and poultry medicine and will include herd health visits to pig farms with students.

Expectations and qualifications assessment

The applicant is required to have a DVM or equivalent degree and to be a licensed veterinarian in EU. Veterinary specialization (a diplomate or equivalent status) in an appropriate field and understanding of Nordic animal production and stakeholder networks are considered a merit. Good co-operative and interaction skills are an asset.

An appointee to the position of an Assistant/Associate Professor in the tenure track shall hold a PhD degree in pig medicine or other suitable field, have the ability to conduct independent scientific research, have teaching skills necessary for the position, and have the ability and motivation for an academic career.

An appointee to a full Professorship shall hold a PhD degree in pig medicine or another suitable field and have top-level scholarly qualifications, including the ability to obtain competitive research funding and lead a research group, experience in supervision of PhD students, and the ability to provide top-level research-based teaching. In addition, the applicant shall present documentation of international collaboration in the field of research that they represent. The Professor shall also have the skills necessary to be an academic leader.

To successfully attend to the duties of the position, the appointee must be fluent in English. If the appointee is not proficient in Finnish or Swedish, they are expected to acquire moderate proficiency within a reasonable time after the appointment to be able to successfully carry out herd health visits to pig farms and to communicate with the stakeholders. Support for language studies is offered.

When considering the applicants’ qualifications, attention will be paid to research qualifications, teaching and supervision qualifications, public engagement and interaction within the university/scientific community, and experience in production animal medicine – especially pigs. The assessment is always conducted as an overall assessment. For more information on the tenure track model, career path and assessment criteria at the University of Helsinki, please see https://www.helsinki.fi/en/about-us/careers/academic-careers/university-helsinki-tenure-track.

Why us

The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Helsinki is the only institution of higher education in Finland to train veterinarians. It consists of 750 undergraduate and postgraduate students and employs approximately 150 academic staff. Approximately 70 students are admitted to complete the basic veterinary degree each year, and the starting number is planned to be increased to 90 from 2026. The degree programmes are accredited following the European System of Evaluation of Veterinary Training (ESEVT). The Faculty has four departments (Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, Equine and Small Animal Medicine, Production Animal Medicine, and Veterinary Biosciences) and a Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

The Faculty is located on two campuses, Viikki (Helsinki) and Mäntsälä (approximately one hour north of Helsinki). Most of the Faculty is located at the Viikki Campus, along with Faculties of Agriculture and Forestry, Biological and Environmental Sciences, Pharmacy, as well as several independent research units operating in life sciences. Department of Production Animal Medicine and Production Animal Hospital are located on the Mäntsälä campus.

We offer versatile work in an inspiring environment and the opportunity to develop your expertise and strengthen the field as part of the internationally respected and high-quality research and teaching activities of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.

The University offers comprehensive services to its employees including preventive occupational health services and general medical care, and opportunities for professional development. The University assists employees from abroad with their transition to work and life in Finland. We support the compatibility of work and family life, e.g., providing an opportunity for 6 weeks of paid annual leave.

The salary is based on the salary system of Finnish universities. Annual gross salary for an Assistant/Associate Professor generally amounts to about 57,000 - 74,000 euros and for a Professor to 70,000 - 90,000 euros, depending on the applicant’s merits and career stage. The position is also associated with a start-up package.

How to apply

Please submit your application and the required attachments as a single pdf file (in section CV) through the University of Helsinki recruitment portal (link Apply now or Employee login in the job announcement).

The attachments should include as a single pdf file (in English):
• a cover letter
• an academic portfolio or a researcher’s CV (please extend the description of teaching to match the teaching skills evaluation of the Faculty)
• a complete and numbered publication list
• a list and a brief synopsis of max. 10 most important publications with links to the publications if open access 
• a plan for advancing research and teaching in the field and a vision for the development of the applicant’s research and the research field in general (maximum of 2 pages)

Please see a template for academic portfolio, the researcher’s curriculum vitae and classification for publications: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/about-us/careers/open-positions/instructions-applicants-teaching-and-research-positions.

It is also necessary to consider the evaluation matrix for evaluating teaching skills when you describe your teaching merits in your application: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/faculty-veterinary-medicine/about-us/work-us/assessment-teaching-skills. For tenure track position the minimum requirement of teaching skills as a whole is at least satisfactory and for a full professor position at least good. Teaching demonstration will be organized separately for the top applicants as the recruitment process progresses.

The closing date for applications is on 20 August 2025 (23:59 EEST). Applications that are submitted early will not be given any priority over applications coming closer to the deadline. Please pay attention to the requested attachments.

The University of Helsinki welcomes applicants of any gender and age, linguistic or cultural background, or minority group.

Further information (please notice that July is a typical holiday month in Finland)

• Position and operational environment: Professor, Head of Department Päivi Rajala-Schultz, paivi.rajala-schultz(at)helsinki.fi, phone +358 50 448 9090
• Faculty’s research affairs and strategy: Professor, Vice-Dean Heli Simojoki, heli.simojoki(at)helsinki.fi, phone: +358 400 721987
• Recruitment process, tenure track model, application documents and assessment of teaching skills: HR Specialist Heidi Kauppinen, heidi.m.kauppinen(at)helsinki.fi, p. +358504155341
• Production Animal Medicine: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/faculty-veterinary-medicine/research/production-animal-medicine 
• Faculty of Veterinary Medicine: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/faculty-veterinary-medicine
• Working at the University of Helsinki: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/about-us/careers 
• Support for international staff: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/about-us/careers/information-arriving-international-staff 

Related to the operational environment
 
• Veterinary Teaching Hospital: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/veterinary-teaching-hospital 
• HOH Helsinki One Health: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/networks/helsinki-one-health 
• HiLIFE Research Infrastructures: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/hilife-helsinki-institute-life-science/services/life-science-research-infrastructures  

Why Finland

Finland is a member of the EU, has high quality and inexpensive childcare, free schooling and tertiary training (also in English), excellent family benefits and healthcare, and is ranked as one of the top countries in the world for expat families. Finland also repeatedly tops the World Happiness Report. 

• Why Finland is a great place to live and work: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/about-us/careers/why-university-helsinki/why-finland