PROFESSOR OF PRACTICE POSITION IN CONTEMPORARY ART PHOTOGRAPHY



Aalto University School of Art and Design Finland



Aalto University is a new university with over a century of experience. Created from a high-profile merger between three leading universities in Finland – the Helsinki School of Economics, the Helsinki University of Technology and the University of Art and Design Helsinki – Aalto University opens up new possibilities for strong multi-disciplinary education and research. The university's ambitious goal is to rank among the top universities in the world in its areas of specialization. At Aalto University, there are 20,000 students with the number of alumni around 75,000. We have a staff of 4,500 of which 300 are professors.



The goal of the Aalto University School of Art and Design is to be a dynamic, international school that promotes the development of creative fields, the regeneration of Finnish culture and artistic education and furthers innovation-based business that supports sustainable development.  The School cooperates actively with industry, the cultural sector and the surrounding society and forms networks with the best international universities and centers of expertise in order to realize its goals. The teaching and research of the School of Art and Design focus on design, media, art education, visual culture and audio-visual presentation. The Aalto University School of Art and Design has approximately 1900 students and 400 staff.



The Department of Media invites applications for:



PROFESSOR OF PRACTICE POSITION IN CONTEMPORARY ART PHOTOGRAPHY

The Aalto Professor of Practice system is intended especially for the field of art, design and architecture. The Professor of Practice position provides departments with the possibility to hire highly respected professionals opening new areas of teaching and research / artistic and professional work. The position also provides possibility for re-evaluation and dynamic development of the field. The candidate will be appointed for a fixed 5-year term. The position will begin during the academic year 2011-12.



The Professor of Practice is considered a professorial position with Aalto-level requirements and external evaluation. A doctoral degree or comparable artistic qualifications and significant expertise in teaching and/or research/artistic and professional work are required for obtaining a Professor of Practice position. Furthermore, Professors of Practice are required to be committed to developing the field through research/artistic and professional work and teaching activities.





DEPARTMENT OF MEDIA

The above-mentioned position is located in the Department of Media, please see http://www.taik.fi/en/departments/media.html  and http://media.taik.fi/.

The Department of Media is an academic community of approximately 500 students and 80 staff members created through a restructuring of the School of Art and Design in January 2010. The department conducts research and provides education in bachelor, masters and doctoral programmes across a broad range of subjects and themes. The study programmes and research of the department are organized within three units; Graphic Design, the Media Lab and Photography.

More information about the unit of Photography is found here: http://www.taik.fi/en/departments/media/studies/photography.html





APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PROFESSOR OF PRACTICE

POSITION IN CONTEMPORARY ART PHOTOGRAPHY



The Aalto University School of Art and Design has been a leader in art and design education for 140 years. It

is an international postgraduate university institution with students from over 50 countries. It offers

doctorate, master and bachelor degrees in a wide range of disciplines ‐ fine art, design, new media, art

education, visual culture, motion picture and production design. School of Art and Design is a pioneer in

research and in developing interdisciplinary study programmes.

The school has approximately 1,900 students in various degree programmes. Almost 19 percent of students

come from abroad. In its field the School of Art and Design is a dynamic international university that

promotes the development of creative industries, the regeneration of the national culture, artistic

edification and innovative entrepreneurship based on sustainable development.



THE DEPARTMENT OF MEDIA

The Department of Media is an academic community of approximately 500 students and 80 staff members

created through a restructuring of the School of Art and Design in January 2010. The department is a

community of artists and researchers and it provides education in bachelor, masters and doctoral

programmes across a broad range of subjects and themes. The study programmes and research of the

department are organized within three units; Graphic Design, the Media Lab and Photography. The unit of

Photography is internationally known for its Helsinki School Activities.

More detailed information on the department, its education and research and its various units can be

found from the following links:



The department of Media: http://media.taik.fi/

The unit of photography: http://www.taik.fi/en/departments/media/studies/photography.html



APPLICATION MATERIALS

Please address your application to the President of Aalto University and submit it with application materials

to the Aalto University Registry. The application materials will not be returned.

The application materials should include the following appendices:

1. Application letter addressed to the President of Aalto University (PDF format)

2. Curriculum vitae (PDF format)

3. Letter of intent (PDF format)

4. List of contents of the artistic portfolio sent separately (PDF format)

Separately sent by mail:

5. Artistic portfolio (on DVD, 6 copies) including 5‐6 most important artistic productions and/or

publications. Note. Max 20M in size.



The applications for this position are to be addressed to the President of Aalto University and submitted to

the Registry of Aalto University preferably by e‐mail to rekry‐[log in to unmask] no later than May 31st, 2011.

Documents submitted electronically shall be submitted in PDF format and the file names are to follow the

format lastname_firstname_appendixname.pdf. (e.g. lastname_firstname_appendix1.pdf). Please send the

email with subject “Contemporary Art Photography”.



The artistic portfolio on DVD should be submitted via mail to the postal address: Aalto University, School

of Art and Design, P.O. Box 31000, FI‐00076 Aalto, Finland.



APPLICATION PROCESS



From amongst the applicants, Aalto University will select those who will be asked to supplement their

application materials. Supplemented applications are submitted for review by experts (the second stage of

the application process). The experts also have an opportunity to accept other applicants for review than

those originally selected by the University. According to the Aalto University’s tenure track policies and

procedures, the eligibility and merits of the applicants will be reviewed by four experts. The disqualification

of experts will be determined as provided in the Sections 27–29 of the Administrative Procedure Act

(434/2003). Both the external experts and the departmental committee will evaluate the applicants.

The criteria for evaluating Professors of Practice follow the general criteria for evaluating tenure track

professors: The evaluation is based on the total assessment of the candidate in each main dimension of the

work profile (research/artistic work, teaching, and activity in artistic community and academic leadership)

in accordance with the weight of the dimensions in the candidate's work profile and expectations of the

unit of photography. For more information on Professor of Practice position, please see

http://www.aalto.fi/en/about/careers/professor_of_practice_position/.



LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS



Applicants are required to have such proficiency in English as is required for the exercise of the duties.



ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS FOR NATIVE FINNISH CITIZENS



Native Finnish citizens in teaching and research positions at universities are required to have good

command of the language of instruction, Finnish or Swedish, used on their courses. Those in teaching and

research positions at universities which offer degrees in both Finnish and Swedish are also required to have

at least satisfactory oral and written proficiency in the other official language of Finland.

Foreigners and non‐native Finnish citizens may be appointed notwithstanding the provisions pertaining to

teachers’, researchers’ and officials’ requisite proficiency in Finnish and Swedish.

The applicant is deemed to be sufficiently proficient in Finnish if he or she has demonstrated excellent oral

and written proficiency in Finnish as defined in the decree on the requisite proficiency of Finnish and

Swedish of State civil servants (481/2003) or

 has demonstrated excellent command of written and oral Finnish in an examination by the

Language Examination Board set by the National Board of Education or

 has received his or her basic education in Finnish or taken a maturity test at a higher education

institution;

 has taken the Finnish matriculation examination with at least the grade of magna cum laude

approbatur in the required Finnish examination

 has taken the Finnish matriculation examination with at least the grade of eximia cum laude

approbatur in its ‘Finnish as a second language’ examination. ‘Finnish as a second language’ is an

examination for foreigners, substituting the Finnish examination.

The applicant is deemed capable of understanding Swedish if he or she

 has demonstrated at least satisfactory ability to understand oral and written Swedish as provided in

the decree on the requisite proficiency in Finnish and Swedish of State civil servants (481/2003);

 has, according to a certificate issued by the language examination board of some Finnish university,

or by a member thereof, adequate command of written and spoken Swedish.