Assistant Professor in Statistics with a focus on Data Science

Lunds universitet

Lund University was founded in 1666 and is repeatedly ranked among the world’s top universities. The University has around 46 000 students and 8 500 staff based in Lund, Helsingborg and Malmö. We are united in our efforts to understand, explain and improve our world and the human condition.

Lund University School of Economics and Management is one of eight faculties within Lund University. More than 4 000 students and 450 researchers, teachers and other staff are engaged here in training and research in economic history, business administration, business law, informatics, economics, statistics and research policy.

Lund University School of Economics and Management is accredited by the three largest and most influential accreditation institutes for business schools: EQUIS, AMBA and AACSB. Only just over 100 business schools in the world have achieved this prestigious Triple Crown accreditation.

Lund University announces a position of Assistant Professor (Associate Senior Lecturer) in Statistics with a focus on Data Science. The position is full-time, with placement at the Department of Statistics, School of Economics and Management. 

The Department of Statistics employs about 15 researchers, teachers, doctoral students, and other staff. We conduct research in several areas: analysis of high-dimensional data, Bayesian methods, spatial-temporal models, non-Gaussian modeling, applied research in social science, as well as stochastic models and computational statistics.

We are looking for a promising early-career researcher who can advance research in statistics with a focus on data science and teach the next generation of students.

As an assistant professor, you will develop your qualifications over a period of four years and can then be promoted to permanent employment as a senior lecturer. You will receive five weeks of training in teaching and learning in higher education and get the opportunity to learn Swedish through the University’s Swedish language courses for new international staff. For your move to Sweden, we offer you support through our relocation services and if you are accompanied by family members, Lund’s International Citizen Hub provides a gateway to Swedish society and your new community.

Learn more about why Lund University might be the right choice for you here and learn more about working in Sweden here . These films will also give you more information about Working at Lund University School of Economics and Management, Moving to Lund and Living in Lund.

Read more about research at the Department of Statistics.

Job assignment

As an assistant professor at the Department of Statistics, the majority (60%) of your time will be allocated for your own research. You will write scientific papers, actively participate in scientific conferences, write grant applications, build a research network, and supervise PhD students. The rest of your time (40%) is devoted to teaching. The department has developed several courses within data science, e.g., Bayesian methods, Advanced Machine Learning, Deep Learning and AI methods. You are expected to teach these types of courses and to contribute to the development of new courses in this field. Teaching can be at the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels. Supervision of undergraduate and master essays is also expected.

You will work closely with the Department of Statistics’ research groups with access to a network of faculty, researchers, and shared computational resources.

Qualifications for employment as an assistant professor

You hold a doctoral degree or have corresponding research expertise in statistics, mathematical statistics, biostatistics, data science, or a related field. We will primarily prioritise those applicants who have obtained a doctoral degree within the last five years from the closing date for applications for the position. If you have official documentation proving that there are special circumstances— such as parental leave, military service or illness, after graduating – that have prevented you from working as a researcher, the doctoral degree in the subject can in such cases have been awarded earlier. In this case, you must include this documentation with your application.

Requirements and assessment criteria

To be able to be appointed as an assistant professor you must have:

• Ability to initiate, develop and implement high-quality research
• Strong teaching ability
• Recent and relevant experience from research in statistics, mathematical statistics, biostatistics, or data science
• Good communication skills
• Very good oral and written English language skills
• High proficiency in Swedish or a motivation and the ability to learn Swedish,

It will be considered a merit if you can demonstrate that you:

• Contribute in a positive way to the work environment
• Have experience of applying for, and in particular obtaining, research funding in competition

Terms of employment

Fixed-term position, four years, in accordance with Chapter 4, Section 12a of the Higher Education Ordinance, with the opportunity for promotion to permanent employment as a senior lecturer.

Promotion – what is required to be promoted to senior lecturer 

When you are an assistant professor, you can apply for promotion to permanent employment as a senior lecturer. You will undergo a special assessment to determine if you fulfil the faculty’s requirements for employment as a senior lecturer. It is important for you to know that you can only apply once for promotion and that you must apply for promotion at least six months before your employment as an assistant professor ends.

When you apply for promotion, you will be assessed based on whether you have: 

• developed within your field during your time as an assistant professor
• good national and international standing as a researcher
  • A high level of scholarly competence relevant to the subject and terms of employment of the position. This includes four publications accepted during the employment period in journals on the so-called Norwegian List
  • Active participation in the research environment of the department and faculty, for example by participating in and organising seminars. In addition, emphasis is placed on engagement in the broader international research community, such as participation in international conferences and workshops, serving as a referee or expert, and other forms of scientific collaboration.
  • Submitted applications for at least two externally funded research projects.
• good teaching ability, which means a good ability to conduct, develop and lead teaching and other educational activities at different levels and using a variety of teaching methods
  • An ability to reflect on your own pedagogical development.
  • Actively contributed to the development of the department’s courses.
  • At least 1700 hours of teaching (including preparatory time and supervision) on different courses and levels.
  • Completed at least five weeks training in teaching within higher education.
• ability to participate in supervision of doctoral students to achieve a doctoral degree
  • Co-supervised one or more doctoral students
  • Completed a course on doctoral supervision
• ability to engage with wider society and communicate your activities
  • Documented initiative(s) for collaboration outside academia, liberal adult education activities, or dissemination of research results beyond academia.
• ability in other contexts to lead and develop activities
  • Documented experience of taking a leading role in initiatives such as the organisation of conferences, workshops, or seminar series, or of various administrative duties (e.g., serving on committees or boards), and shown an active interest in common departmental tasks.

General requirements profile for a senior lecturer at Lund University School of Economics and Management are presented here:

Application procedure

Please send in your application by clicking on the ”Apply for position” button in the upper right-hand column of the vacancy notice.

The application should be written in English.

LUSEM uses academic qualifications portfolio to document and present qualifications. Please submit your application in three separate PDF-files according to the template and instructions.

You find the template and the instructions here: 

• Intstructions to applicants: https://www.lusem.lu.se/sites/lusem.lu.se/files/2024-02/instructions-to-applicants-for-emlpoyment-as-professor-and-senior-lecturer-at-LUSEM.pdf
• Template academic qualifications portfolio (Word). If this link doesn’t work, please try another browser. https://lusem.prodwebb8.lu.se/sites/lusem.lu.se/files/2024-02/template-a-g-qualification-portfolio-lusem.docx

Please let us know if you have any questions on how to write the application.

Also note that we have another similar job opportunity avaliable at the department: https://lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/jobID:918878/ 

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