The Institute of Sociology of the University of Bern is looking to hire a
Professor of Sociology (open rank)
with a focus on Sustainable Society
The position is open rank; it can be filled as assistant professor with tenure track, as associate professor, or as full professor, depending on the career level of the selected candidate. The target start date of employment is February 1, 2025.
The focus of the professorship is on the foundations of sustainable human societies and on general social processes. Applicants should have a strong background in sociological theory and conduct theoretical and empirical research on fundamental sociological questions using cutting-edge research designs, with the goal of providing answers to pressing current-date questions related to the sustainable development of societies. Specific research topics can be in areas such as cooperation and prosocial behavior, processes of social movements and community-driven social organization, or opinion dynamics and social polarization, to name but a few. In teaching, the professorship offers compulsory and elective courses as part of the Bachelor’s and Master’s programs of the Department of Social Sciences, some of which have a special focus on teaching sociological theory.
Applicants must have a doctoral degree in sociology (or a closely related field). To be eligible for an associate or full professorship position, applicants must have a “Habilitation” or equivalent qualification. Proven and internationally recognized achievements in research, a strong teaching record, and significant experience with third-party funding, team leadership, science communication, and the promotion of early-career researchers are expected. As most administrative work and teaching at Bachelor level is in German, non-German speaking applicants are expected to acquire a basic knowledge of German within the first two years their appointment.
The salary of the position follows the personnel law of the Canton of Bern. The position will be permanent in case of an associate or full professorship. In case of an assistant professorship with tenure track, which has a limited term of employment, procedure and criteria for promotion to a permanent position will be defined.
The University of Bern seeks to increase the proportion of women in academic leadership positions and thus strongly encourages female scientists to apply. The position may be filled on a job-sharing basis (see “Flexible working time models” under
www.vereinbarkeit.unibe.ch).
Applications, written in English, should include a letter of motivation, a curriculum vitae, a list of publications and other scientific works, a list of teaching activities, a list of acquired third party funding, as well as a short research plan outlining the proposed research focus for the professorship.
Applications must be submitted electronically (as a single PDF file) by
February 12, 2024, to the University of Bern, Department of Social Sciences, Fabrikstrasse 8, CH-3012 Bern, at the following email address:
applications@sowi.unibe.ch
Main contact person is Prof. Dr. Claus Jacobs, President of the Appointment Committee (+41 31 684 59 29 or
claus.jacobs@unibe.ch). For further information on the position, you may also contact Prof. Dr. Ben Jann from the Institute of Sociology (+41 31 684 48 31 or
ben.jann@unibe.ch). For general information on the Institute of Sociology and the Department of Social Sciences visit the corresponding websites (
www.soz.unibe.ch and
www.sowi.unibe.ch).