Want to become
Adjunct Professor in Finland?
The title of Adjunct Professor (dosentti)
in Finland is a purely academic title,
roughly equivalent to the rank of Associate
professor in USA, but without
salary. Several of my colleagues at the
University of Helsinki are currently applying,
or aiming to apply, for the position of Adjunct Professor
When I inquire why they do this, the most frequent
answer is that they want to be able to apply
for research project grants that are intended only
for professors. It is good to remember, though, that
academics who are in the early stages of their careers
and already have the title of Adjunct Professor can no
longer apply for certain Young researchers’ grants.
Another advantage that comes with the title of
Adjunct Professor is the possibility to officially invite
and supervise PhD students. This would be a dream
come true for many research “slaves” (read: postdoctoral
researchers). Moreover, Adjunct Professors may
be invited to act as opponents to PhD theses abroad,
which will undoubtedly lead to better integration to
international research community.
Still further, Adjunct Professors may officially organize
and decide on their courses, as well as introduce
and teach their personal research ideas to the
students. They can also invite more advanced and talented
students into selected groups where these ideas
are applied to practice. In due course, an Adjunct
Professor may become a full Professor after a couple
of years of research and teaching.
What does the process of applying for the position of
Adjunct Professor entail? The faculties at the University
of Helsinki have compatible, but not quite similar,
rules for the applicants. The first question that
surfaced when I started to contemplate applying
for this title myself was whether those not speaking
Finnish or Swedish can obtain it in Finland?
Most of the faculty websites do not spell out this
matter for international applicants clearly; these applicants
may, however, find the following text: “Exemption
from the language requirements for docents
can be granted without a separate application in the
cases specified in Section 52 of the University Regulations”,
without further clarification. Active applicants
will then consult their colleagues or peruse the
University Regulations and find out that Section 52
contains information on the possibility for a foreigner
to become an English-speaking Adjunct Professor
and teach in English.
One of the main requirements for the applicants is to be
able to demonstrate their competence in independent
research. Generally speaking, an applicant should
have produced research publications 1) that altogether
would be equal to one to three (depending on the
faculty) doctoral dissertations and 2) that have been
compiled without the participation of the applicant’s
PhD supervisor. The latter requirement is not always
met: among my colleagues there are Adjunct Professors
who have not gained enough independence from
or distance to their PhD supervisors.
In these instances the applicant 1) should show
proof of co-supervision of Bachelor’s or Master’s
theses, and 2) should be in good relations with those
assessing the application. Often the assessors will
ask additional critical questions which the applicant
should be prepared to answer without panicking.
The second main requirement is the demonstration
of teaching skills. It is advisable to take pedagogical
courses because the applicant has to describe his/
her teaching approaches in the portfolio. I personally
have not taken such courses yet, but I have examined
several web sources that have helped me to
create my own vision and to compile a teaching
portfolio. In addition, a good applicant
should have experience in organizing courses,
delivering lectures, as well as supervising and
mentoring undergraduate students.
If you are not sure of meeting all the requirements,
I would suggest doing the following:
Ask your Faculty the name of the professor
responsible for the chosen discipline and ask
that professor “Am I ready enough”? I am?
The next step: submission of the application
and later the presentation of teaching skills by
delivering a trial lecture. There is very detailed
information about the trial lecture on the faculties’
web sites. Here are a couple of hints:
- Consider the time frame — do not make
the presentation too long or too short, and do
not proceed too slowly or quickly!
- On the first slides you should indicate
the title of the suggested course, optional educational
level of the students, speciality of the
students, provisional time schedule and the
topics of each lecture of the course, as well
as the method of assessment of the students’
knowledge of the course, on the last slide. Do
not forget the list of additional required literature
towards the end, if applicable.
- Invite your colleagues to the occasion
— you will need them when you demonstrate
your interactive skills with the audience! Do
not expect they will answer your required
“questions to students”; they will not, although
they very well could. However, their
smiling faces will encourage you during the
lecture.
text Nina Karpova
Adjunct Professor in Molecular Genetics,
University of Helsinki
- Painetussa lehdessä sivu 20
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