Invitation to academic positions in Digital Transformation

Tallinn University, School of Digital Technologies, opens academic positions in Digital Transformation that focus to the problems of educational innovation through digital technologies in the lifelong learning context.

The School

The School of Digital Technologies of Tallinn University (hereinafter the School) was formed in 2015 by merging former Institute of Informatics, Institute of Information Science and the Department of Mathematics. The School conducts research in educational technology, human-computer interaction, natural language technology, information management, didactics of mathematics etc. The School is also teaching at all levels of higher education, including Information Society Technologies doctoral programme.  The school has one R&D unit – the Center for Educational Technology – which contains also a group of professional software developers.

The Research Direction

The research direction is called Digital transformation and lifelong learning which is considered as a systematic and managed socio-technical change in lifelong learning activities, processes, competences and models that creates the conditions for increasing and sustaining the impact of new technologies in education and, in the long term, increasing the ability to innovate both public and business organisations, and whole society. In lifelong learning, the aim of the digital transformation is not so much the use of digital tools to support existing learning activities, but the fundamental change of the learning and teaching culture in formal education as well as in informal learning (including workplace learning), based on the digital learning ecosystem that takes full account of the interests and needs of each individual, social group, organisation and society as a whole. This research direction is interdisciplinary, addressing in addition to information technology also the human aspects of technologies, social, value and cultural dimensions. It is also important to develop tools to monitor, forecast, mitigate and prevent less beneficial impacts associated with the use of digital technology. 

Purpose of the academic positions

The purpose is to expand the existing expertise in digital transformation in the lifelong learning context, to widen and deepen significantly the research currently conducted in the school in technology-enhanced learning - workplace learning technologies, digital solutions for competence development, digital learning resources, learning design, knowledge management in the digital environment, assessment of innovation maturity in educational institutions, measuring the impact of digital transformation, participation design, and digital innovation. Positions are supposed to create synergies between the academic directions of the school, especially with the human-computer interaction and information science. 

Job descriptions

This is an “open rank” call for the following positions: 1) Research Professor, 2) Associate Professor, 3) Researcher (including postdoctoral researcher), 4) Junior researcher (for doctoral students). The candidates are requested to apply for one of these positions depending on their previous research experiences. The number of positions in each category will depend on the candidates’ prior research and on the scope of their planned research. The general job descriptions for different categories are:

  • Research Professor is an internationally renowned researcher who conducts research and development activities with strong ties to applications, publishes in leading international journals and presents on important international conferences. Leads a research team, participates in expert bodies of the university and outside the university, prepares project proposals. Teaches on Master and Doctoral levels, supervises master and doctoral students. Develops international cooperation as well as cooperation with the industry, and ensures additional funding for research and development. Experience of leading large-scale research and development projects is recommended.
  • Associate Professor is an internationally renowned researcher who conducts research and development activities with strong ties to applications, publishes in leading international journals and presents on important conferences. Leads a research project or an important section of it, participates in academic bodies of the university and outside the university, prepares project proposals. Teaches and supervises students (including postdoctoral researchers) of all levels. Participates in international cooperation as well as cooperation with the industry, and applies for additional funding for research and development.
  • Researcher holds a doctoral degree and conducts research and development activities under supervision of an experienced academic person. Participates in preparation of research projects, publishes and presents on conferences the research results. Teaches and supervises students on Bachelor and Master levels, composes course materials. 
  • Junior Researcher is a doctoral student admitted to Information Society Technologies doctoral programme who conducts research and development activities under supervision of an experienced academic person with the aim to compose and defend a doctoral dissertation. Teaches on Bachelor and Master levels, and supervises bachelor students.

Requirements for the candidates

We expect the candidates have done research in Computer Science, Information Science, Educational Science or in a related area, and show evidence of exceptional research promise in the research area described above.    

Information about the Application and on the positions

The status of the positions. Full-time positions: 1) five years for research/associate professors, with possible extension to tenure track; 2) two years for researchers with possible extension; 3) four years with the status of a doctoral student for junior researchers.
Junior researchers should pass the standard admission procedure to the doctoral studies
Start date of the employment contract: by agreement (from 01.10.2019 or later; from 1.09.2019 for junior researchers).
Gross salary: 60 000 EUR (research professor), 42 000 EUR (associate professor), 30 000 EUR (researcher); 18 000 EUR (junior researcher) per year.
Application documents:

  • A signed application to the rector.
  • A motivation letter in which the candidate provides an overview of the aims that (s)he will seek to realise in developing the field of research and teaching for the following five years of employment.
  • A Curriculum Vitae
  • Copies of the document providing the qualification to hold the position.
  • A list of research publications in international editions that have an international editorial board and employ a peer review system.
  • Up to five research publications that the candidate considers representative of his or her work.
  • Other documents considered to be important by the applicant.

Deadline for submitting applications (except for junior researchers): August 5, 2019.
The documents should be in English and sent in electronic form by e-mail to konkurss@tlu.ee
 

Additional Information

More information about the School of Digital Technologies:

       
More information about Tallinn University
Information about working and living in Estonia
The research is supported by Estonian IT Foundation for Education
For further information, please contact Professor Peeter Normak, Director of the School of Digital Technologies.