Instructions for applicants of teaching and research positions

On this page, you can find instructions for applicants for teaching and research positions.
When recruiting, you follow the principles and recommendations of the responsible researcher evaluation.

More detailed instructions on how to apply for a single position can be found in the job advertisement or on the Faculty's website.

The academic portfolio can be used to assess academic competence. The portfolio is a way to record and document one's core competence and to cover aspects of academic work (research, teaching, societal interaction and administration) as a whole. The aim is to create an organised documentation of one’s professional skills and strengths and to give a concise portrayal of one’s professional growth.

An ex­ample of the struc­ture of an aca­demic port­fo­lio

1. Ba­sic infor­mation

  •     Personal and contact information
  •     Education and degrees
  •     Other necessary background information.

2. Research and sci­entific activ­it­ies

  •     Experience in research and other scientific activities
  •     Research philosophy and ethics, primary fields of research
  •     Significant publications
  •     Research assessments and awards
  •     Activities in the academic community
  •     Visions and personal development plans
  •     Other scientific merits.

3. Teach­ing and su­per­vi­sion

  •     Experience in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and supervision
  •     Pedagogical approach and training
  •     Published study materials and use of educational technology
  •     Development of teaching and awards for teaching
  •     Participation in the assessment and development of teaching
  •     Strengths, development challenges and visions of one's teaching
  •     Other teaching-related qualifications.

4. Ad­min­is­tra­tion and other activ­it­ies

  •     Administrative and management duties
  •     Duties in one's field outside the University
  •     Active role in society and positions of trust
  •     Publications, presentations and dissemination of scientific knowledge through other means
  •     Other significant merits and duties.

The recommended length for an academic portfolio is 4-7 pages plus the enclosures. Individual faculties and units may have the specific guidelines and recommendations of their own regarding the structure, extent and requisite enclosures. When applying for a teaching or research post at the university, one should always make sure whether the faculty or unit has given their own instructions on how to create one’s academic portfolio. The portfolio is also a tool for enhancing one’s competence and development.

The person performing the university's teaching and research position is required to master the language in which he or she must provide teaching.

In universities where a degree can be completed in both Finnish and Swedish, the person performing the teaching and research position is also required to have at least satisfactory oral and written skills in Finnish and Swedish. The University may grant exemption from these language proficiency requirements as laid down in the Code of Conduct.

Swedish

These requirements cover all Swedish-language positions.

When the language of instruction is Swedish, the language proficiency recommended for successfully attending to the duties of the position corresponds with level C2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. At the faculty’s discretion, level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages may be accepted as a minimum Swedish language proficiency requirement.

During the application process, language proficiency is demonstrated with documents, an interview and a teaching demonstration. If needed, applicants may be requested to provide further clarification of their language proficiency.

In Swedish-language positions, language proficiency can be verified in the following ways
  • A Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate, a National Certificate of Language Proficiency or Swedish language proficiency demonstrated through studies can be used as part of demonstrating Swedish language proficiency in the following manner:
  • Civil Service Language Proficiency Certificate: excellent oral and written skills (C 2), good oral and written skills (C 1)
  • National Certificate of Language Proficiency: skill level 6 (C 2), skill level 5 (C 1)
  • Studies:
    • Education completed in Swedish and a maturity test completed at a higher education institution in Swedish/a matriculation examination with at least magna cum laude approbatur in Swedish as a native language/a matriculation examination with at least eximia cum laude approbatur in Swedish as a second language (C 2)
    • Education completed in Swedish/a maturity test completed at a higher education institution in Swedish/a matriculation examination with a passing grade in Swedish as a native language/a matriculation examination with at least magna cum laude approbatur in Swedish as a second language (C 1)

Instead of or alongside a certificate, Swedish language proficiency can also be demonstrated in other ways. In assessing applicants, language proficiency will be taken into account both when assessing applicants’ qualifications for appointment to the position in question and their mutual ranking.

English

In practice, teaching and research tasks require good English language skills.

The assessment of teaching skills plays a key role in the overall assessment of applicants in recruitment processes. Applicants’ teaching skills are assessed if they apply for a teaching or research position or for the title of docent. Each faculty has a committee for the assessment of teaching skills, set up by the dean.



The Teaching demonstration

The teaching skills committee conducts a reasoned overall assessment of applicants’ teaching skills.



A demonstration of teaching skills is a public teaching session in the field of the position or docentship applied for, and plays a key role in the overall assessment of teaching skills. The areas to be assessed in addition to the teaching demonstration are defined in the relevant matrix for the assessment of teaching skills. 



The purpose of a teaching demonstration is to verify the applicant’s teaching skills in practice.

The teaching demonstration must be seen as a learning situation and in the teaching demonstration, the applicant teaches as in a genuine teaching situation. The teaching demonstration is not a scientific presentation.  When assessing the teaching demonstration, priority will be paid to how the applicant is able to guide and promote the learning of participants. 

A curriculum vitae (CV) is an overview of an individual’s studies, professional career, academic merits and other achievements. The aim of the template is to provide guidelines for the writer of a CV so that the individual’s merits are presented as comprehensively, truthfully and comparably as possible. 



The University of Helsinki recommends applicants use the cv model created by The Finnish National Board on Research Integrity (TENK).

More information about the template for researcher's curriculum vitae

The Ministry of Education and Culture has drawn up a classification of publication types.

 

It can be utilised or its use may be required in the recruitment of the University of Helsinki.

National classification for publications