Professorship in New Testament Studies

The School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, invites applications for a full-time, permanent position as Professor of New Testament Studies within the Department of Theology.
 
Date of employment: The position is available from 1 August 2020 or as soon as possible thereafter.
 
Place of employment: Department of Theology, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Jens Chr. Skous Vej 3, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
 
The university wants its staff to reflect the diversity of society, and thus welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of their personal background. 
 
The Position 
We are offering this professorship with a view to attracting a particularly talented person who we expect to play a key role in the continued creation of internationally recognised research at the department. The successful applicant will contribute to our core activities at the Department of Theology in general, and to New Testament studies in particular, in the following areas: research, education, talent development and knowledge exchange. We also expect the professor to provide academic leadership relating to research, education and academic development, as well as contributing to the further development of the department in local and international contexts.
 
Research
The New Testament research group at the Department of Theology has a pronounced and significant international profile and a strong research network. The successful applicant will take a leading role in developing the New Testament research group within the research programme at the Department of Theology with a special emphasis on New Testament studies in historical, literary and theological contexts; and will contribute to new research initiatives with internal and external partners, including the attraction and administration of external research funding.
 
The research activities will be evaluated in relation to the actual time spent on research. As a result, we encourage applicants to specify any periods of leave they may need without research activities (e.g. maternity/paternity, illness, etc.), enabling us to subtract these periods from the span of their academic career when evaluating their productivity. 
 
Education
Applicants should be prepared to teach and contribute to developing courses, learning and supervision in New Testament subjects at all levels of the department’s degree programmes in theology (BA, MA and PhD) and diaconia (MA), and will be expected to have strong teaching experience at university level. Applicants are expected to collaborate on teaching with other degree programmes offered by the School of Culture and Society, for instance with the Department of the Study of Religion or other related fields.
 
Talent Development
The successful applicant is expected to be able to identify potential junior researchers, including talented students with the potential to become PhD students, and to contribute to their talent development and supervision. Besides supervising graduate students, the applicant is also expected to develop and teach PhD courses.
 
Knowledge Exchange
It is expected that the successful applicant will engage in knowledge exchange, for instance in cooperation with society as a whole or in connection with the public dissemination of knowledge. 
 
Qualifications 
Applicants must provide a research plan explaining how they will meet the expectations of the professorship. Furthermore, applicants must document:

• Academic publications at the highest international level, corresponding to the Danish higher doctoral degree, in the field of New Testament studies.
• Thorough knowledge of historical-critical and contextual approaches to the exegesis and theology of New Testament texts.
• Thorough knowledge of the fields of human and social sciences relevant to New Testament texts.
• Thorough knowledge of the Jewish and Greco-Roman cultures and sources relevant for nascent Christianity and the formation of New Testament texts.
• Leading participation in international New Testament research collaboration on the highest level.
• Experience of and plans for organising international research seminars and networks.
• Experience of and plans for attracting and administering external research funding.
• Strong teaching competences and experience of supervision on all academic levels.
• Commitment to teaching development, the supervision of student projects, talent development, research management and the development of PhD courses.
• Experience in connection with the administration of a teaching and research environment at university level.  

Applicants are expected to contribute to the department’s academic environment, and we emphasise the importance of good working relationships both among colleagues and with our students.
 
To maintain and develop the local research environment, the person appointed is expected to be present at the department on a daily basis.
 
The application must be submitted in English.
 
Please note that only publications which are actually submitted alongside applications will be assessed; a list of publications is not sufficient. Applications which are not accompanied by such publications will not be assessed.
 
Professional references or recommendations should not be included in applications. Applicants who are selected for a job interview may be asked to state professional references.

If the successful applicant is not fluent in Danish, we expect her or him to learn and teach in Danish within a period of approximately two years.

For more information about the application, please contact HR supporter Marianne Birn (mbb@au.dk).

For further information about the position, please contact Head of Department Ulrik Nissen (teoubn@cas.au.dk).

Research Environment
The successful applicant will join the Department of Theology at the School of Culture and Society, Faculty of Arts. The Department of Theology at Aarhus University is one of the largest environments for theological research in Europe, and attracts a number of internationally recognised researchers. The environment is nationally and internationally renowned for its research activities in a number of areas such as the history of ancient Israelite religion and Old Testament anthropology, Pauline and gospel studies, Christianity in antiquity, Reformation theology, systematic theology, including theological ethics and dogmatics, ecumenical and practical theology, public issues, and the study of N.F.S. Grundtvig and K.E. Løgstrup. The theology programme offers Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes in theology, as well as a Master’s degree programme in diaconia. For further information on the New Testament research group, see www.nt.au.dk.

The School of Culture and Society
At the School of Culture and Society the object of research and teaching is the interplay between culture and society in time and space:

- From the traditional disciplines of the humanities and theology to applied social research

- From Antiquity to the issues facing contemporary societies

- From familiar Danish cultural forms to other very different worlds

- From local questions to global challenges

The school’s goal is to produce compelling research with an international resonance, as well as offering teaching and talent development of high quality. The school has a broad cooperative interface with society, both in Denmark and abroad, and contributes to social innovation, research communication and further and continuing education.

In your application, please refer to Professorpositions.com