Akademie umění v Bergenu hledá profesory nových médií a vizuálního umění

Professor/associate professor (100 %) of visual art, new media

KHiB has a vacancy for a professor/associate professor (100 %) of visual art for a fixed term of six years. Fixed-term appointments are drawn up in compliance with the Ministry’s provisions on these matters. Tenure will begin 1 August 2010.

The Academy is looking for an artist with extensive experience in the field of visual art, with ambitions to expand and test the limits of what Visual Art can be, with an interest in, and an inquisitive mind towards other forms of artistic expression and possible linkages between them. Applicants should have extensive practical experience and sound theoretical understanding of the field and its historical development. At the Department of Fine Art, work with Visual Art is an integrated aspect of the Department’s curriculum. The successful applicant will be expected to supervise students at the Bachelor and Master’s level and possibly research fellow level.

The duties of a professor/associate professor include teaching, supervision, responsibility for teaching schedules, initiation of student projects, development work and research in the subject area, dissemination, organising and adapting these tasks, along with possible management and administrative tasks. In organisational and preparatory work, and in daily tasks, it is important to approach and use the department’s and institution’s overall resources in a flexible manner. As a member of the academic staff, the successful applicant will share responsibility for the daily management of the subject area and take active part in discussions concerning the subject area/department’s identity and programmes. Development of the subject area is expected to progress in consultation with departmental colleagues and students and in collaboration with other subject areas/departments at the Academy.

A portion of the working hours of academic staff at the Bergen National Academy of the Arts is set aside for Research and Development work and for this reason considerable resources are made available for this aspect of the post. The successful applicant will therefore have a special responsibility for artistic development work within their subject area. Initiating collaboration and contact with educational and other relevant partners is another important task. The successful candidate will be expected to contribute constructively to discussions at the Academy, to promote the Academy externally, among other things by establishing professional networks locally, nationally and internationally.

Requirements
For both positions applicants will need to demonstrate:

• Ability to work constructively with others, with an emphasis on dialogue and inclusive academic communication
• Ability to reflect over attitudes to and visions in relation to artistic development work
• An ability and interest in teaching

In addition to this there will be an emphasis on
• An ability to approach the subject area from a wider social and theoretical vantage point
• Views on higher education in the field of art and design
• Proven organisational skills and experience

For the post of professor, applicants must demonstrate
• A robust, comprehensive knowledge and skills of the highest international standard
• Achievements of a high international standard in the subject area
• Teaching experience, preferably at the level of higher education, or other relevant professional experience

For the post of associate professor, applicants must document
• Achievements in their area of artistic activity/developmental work of a high international standard and thorough grasp of areas of relevance to the subject area/position
• Qualifications at the highest level in the subject area from Norway or the equivalent from other countries, or equivalent documented evidence
• Teacher training or experience of teaching/supervising at lower and/or higher levels or experience of communicating in other areas of academic activity

Application criteria
Applicants must therefore submit a documented and comprehensive inventory (including visual documentation) of design activity and other work of relevance for the position. Applicants must also set out their qualifications in relation to the other issues of importance to the position, including intentions and objectives for the fixed-term position.

It is important that applicants provide a clear account of their approach to the subject area, and describe their opinion of the subject area’s position and potentials.

Applicants themselves must ensure that the documentation they submit is complete and adequate. The application must include a complete list of all attachments. Documentation of artistic and other professional work shall be submitted in quadruplicate. Copies of written work, articles, anthologies etc. must also be submitted in quadruplicate. The application must be accompanied with a complete list of all attachments.

Special instructions which set out the application criteria and documentation requirements can be found here:
Application form for teaching positions

Expert assessment
Academic competence will be assessed by an appointments committee. Assessments are conducted in compliance with regulations for such assessments. Applicants will be invited to an interview with an internal interview panel and to present themselves for faculty and students.

Applicants whose qualifications fall short of those required for a professorship, will be considered for the post of associate professor.

Terms of pay and work etc.
Salary follows the State Sector Pay Scale, which for a professorship is scale no. 66–95 (currently NOK 514,700  NOK 1,020,000); for an associate professorship the scale is no. 24 according to seniority.

Appointment procedures are practised subject to the provisions in force for civil servants. Appointees shall observe such rules and regulations as apply to the position, including organisational and administrative placement, cf. regulations on working time and duties of teaching staff at institutions of higher education, and guidelines adopted by the Academy for this purpose. Should an appointee not speak a Scandinavian language, the Academy requires said appointee to attend Norwegian-language courses during the first year of tenure.

The balance between teaching and artistic Research and Development duties is regulated for each position separately. This includes specification of the duty to be physically present on the premises of the Academy. The division of working hours is specified by the annual individual work plan, prepared in consultation with the faculty member and Dean. The Dean is responsible for coordinating modules and programmes offered at the department.

The composition of the public sector shall reflect by and large the composition of the population. Personnel policy is therefore designed to achieve balance in terms of age and sex, and recruit persons from ethnic minorities. Persons from ethnic minorities are therefore encouraged to apply for the position.

In compliance with section 25 of the Freedom of Information Act, applicants must be aware that information on applicants may be made public even when applicants have asked for their names to be removed from the list of applicants. Should the situation arise, applicants will be notified in advance. No applicants will be made public without being informed in advance of the impending public announcement.

The Academy can promise an interesting and demanding job in a highly active environment, professional challenges and excellent working conditions. For further information on the position, don’t hesitate to call Dean Paula Crabtree or Rector Nina Malterud: + 47 - 55 58 73 00.

Application deadline
Applications must be submitted by 15 January 2010.

The address to send the application is:

Bergen National Academy of the Arts,
Strømgt. 1,
N-5015 Bergen,
Norway