Call for open-rank academic position in Environmental Psychology and Sustainability

Introduction Sustainability is a key component of the University of Copenhagen’s new 2030 strategy “Creating benefit for more people” and an area in which The Department of Psychology would like to strengthen its expertise and impact. Thus, we invite applications for a full-time open-rank position (i.e., Tenure-Track Assistant Professor / Associate Professor / Full Professor) in Environmental Psychology and Sustainability.

We seek a candidate with demonstrated expertise in environmental psychology and sustainability, who brings an innovative and interdisciplinary outlook, and who has the potential to bridge academic research and real-world impact.

The successful candidate will contribute to advancing research and teaching in areas of understanding individual and collective responses to environmental challenges; supporting sustainable behavior across actors and domains, and informing necessary policy and practice shifts for the green transition.

The position is available from January 1st 2026, but an earlier or later starting date is also possible.

The call includes the following types of positions:

• Tenure-Track Assistant Professor: The position comes with research and teaching obligations and offers the candidate a contract of six years that can result in a tenured associate professorship (contingent on positive evaluation).
• Associate Professor: The position is a permanent position with research and teaching obligations. 
• Full Professor: The position is a permanent position with research and teaching obligations.

Please note that candidates will only be evaluated at the level of position(s) that they apply for, but that candidates can apply for more than one level.

Hence, it is important that candidates clearly indicate the position(s) they are applying for. If you are applying for several different positions or positions at several levels, please indicate 1st and 2nd priority.

The Department
The Department of Psychology is one of the leading psychology departments in Northern Europe and covers a broad range of psychological approaches and disciplines in research and teaching.

The Department has about 100 members of staff, and over 50 PhD students. A total of around 1,500 students are enrolled in the department’s bachelor and master programmers in psychology.

The research of the department is organized in three broad sections with associated post-graduate (PhD) students and postdocs. The sections are “Clinical, Health, and Humanistic Psychology”, “Cognition and Neuropsychology”, and “Social, Cultural, Organisational, Personality and Educational (SCOPE) Psychology”. The hired applicant will be part of the SCOPE section.

Education at the Department is directed towards the psychological profession and is characterized by a high level of critical engagement with theoretical, methodological, and applied contents. Our education also connects to other scientific disciplines and the department takes part in several interdisciplinary academic programmes.

Research at the Department is of high international and ethical standards and is characterized by a fundamental curiosity to shed light on various phenomena from a psychological perspective. Our research takes advantage of synergistic interactions across basic and applied psychological research and knowledge, as well as of interdisciplinary approaches.

For further information about the Department, please see: https://psychology.ku.dk/

For a more detailed presentation of our current departmental strategy, please see: https://psy.ku.dk/pdf/Department_of_Psychology_strategy_2022-2025.pdf

For a summary of our Departmental Code of Conduct, please see: https://psy.ku.dk/pdf/Code_of_Conduct_DoP.pdf

For the University of Copenhagen’s 2030 strategy, read more at: Strategy 2030 – University of Copenhagen

Duties and Responsibilities:
Duties and responsibilities of the posts include contributing to the scholarship and intellectual life of the University by conducting high-quality basic or applied research; delivering excellent teaching and support to students across undergraduate and postgraduate levels and fulfilling additional roles and responsibilities depending on the level of appointment.

We expect applicants to conduct and develop their own research in synergy with the ongoing work within the Department, and to contribute to implementing the current departmental strategy and helping to define our ongoing shared goals and aspirations.

Your Competencies and Opportunities:
To apply for the position(s), candidates must hold: a PhD degree in Psychology, or a neighboring field; an active research programme of relevance to Environmental Psychology and Sustainability, and an ability to teach into/develop new courses in the domain of Environmental Psychology and Sustainability. Additional required qualifications and experiences are commensurate with rank.

Candidates must have an emerging (Tenure-Track Assistant Professor) or established (Associate Professor and Full Professor) track record of successful research and research-based teaching within the field, as well as experience with supervision of junior researchers for Associate and Full Professor appointments.

It is essential that candidates have strong collaborative skills and are willing to take on academic and organizational citizenship or leadership roles (commensurate with rank) within the Department of Psychology.

The Department of Psychology views teaching as an integral part of employment at the department. Therefore, candidates should be able to demonstrate experience with teaching and teaching planning and coordination. Associate and Full Professor appointments would be expected to have undergone a formal education in teaching and learning in higher education.

Successful candidates will have strong interpersonal skills as well as an aptitude for working collaboratively with colleagues in planning and delivering teaching, in research projects and in the discharge of administrative duties.

Furthermore, candidates must demonstrate a commitment to student learning, supporting student welfare and enhancing the student experience.

Merit criteria and career progression:
Six general criteria apply to the employment of Assistant Professors, Associate Professors and Professors at the University of Copenhagen. The six criteria (research, teaching, societal impact, organizational contribution, external funding and leadership) are considered as a framework for an overall assessment of the applicant. In addition, each applicant must be assessed according to the specific requirements set out in the advertisement.

Information about the criteria for recognizing merit at Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor levels can be found here: https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/criteria-for-recognising-merit/

Employment as an Assistant Professor requires academic qualifications at PhD level.

The Assistant Professorship is an educational position where the main tasks are research (including publication / academic dissemination duties) and research-based teaching (with related examination duties). Assistant Professors must complete a university pedagogical programme and a written assessment of the teaching qualifications must be provided no later than three months before the termination of employment. The position as Assistant Professor may be filled as part of a tenure track programme under which the employee after a maximum of six years transfers to employment as an Associate Professor. Such transfer requires that the employee is assessed and found to be academically qualified for the level of Associate Professor. The department will continuously follow up on the Assistant Professor's development in relation to the set criteria.

More information about the tenure-track Assistant Professor programme for promotion to Associate Professor can be found here: https://employment.ku.dk/tenure-track/tenure-track-at-ucph/

Employment as an Associate Professor requires research and teaching qualifications at the level that can be achieved through the satisfactory completion of a period of employment as an assistant professor. An Associate Professor must be able to participate in the department's general administration and examinations as well as in assessment committees.

Employment as a Full Professor requires a documented high degree of original academic production at an international level and experience from teaching at different levels, including tests / exams, course / study programme management as well as contributions to the development of teaching activities and teaching material. A Professor is expected to participate in all activities of the department, including examinations and administration as well as manage research projects, guidance and supervision as well as assessment committees.

Further information on qualification requirements as Assistant professor, Associate Professor and Professor can be found in the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities 2025 (in Danish) here: https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2025/375

Who to Contact:
Additional information about the position(s) can be obtained from the head of the department Annemarie Olsen (ano@psy.ku.dk), or the head of the SCOPE section Guido Makransky (gm@psy.ku.dk)- Social, Cultural, Organisational, Personality and Educational Psychology (SCOPE).

Terms of appointment
Terms of appointment and salary are in accordance with the  Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (Akademikerne). In addition to the salary, an 18.07 % contribution to the pension scheme is paid. It is possible to negotiate salary supplements on an annual basis. 

International applicant?
The University of Copenhagen offers a broad variety of services for international

researchers and accompanying families, including support before and during your

relocation and career counselling to expat partners. Please find more information about

these services as well as information on entering and working in Denmark here: https://ism.ku.dk/

Non-Danish speaking employees are strongly encouraged to acquire the proficiency in Danish

required to teach and interact with colleagues in that language in 3-6 years.

The Department will provide and pay for the necessary language training

An Equal Opportunity Workplace
The University of Copenhagen is committed in its pursuit of academic excellence to equality of opportunity and to creating an inclusive working environment and therefore encourages all qualified candidates to apply, regardless of personal background, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, ethnicity etc. For more on the diverse workplace environment at the University and the University’s participation in the HRS4R HR Excellence in Research, see https://employment.ku.dk/working-at-ucph/eu-charter-for-researchers/

How to Apply
Submit a complete application at our online portal. Click on the “Apply now” icon at the bottom of the page to apply.

The application material must be in Adobe PDF or Word format. ZIP files and files that exceed 10 MB cannot be uploaded.

Your application must be written in English and include the following documents:

• Motivated application (max. 3 pages).
• Research proposal (max 5 pages): Provide a research statement that describes your previous work and what you bring to the department. Outline your vision where you provide a concrete plan for future research, including how you plan to develop the field of Environmental Psychology and Sustainability within the department. Explain how your plans align with the university strategy, and how you will contribute to the department’s scientific and educational activities.
• Curriculum vitae
• Certificates and Diplomas
• Publication list. A complete list of all publications with clearly marked publication dates. The uploaded publications must be marked with * on the list to be assessed.
• Publications. Applicants who apply for a position at the assistant or associate professor level can submit a maximum of 6 publications. Applicants who apply for a position at the professor level can submit a maximum of 10 publications. The 6/10 most important publications, of which at least three must have been published within the five years immediately preceding the deadline for application. The publications selected must be uploaded as attachments and named from 1 to 6/1 to 10.
• Research plan that includes a brief description of previous research as well as a plan for the next few years.
• Teaching portfolio. Documentation of teaching qualifications in accordance with the University guidelines for teaching portfolios when appointing academic staff at the University of Copenhagen
• Documentation of ability to disseminate information. Documentation of the ability to disseminate information to and share knowledge with society.

Should any material submitted consist of work with named co-authors, or work that is otherwise the result of collective academic endeavors, the extent of the applicant’s contribution to the work must be clearly specified. The hiring committee may ask for a signed statement from the co-authors specifying the extent and nature of each individual’s contribution.

Again, please note that candidates will only be evaluated at the level of position(s) that they apply for, but that candidates can apply for more than one level.

The recruitment process
Further information on the recruitment process at University of Copenhagen can be found here:  https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/

Information about the recruitment process is available from HR, e-mail: hr-soendre@adm.ku.dk, please refer to ID number: [211-0326/25-2K] #1

The closing date for applications is 1 September 2025 at 23:59 [CET]

The University of Copenhagen has decided that the Faculty of Social Sciences will be relocated to the South Campus. KU is currently in the process of planning the move, but unfortunately, there is not yet a timeline for when the relocation can begin. The department will therefore be moving from its current location at Øster Farimagsgade 2A to the South Campus, which is located near the Islands Brygge Metro Station.