Professor of English (Tenure Track Associate Professor)

Tallinn University has announced a public competition for the position of Professor of English. The elected candidate commences work on the first career level of the position (associate professor) with the aim of supporting their development into a leader of the relevant study and research field in Tallinn University, and moves to the second career level of the position (professor) by way of evaluation.

Deadline of submitting the application documents has been extended to 16th September 2021.

Position: Associate Professor of English (career level I of Tenure Track Professorship)
Academic unitSchool of Humanities
Study area: Western European Studies
The position will be filled from 01.01.2022

Description of academic activity: The professor is responsible for promoting and leading interdisciplinary research activities in the field of English Studies at Tallinn University. Possible research and teaching areas includes studies of Anglophone cultures and literatures and / or English Language.      

Strategic importance of the position
Relevance of the field to the development priorities of TLU, Estonia and Europe: Studies of English and Anglophone Culture are among the traditional areas of teaching and research of Tallinn University. English is the first foreign language of most Estonian schools and the lingua franca in politics, economics, science and culture in Europe and worldwide. The wide scope of the field necessitates a high level of articulation. English as one of the languages of professional communication is a part of most TLU curricula. TLU prepares English teachers, translators and interpreters. Knowledge of English-speaking cultures and literatures is an important component of many curricula in addition to that of English Language and Culture, and the professor is therefore expected to contribute to the development of a wide range of disciplines. In addition, it is important to develop and coordinate English-language curricula and thereby enhance the international visibility of the School and the University.

The strategic importance of the professorship at the School and its relationship with other planned new career model positions, including tenure system positions: The professorship should be, on the one hand, focused on the study of transnational literature in English and/or the English language. On the other hand, it would also involve the education of English philologists, as well as professionals in literary studies, translation studies, and teachers of English, providing applied output in these fields. Collaboration is possible and planned with professors of translation studies and semiotics, comparative literary and cultural analysis as well as university researchers in the field environmental and gender studies. The perspective of a project and grant application in the areas of expertise on current topics is of strategic importance and the role of the professor should be primarily to promote and lead research activity in a field which is clearly strategic for Estonian society and popular among students, but in which coordinated research has been unfortunately quite modest at Tallinn University.

Requirements for the candidate (incl. professional experience)
Candidates for the tenure system position shall meet at least the requirements of career level I of tenure system professor (associate professor), which are stipulated in Annex 2 and respectively in Annex 9 and 10 to the Employment Relations Rules, incl.:

  • The candidate must have a doctoral degree or equivalent qualification in English Studies, Literature or Language;
  • If the candidate has worked as a professor for at least five years immediately prior to applying for the position of a professor at the University (except when applying for the position of a professor in the field of arts), at least one doctoral thesis must have been defended under their (co)supervision during the last five years. 

Job responsibilities
In accordance with Annexes 1, 2 and 10 to the Employment Relations Rules.
The first level of the tenure system position: associate professor.

  • In addition to the above, the task is to carry out research in the field, teaching, planning, organising and managing a research team, and applying for research projects.
  • The professor teaches subjects and research seminars in the curricula of English and Literary Studies. 
  • The professor actively participates in the dissemination and popularization of research results in Estonian society and abroad. 

Language skills:

  • English on the level necessary for conducting teaching and research work;
  • An employee who does not speak Estonian is expected to start acquiring proficiency in Estonian upon starting work and achieve language proficiency level B1 within three years and a level comparable to level B2 within five years in order to be able to perform tasks related to institutional development and administrative work in Estonian.

Working load: 1,0 (40 hours a week).
Remuneration: In accordance with TLU Remuneration Regulation and by negotiations with the director of the School where the position shall be.
In addition to remuneration, a limited allowance is foreseen to the tenure professor, which can be used to cover the costs of research and development expenditure, members of the research team etc related to the position.
Location: The professor is expected to live in Tallinn and work at the premises of Tallinn University.

Required application documents (https://www.tlu.ee/en/required_application_documents_tenure) shall be submitted by 16th September 2021 (incl) to Personnel Office of Tallinn University.

Additional information: Please address your administrative questions to konkurss@tlu.ee, and questions on the content to the administrative head of School of Humanities Terje Kalamees, terje.kalamees@tlu.ee.

Time-schedule of the competition and the selection procedure 

Job description in Estonian (Anglistika professor)


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