Instructions for the Appointment of Docents at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

[Only the Swedish version is the official version]
23 February 2005 Reg. no. SLU ua 18.61-428/05

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF DOCENTS AT THE SWEDISH UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES

Decision by the Vice-Chancellor, 7 February 2005

General

The selection and appointment of docents at the SLU faculties is an important part of the quality assurance of research and teaching at doctoral level. A docent shall conduct research and is obliged to act as supervisor for doctoral students and carry out assignments as principal supervisor of doctoral candidates, member of the examining committee, examiner, form expert opinions etc. at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). Docents in research education subjects may be accepted at the relevant SLU faculty.

SLU’s faculty boards elect docent boards with the task of preparing matters for decision by the faculty boards. The faculty boards may, when appropriate, delegate all or part of the process of assigning docents to the respective docent board.

Competence

An applicant is qualified to be appointed docent if s/he has obtained a PhD or has equivalent qualifications, and has such scientific or artistic and pedagogic abilities as are required for carrying out the duties of a docent.

Scientific competence

SLU demands a high level of scientific competence from potential docents. An docentship indicates that the incumbent has demonstrated an independent capacity for research and possesses a level of competence considerably higher than that required for a PhD. A docent must have developed, or begun to develop, his or her own line of research. Publishing together with other co-authors than the former supervisors, publishing as senior author, post-doctoral stays, being responsible for project grant proposals and being project leader or co-ordinator for research programmes are ways to demonstrate independence and a personal line of research. Review articles and popular science articles, or other ways of interacting with the surrounding community, show an ability to present research results within a wider context. For artistically active researchers, participation in contests, exhibitions etc. are important ways of placing his or her research within a wider scientific context. To reach the appropriate level of competence and scientific production, research experience corresponding to a four-year period as research associate is needed.

Teaching qualifications

According to the vice-chancellor’s decision 121126, the following applies: Anyone being appointed as docent must have developed knowledge, skills and approaches as a basis for working professionally as a teacher within higher education institutions. The docent must have at least 10 weeks (full-time) documented experience of pedagogic training in higher education, of which at least three weeks must be training in supervision of doctoral students at SLU. The faculty board may, after consulting with the Division of Educational Affairs, and with the criteria in the SUHF recommendation (SUHF recommendation 2005) as a base, approve other training than that offered by SLU.

The docent must also have pedagogic experience that is relevant for a principal supervisor of doctoral students, such as acting as assistant supervisor, supervising final examination work at undergraduate level etc.

The following paragraph is excluded: Anyone being appointed as docent must have undergone basic pedagogic training and a pedagogic course for docents at SLU. If relevant pedagogic training has been undertaken elsewhere, it can be taken into account if the docent board so agrees. The docent must also have pedagogic experience, such as acting as assistant supervisor, supervising final examination work at undergraduate level etc. Production of teaching material is another important pedagogical skill to take into account.

Application

An application for appointment as docent in a specified research education subject, possibly with a specialist focus, should be submitted to the relevant SLU faculty. An application to the

·  NJ Faculty or the VH Faculty should be sent to the Registrar, University Administration, SLU, Box 7070, 750 07 Uppsala.

·  LTV Faculty should be sent to the Registrar, Box 52, 230 53 Alnarp

·  S Faculty should be sent to the Registrar, SLU, 901 83 Umeå

Applications for appointment as docent are processed twice a year, and applications therefore must be submitted no later than 1 March and 15 September respectively. Preferably, the same template as is recommended for applications to promoted professor should be used.

An application must have the following attachments:

·  A certified list of qualifications and previous positions held.

·  A brief account of the applicant’s scientific and pedagogical activities, scientific independence and vision of future research objectives.

·  A list of publications, including the applicant’s personal contribution in any joint publication.

o  The list should be divided into original scientific work, reports, abstracts and other publications. It should be clear from the list which pieces of work were included in the applicant’s doctoral thesis.

·  Publications referred to in the application.

·  Other documents that the applicant wishes to refer to.

·  The head of department is requested to send in a proposal for two experts, preferably from outside SLU. The person(s) proposed shall be aware of and prepared to undertake the assignment, which shall be indicated in the proposal. The head of department must state that the disqualification (bias) and equality aspects have been observed. The proposal must include a brief explanation concerning the competence of the recommended person(s) in relation to the subject field for the docentship and the applicant’s scientific profile. (full address; phone number, fax and e-mail address of the recommended person(s) are to be given).

·  Teaching material.

Instructions of how to structure the application are provided by the secretary of the docent board at the relevant faculty office. Please also see: https://internt.slu.se/en/research-education- ema/academic-career/appointment-of-associate-professor/

The following paragraph is excluded: Seven sets (the original and six copies) of the applicant’s documents and two sets of pieces of work referred to should be submitted. The application has to be submitted in English.

Processing of applications

The docent board first considers whether an external expert opinion must be obtained. In exceptional cases, the docent board may rule that the application itself attests to the applicant’s scientific competence (for example previous evaluations made after an application for appointments as a research consultant, professor) and that consequently no further consideration is necessary.

The docent board may also decide that the applicant’s scientific competence has not been sufficiently verified, or that the application is incomplete. The board will then recommend the applicant to withdraw the application and to submit a renewed application at a later date or, if applicable, in a more complete form. Anyone dissatisfied with such a decision can ask for the matter to be reconsidered by the faculty board.

In order to assess the applicant’s scientific competence, the docent board usually appoints an expert, taking equal opportunities into account. In examining and evaluating the applicant’s publications, the expert(s) should give an opinion on:

• The applicant’s scientific output seen from an international perspective.

• The most important results in the applicant’s scientific work and how these should be assessed in relation to contemporary developments within the subject field.

• The extent to which the applicant has documented scientific independence and scientific maturity related to the theory of the field.

• Whether the applicant, through his/her postdoctoral education and other activities, has enhanced his/her scientific skills and scientific network of contacts to a considerable extent.

• A final statement where it is concluded whether the applicant has reached the appropriate level to be appointed docent.

Docent lecture

Everyone applying for a docentship at one of SLU’s faculties must give a public docentship lecture. The lecture must take place during a semester, and be on a subject chosen in consultation with the docent board and within the subject area for which the applicant wishes to be appointed docent.

When the applicant’s scientific/artistic ability has been considered and found to be adequate, the docent board appoints an expert assessor in the subject and determines the date and place for the docentship lecture. When the subject and time for the lecture have been fixed, a public notice is issued by the relevant faculty office.

The docentship lecture must contain sound scientific thoughts and ideas that the lecturer considers important for the development of his/her subject field. No later than two weeks before the lecture, the applicant must submit a brief (1 page) popular science summary of his/her lecture in Swedish. The summary will be distributed in conjunction with the public notice on the SLU web.

The purpose of the lecture is for the applicant to declare a personal scientific agenda to all members of the faculty. The lecture should be 30–35 minutes long and can be given in English or Swedish. A scientific discussion will follow the lecture.

A member (or members) appointed by the docent board, the expert assessor in the subject and an expert appointed as a representative of the Learning Development Centre will attend the lecture. The expert assessor and the representative for the Learning Development Centre will together form a written judgement considering the scientific content and the pedagogical aspects of the presentation. The judgement must contain a recommendation of pass or to fail.

The faculty board arrives at a decision on the matter, following which, if the decision is positive, the certificate of docentship is issued. The certificate is sent to the applicant together with a copy of the expert opinion and the certificate stating that the docentship lecture has been delivered.