Assistant Professor in Social Work, Crime Prevention
The Department of Social Work is located at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Göteborgs universitet. More information about the department can be found on our website https://www.gu.se/socialtarbete
Subject Description
Social work encompasses the study of the living conditions and experiences of socially vulnerable people. Central to the subject of social work is studying the causes of and consequences of social problems, as well as how these can be understood at the individual, group, and societal levels. It is also important to study how various interventions are designed for the purpose of preventing or remedying social problems. Social work is the department's main subject at undergraduate, advanced, and doctoral levels.
Duties
The duties as an Assistant Professor include conducting research equivalent to at least 50 percent of full-time employment. This includes the selection of research questions, development of theoretical ideas, data collection, and selection of research methods. The employment also includes actively seeking external funding for one's own research and actively participating in the department's research environments and seminar activities.
The employment includes teaching at undergraduate, advanced, and/or doctoral levels. Course and program development, course responsibility, course administration, and other pedagogical work are also included in the employment.
As an Assistant Professor, you will be part of the strategic research program Resiliens i brottsförebyggande arbete (BRiC): in-depth professional knowledge about children's vulnerability, drug markets, and new technologies. BRiC started in the spring of 2026 and is currently in its startup phase. The program is funded by Vetenskapsrådet and is a collaboration between Lunds universitet, Göteborgs universitet, Malmö universitet, and Linnéuniversitetet.
BRiC brings together more than 60 researchers and aims to strengthen scientific and professional knowledge within crime prevention work through research in close collaboration with practitioners within social services and the justice system. As an Assistant Professor, you will have the opportunity to help shape the research environment and develop your research and collaboration networks within crime prevention work.
More about the BRiC program can be read here: https://www.gu.se/nyheter/stor-satsning-pa-forskning-for-brottsforebyggande-arbete
Eligibility
Eligibility for employment as an Assistant Professor is regulated in the Högskoleförordningen and Göteborgs universitet's employment regulations.
Those who have obtained a doctoral degree in social work or have equivalent scientific competence are eligible to be employed as an Assistant Professor. Primarily, consideration should be given to those who have obtained a doctoral degree or have reached equivalent competence at most seven years before the application deadline for the position of Assistant Professor has passed. However, those who have obtained a doctoral degree or achieved equivalent competence earlier may also be considered if there are special reasons. Special reasons refer to leave due to illness, parental leave, or other similar circumstances. The reasons, dates, and extent of the absence must be clearly specified in the application and supported by certificates.
The ability to teach in English is a requirement. For this employment, knowledge of Swedish is not an eligibility requirement.
Assessment Criteria
Assessment criteria for employment as an Assistant Professor are regulated in the Högskoleförordningen and Göteborgs universitet's employment regulations.
We are looking for someone with documented ability to independently initiate, develop, and conduct high-quality research within the subject area.
The assessment is based primarily on scientific skill, and secondarily on pedagogical skill. Thirdly, the ability for collaboration and administrative skill are weighted.
For the employment, the following are required:
Documented pedagogical skill in higher education, Documented current and relevant experience of practice-oriented and/or profession-oriented research in social work, In a research plan, formulate an innovative research project of high scientific quality within crime prevention social work in a Swedish context.
Scientific Skill
Scientific skill is demonstrated through scientific publication and ongoing participation in national and international research collaborations. When assessing scientific skill, particular weight is placed on high-quality publication with renowned international publishers and in renowned international journals with a peer review system. The quality, originality, and impact of the publications are given greater weight than the total number of publications. Great importance is also placed on the ability to obtain external research funding through competition.
Pedagogical Skill
Pedagogical skill is demonstrated through documented experience of having planned and conducted teaching in various forms (lectures, seminars, supervision) at undergraduate, advanced, and/or doctoral levels within social work. When assessing pedagogical skill, particular weight is placed on implemented and documented efforts that have contributed to developing the education and teaching and improved the quality.
Collaboration with society and administrative skill
Skill in collaboration with the surrounding society is demonstrated, for example, through the ability to develop already initiated collaboration or the ability to establish new collaboration between academia and relevant societal actors, as well as communicating your research results to the public.
Administrative skill refers to experience in academic leadership, for example, coordination of research or educational activities, as well as contributions to the development of the department or faculty.
Overall Assessment
The employment will be offered to the applicant who, after an overall assessment of skill and development potential, is deemed suitable and has the best conditions to carry out the duties included in the employment, collaborate and cooperate with other staff, and contribute to a positive development of the operations.
Long-term experience from academic environments outside Sweden is highly meritorious.
Particular weight will be placed on documented research merits with clear relevance to social work.
Particular weight will also be placed on the quality of the attached research plan. The research plan must clearly state how the project connects to and contributes to social work with a focus on practice-oriented and/or profession-oriented crime prevention social work in a Swedish context.
See the full advertisement at gu.se.