Saarland University is a campus-based university with a strong international focus and a research-oriented profile. Numerous research institutes on campus and the systematic promotion of collaborative projects make Saarland University an ideal environment for innovation and technology transfer. To further strengthen this excellence in research and teaching, the Department of Language Science and Technology seeks to hire a

Professor (W2 with Tenure Track to W3) for Speech Science (m|f|x)
Reference n° W2283

Six-year tenure track position, starting April 2025, with the possibility of promotion to a permanent professorship (W3).
We are looking for a highly motivated researcher in the field of phonetics, speech science, and speech technology, with extensive knowledge of speech production, perception and acoustics. The successful candidate is expected to have expertise in experimental and computational approaches to research on spoken language. A focus on spoken dialog and conversational speech and/or multimodal aspects of communication is particularly welcome.
The Department of Language Science and Technology is internationally recognized for collaborative and interdisciplinary research, and the successful candidate is expected to contribute to relevant joint research initiatives. A demonstrated ability to attract external funding of research projects is therefore highly desired. Phonetics, speech science and speech technology are core elements of our study programs on the M.Sc. and B.Sc./B.A. level, and the successful candidate is expected to teach the associated courses within these programs.

What we can offer you:

Tenure track professors (W2) have faculty status at Saarland University, including the right to supervise Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD students. The successful candidate will focus on carrying out world-class research, will lead their own research group, and will undertake teaching and supervision responsibilities. Tenure track professors (W2) with outstanding performance will receive tenure as a full professor (W3) provided a positive tenure evaluation is made. Decisions regarding tenure are made no later than six years after taking up the tenure track position.
The position offers excellent working conditions in a lively and international scientific community. Saarland University is one of the leading centers for language science and computational linguistics in Europe, and offers a dynamic and stimulating research environment. The Department of Language Science and Technology organizes about 100 research staff in nine research groups in the fields of computational linguistics, psycholinguistics, phonetics and speech science, speech processing, and corpus linguistics (https://www.uni-saarland.de/en/department/lst.html). The department serves as the focal point of the Collaborative Research Center 1102 'Information Density and Linguistic Encoding' (http://www.sfb1102.uni-saarland.de). It is part of the Saarland Informatics Campus (https://saarland-informatics-campus.de/en), which brings together 800 researchers and 2,000 students from 81 countries and collaborates closely with world-class research institutions on campus, such as the Max Planck Institute for Informatics, the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI).

Qualifications:

The appointment will be made in accordance with the general provisions of German public sector employment law.  Applicants will have a PhD or doctorate in an appropriate subject and will have demonstrated a proven track record of independent academic research (e.g. as a junior or assistant professor, or by having completed an advanced, post-doctoral research degree (Habilitation) or equivalent academic activity at a university or research institution). They will typically have completed a period of postdoctoral research and have teaching experience at the university level. They must have demonstrated outstanding research capabilities and have the potential to successfully lead their own research group.
The successful candidate will be expected to actively contribute to departmental research and teaching, including introductory lectures in phonetics and phonology, speech science, as well as more advanced lectures. The teaching language is English (in the MSc programs) and German (in the BSc/BA programs). We expect that the successful candidate has, or is willing to acquire within an appropriate period, sufficient proficiency to teach in both languages.

Your Application:

Applications should be submitted online at www.uni-saarland.de/berufungen. No additional paper copy is required. The application must contain:
    • a cover letter and curriculum vitae (including phone number and email address)
    • a full list of publications
    • a full list of third-party funding (own shares shown)
    • your proposed research plan (2-5 pages)
    • a teaching statement (1 page)
    • copies of your degree certificates
    • full-text copies of your 5 most important publications
    • a list of 3 academic references (including email addresses), at least one of whom must be a person who is outside the group of your current or former supervisors or colleagues.

Applications must be received no later than 12 October 2023. The search committee will decide in its first meeting on late applications. Please include the job reference number W2283 when you apply. Please contact crocker@lst.uni-saarland.de if you have any questions.

Saarland University regards internationalization as an institution-wide process spanning all aspects of university life and it therefore encourages applications that align with its internationalization strategy. Members of the university's professorial staff are therefore expected to engage in activities that promote and foster further internationalization. Special support will be provided for projects that continue with or expand on collaborative interactions within existing international cooperative networks, e.g. projects with partners in the European University Alliance Transform4Europe (www.transform4europe.eu) or the University of the Greater Region (www.uni-gr.eu).

Saarland University is an equal opportunity employer. In accordance with its affirmative action policy, Saarland University is actively seeking to increase the proportion of women in this field. Qualified women candidates are therefore strongly encouraged to apply. Preferential consideration will be given to applications from disabled candidates of equal eligibility.

When you submit a job application to Saarland University you will be transmitting personal data. Please refer to our privacy notice (https://www.uni-saarland.de/verwaltung/datenschutz/) for information on how we collect and process personal data in accordance with Art. 13 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). By submitting your application, you confirm that you have taken note of the information in the Saarland University privacy notice.