The Department of Architecture at Aalto University is an internationally renowned education and research unit (within top 3% in the world in architecture). With respect to Finland’s esteemed architectural heritage, we search for new solutions to the challenges of sustainable development. To us, architecture is an art form that requires practical skills and individual artistic development, as well as knowledge on sustainability relevant to design and planning. We educate critical thinkers who accept their responsibility to research and design a socially, culturally, and ecologically sustainable built environment. The Department of Architecture offers majors in architecture, landscape architecture and interior architecture. Currently, the BA level courses are taught primarily in Finnish whilst MA and doctoral level studies primarily in English. For more information, please see: http://architecture.aalto.fi/en/
 
The Department of Architecture invites application for the position of:
Assistant or Associate Professor (tenure track or tenured) in Landscape  architecture, especially landscape design practices 

The position will begin on 1 April 2027, or as agreed, and it is placed within the Major of Landscape Architecture in the Department of Architecture. The position is to be filled at the Assistant or Associate professor level of Aalto University tenure track system (please see www.aalto.fi/en/tenure-track). The position is full-time.
 
Landscape architecture is a growing and rapidly evolving field that uniquely combines artistic, scientific, and technical expertise. Aalto University is Finland’s only academic institute in the field of landscape architecture. Landscape architecture focuses on two major topics: 1) landscape planning and management, and 2) landscape design and construction. In addition, it collaborates closely with urban planning and urban design within the major of architecture. To further strengthen its leadership in the field, Aalto ARTS has opened a call to find a tenure track or tenured professor in Landscape Architecture with the focus on landscape design and its professional/artistic practices. The position addresses the creation of sustainable, functional, and meaningful landscapes of outstanding design quality, especially at a local and site scale. The post is extremely important for the future standard of artistic practice and practical design expertise in the field of landscape architecture, especially in a context where there is a growing demand for skilled professionals and high-quality design solutions.

Your role and goals
 
The professor of Landscape Architecture is expected to contribute to the artistic foundations of the landscape design discipline and its professional practices. The contributions of the applicant may be emphasized on 1) architectural, conceptual, theoretical, societal reflections of the field and/or 2) on landscape construction, materials, detailing and related sustainability aspects.
 
The applicant is expected to embed landscape design practices into teaching and academic debate in the field.  The tasks include teaching/tutoring students in their design projects as well as development and administrative work within the department. The professor will work in cooperation with other teaching staff of the department, especially with professors and lecturers in landscape architecture. There are three professors in landscape architecture at the moment: two with a focus on landscape planning/management in the research/practice-interface, and this position with a design and professional/artistic focus. In addition to professors, there are four lecturers in landscape architecture, two of them specifically teaching landscape design and construction. The professor is also expected to collaborate with other fields in the department, as well as build networks with other departments of the university and with collaborators beyond Aalto University. We expect you to participate in service to the Aalto University community and to encourage you to cross-disciplinary networking as well as interacting actively with society at large and stakeholders outside the academy.

In all levels of the tenure track system, a professor is expected to perform high-quality artistic/research activities with societal impact as well as teaching at all levels - graduate, undergraduate levels and post-graduate (at this position practice-based, artistic research), to be an active member of the international design research and practice communities, and to exhibit academic leadership. Advancements in the tenure track are based on scheduled performance assessments, which consider the candidate’s merits in all these areas.
 
Your Experience and Ambitions
 
For this professorship, the applicant is expected to have a master’s degree in landscape architecture field and possess professional/artistic merits and competence in landscape design. The evaluation of applicants is based especially on the level of accomplishment and merits gained through artistic work and professional practice. Depending on the profile of the applicant, merits can also include theoretical/conceptual contributions and active professional publishing related to the field and/or experience in practice-oriented or artistic research and/or a doctoral degree in the relevant field.  In addition, evaluation includes teaching, academic leadership and other relevant activities in academic and professional communities - this evaluation depends on the level of the tenure track. The successful candidate is expected to be internationally networked and fluent in English. Knowledge of Finnish and/or Swedish is an advantage. Broad knowledge in the field and interaction with other technical and artistic fields are appreciated. Experience and familiarity with the potential and challenges of the northern cultural and environmental context will be considered an advantage.
 
When recruiting for first term Assistant Professor positions, the evaluation is mainly based on the potential of the candidate in the evaluated dimensions. When recruiting or reviewing for second term Assistant Professor positions, the evaluation is based on both merits and potential. When recruiting to Associate Professor levels (non-tenured or tenured), a successful candidate is expected to have high academic merits, be of first rank among distinguished members of their discipline, and must show a continued contribution to artistic/practice-based work or academic research. For more info, please see: Tenure track evaluation criteria | Aalto University.
 
In Aalto University, recruitment decisions are made in accordance with holistic assessment of candidates which means that the departmental committee can propose a candidate with fewer professional merits to the position at assistant professor level over a more merited one who could qualify at associate professor level, in case the proposed candidate is found having potential and is seen having a more suitable profile to the position.

What We Offer

Activities of the department are located in the Otaniemi campus of Aalto University in Espoo (Helsinki metropolitan area), with several other neighboring research institutions and organizations. We offer you a possibility to work within a well-resourced learning, research, and art & design community. The School of Arts, Design and Architecture has a well-equipped infrastructure for research and artistic activities, including top-class audiovisual and workshop premises. We are the only university in Finland that offers studies and conducts research in the fields of architecture, interior architecture, landscape architecture, as well as urban design and urban planning. The Professor will be part of an inspiring and supportive community of experienced professionals and highly motivated students. The Professor will also have the opportunity to use the Department’s extensive networks both nationally and internationally, and enjoy our great resources to build educational workshops, master classes and student productions with the help of our production service, Aalto Studios (https://studios.aalto.fi/).

The salary will be defined based on the applicant’s qualifications and level of the position and will follow the Aalto University salary system. In addition to the salary, Aalto University provides its employees with occupational health care and excellent learning and development opportunities.
 
Ready to apply?

To apply, we kindly ask you to submit your application materials through our recruitment system on 13.2.2026 at 23:59 at the latest (Eastern European time UTC +2) at the latest. Please find a link to the recruitment system at the end of this application announcement. The following application materials should be submitted in English and in pdf format (please note that the maximum size per document is 5MB):
 

• An application letter addressed to the Dean of The Aalto School of Arts, Design and Architecture, including statement describing the applicant’s vision of development of the field and its future orientations in practice and teaching and potentially research (max. 3 pages),
• A Curriculum Vitae, based on the template TENK guidelines, and adapted to professional / artistic careers
• A professional/artistic/research portfolio including 1) a comprehensive list of all professional/artistic projects and scientific/professional publications and 2) selected 5-8 most important work samples, major part of them professional/artistic projects. The professional/artistic projects are presented with figures and written reflection and contextualization of the work, and a detailed description of the project team and your specific role in it. The scientific/professional publications are presented as summaries and links to the original publication.  Portfolio in total, max 30 pages and maximum size 30 MB. If the document is larger than 5MB, please upload it as a single PDF file to our .
• Teaching  portfolio, compiled according to Aalto guidelines  and adapted to the level of the tenure track

If you already work at Aalto University, please apply for the position by using your existing Workday user account! Please see how to apply as an internal applicant here.

In the second stage of the recruitment process, the recruitment team will select the candidates who will be invited to a site visit to the Department of Architecture in August 2026. During the site visit, the candidates will be interviewed and asked to give a teaching and practice presentation, for which the instructions will be provided in advance.

During the evaluation process, we will ask four external reviewers to give their individual assessment of the shortlisted candidates. Furthermore, Aalto University may use an academic leadership assessment for the candidates in the final phase of the application process. In the academic leadership assessments, we will evaluate candidates´ ability and potential to lead a team. Academic leadership assessments include preliminary tasks and self-assessment methods, interactive methods, and a consultant´s interview. The assessment itself is a coaching and objective situation, which also provides the candidate feedback for their career development.
 
Aalto University reserves the right for justified reasons to leave the position open or to extend the application period. 

For more information

For additional information, please contact Chair of the Departmental Committee, Associate Professor Ranja Hautamäki, ranja.hautamaki(at)aalto.fi

For matters concerning the recruitment system, please turn to HR Specialist Satu Pöyhönen, satu.poyhonen(at)aalto.fi
 
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