Associate Professor in Solid State Electronics with specialisation in semiconductor process technology

Published: 2021-02-08

Uppsala University is a comprehensive research-intensive university with a strong international standing. Our ultimate goal is to conduct education and research of the highest quality and relevance to make a long-term difference in society. Our most important assets are all the individuals whose curiosity and dedication make Uppsala University one of Sweden’s most exciting workplaces. Uppsala University has over 45,000 students, more than 7,000 employees and a turnover of around SEK 7 billion.

The Department of Electrical Engineering is an international environment with approximately 130 employees at Ångström Laboratory. The Department conducts research and teaching in Electricity, Solid-State Electronics and Signals and Systems.

The research at the Division of Solid-State Electronics has three major focus areas: Electronics for Life-Science and Medical Technologies, Electronics for Renewable Energy and Electronics for Brain-Inspired Computing. The technological base for our research is thin-film technology, semiconductor processing and semiconductor device technology using the in-house state-of-art cleanroom facilities, supported by device and process simulation as well as advanced electrical and optical characterisation. Our research objective is to develop technological solutions, from devices to small systems, for comprehensive analysis of genome, proteome, and transcriptome signatures of individuals, thereby enabling AI assisted predictive diagnosis and preemptive therapy. We strive for innovations such as near-body-network systems, point-of-care electronic sensors and battery-free wearable and medical systems for continuous and real-time health monitoring. Such systems require mechanically flexible and soft devices including electronic and optoelectronic components, supported by thermoelectric or triboelectric/piezoelectric generators. Our research on renewable energy spans from nanophononics and hybrid materials for thermoelectrics to energy-efficient electronics. Finally, we have lately renewed our efforts to harness novel electronic device solutions towards a new computing paradigm.

Description of subject area of the employment: The subject area is semiconductor process technology for smart and energy-efficient electronics as well as energy-related devices. The process technology spans from the solution-phase and vacuum-phase techniques of nanomaterials and thin films, to the combination of the conventional silicon technology and unconventional printing technology for device fabrication and system integration. The research on smart and energy-efficient electronics includes flexible devices and neuromorphic electronic skin. Neuromorphic skin requires mechanical compliance and softness, and should be self-powered by energy harvested from the environment. The research on energy harvesting specializes around nanomaterials and hybrid materials for thermoelectrics, triboelectrics and solar-to-fuel converters.

Duties:

• Teaching, research and administration. Teaching duties include course development and course administration and supervision of second- and third-cycle students. The applicant is expected to lead research associated with semiconductor process technology.
• Follow developments within the subject area and the development of society in general that is important for the work at the university.
• The position may include leading a research group and involving in lab management.
• The position may include seeking external funding, developing industrial contacts as well as multidisciplinary academic network.

Qualifications Required:

• PhD in physics or solid state electronics or have the corresponding research competence or some other professional expertise. 
• Research Expertise and Teaching Expertise. It is necessary that the pedagogical skills, the research expertise and the professional skills are relevant to the content of the employment and the tasks that will be included in the employment.
• Applicants must have completed teacher training of relevance to operations at the University, comprising ten weeks, or have acquired the equivalent knowledge. If special circumstances apply, this training for teachers in higher education may be completed during the first two years of employment.
• Documented ability to teach in Swedish or English is a requirement unless special reasons prevail. The holder is expected to be able to teach in Swedish within two years.
• Personal capabilities necessary to carry out fully the duties of the appointment.

Assessment Criteria/Ranking of applicants that fulfil the above-mentioned qualifications required. The ranking of eligible applicants will be based primarily on research and teaching expertise, of which weight will be primarily given to research expertise.

Research Expertise comprises research merits. In addition to academic merits, research merits from other activities, including technology development, may also be taken into account including research merits obtained outside the academy, which includes for example technology development and innovation ability. In assessing research expertise research quality must be the prime consideration. The scope of research, primarily in regard to depth and breadth, must also be afforded consideration. In assessing research expertise special weight will be attached to research merits in semiconductor process technology. In particular, it concerns combining standard silicon technology with emerging solution-phase process technology for integration of novel nanomaterials and nanostructures towards a variety of unconventional electronic devices, e.g., flexible electronics, sensors, energy harvesters, electronic skin and neuromorphic systems. Previous experience with solution-phase processing of nanomaterials is valuable.

Experience in collaboration with industrial community is a strong merit. Experience in maintaining key research equipment and instructing new users to use the equipment and work in a cleanroom environment as well as managing a laboratory, in particular from a safety aspect, are additional merits as process technology relies on an advanced laboratory facility for research and education.

Furthermore, consideration must be given to the capacity to plan, initiate, lead, and develop research and education in the third cycle, the ability to acquire funding for research in competition, as well as the demonstrated capacity to interact with others both within academia and in the wider community.

Teaching Expertise comprises educational and teaching qualifications. This expertise can have been achieved outside the academy through supervision, internal training, mentoring programs, etc. In assessing teaching expertise teaching quality must be the prime consideration. The scope of teaching experience, in terms of both breadth and depth, must also be afforded consideration. In assessing teaching expertise special weight will be attached to merits in conceiving and implementing new courses for cultivating future scientists and engineers. In particular, teaching experience in process technology and neuromorphic computing is critical for this position.

Furthermore, consideration must be given to the capacity to plan, initiate, lead, and develop teaching and instruction, as well as the ability to connect research to teaching in respect to research in the subject at hand, subject didactics, as well as teaching and learning in higher education. The ability to interact concerning issues of teaching and learning in higher education with actors inside and outside the University is also included in teaching expertise.

Collaboration Expertise is important and will be afforded consideration. Demonstrated collaborative skills through the ability to initiate and implement collaborative projects, preferably in a multidisciplinary area/topic, is seen as a merit. National and international research networks and particularly collaboration with industrial partners are considered as extra strong merits.

All merits must be documented in a manner that makes it possible to assess both quality and scope.

In filling this position the university aims to appoint the applicant who, following a qualitative holistic assessment of her/his competence and expertise, is judged to have the best potential to carry out and develop the relevant duties and to help advance operations.

Further information: An applicant who is offered an employment as Associate Professor can be promoted to Professor if he/she has applied for this, is qualified for such a post, and moreover has been deemed suitable on the basis of the specific criteria established by the faculty board. 

In an overall assessment of the applicant’s qualifications, parental leave, part-time work relating to care of children, union assignments, military service, or the like are to be regarded as work experience.

University appointment regulations

Faculty appointment regulations

Instructions for application

For further information about the position, please contact Professor Shi-Li Zhang, telephone: +46 18 471 7247, email: shili.zhang@angstrom.uu.se.

Salary: Individually negotiated salary.

Starting date: As soon as possible or as otherwise agreed.

Type of employment: Permanent full-time position.

Scope of employment: 100 %.

Please submit your application by March 1 2021, UFV-PA 2020/4882.

In the event of any disagreement between the English and the Swedish versions of this announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence.

If you are an international candidate, you will find a lot of information about working and living in Sweden at www.uu.se/joinus.

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Submit your application through Uppsala University's recruitment system.