Associate Professor / Senior Lecturer (Faculty of Science: Department of Physics) at University of Johannesburg

Job description

• To teach, research and supervise undergraduate and postgraduate students in line with the university and faculty’s strategy.

Responsibilities:

Teaching & Learning:

• Maintain a portfolio of teaching activities of high-quality reputation and impact across a range of modules or within a subject area to relevant levels (undergraduate, postgraduate and/or higher research degree students) through lectures, seminars, labs, and personal supervision.
• Actively engage in assessment and reflection of teaching as part of continual development.
• Lead teaching and learning at all levels, using innovative teaching methods, develop new approaches to learning, skills development, assessment, and continually review and adapt the transfer of skills and knowledge.
• Demonstrate leadership in the teaching community with, for example, regular service an External Examiner.

Research:

• Contribute to the department’s research strategy.
• Conduct individual and /or collaborative research projects in the area of Experimental Physicsand Nanoscience.
• Initiate interdisciplinary collaborations.
• Have a track record of postgraduate supervision both at Masters and Doctoral level to completion.
• Have a track record of publications in recognized journals set out by DHET and NRF.
• Develop, and define own research objectives in line with departmental research strategy.
• Carry out substantive, original, and significant research which supports the departmental research activity in line with Experimental Physics and Nanoscience.
• Develop methods and techniques appropriate to the type of research pursued that add to the intellectual understanding of the field.
• Develop a plan for the achievement of personal research in conjunction with HOD/Research Leader through the relevant process.
• Maintain relevance and continual updating of knowledge and understanding in the field or speciality.
• Translate knowledge of advances in the subject area into the course study.
• Contribute as appropriate to the development of theory and practice in the field of research.

Administration:

• Take responsibility for organizing own activities and for the management of allocated resources, this includes all lecturing-related work as well.
• Contribute to the organization of the wider work area, e.g. as a module leader, coordinate with others such as support staff or academic colleagues.

Community Engagement:

• Liaise with industry and community organizations, e.g., regarding student placement, cooperative visits; or other activities required by the department.
• Provide advice to professional and community bodies as appropriate to the discipline.
• Actively contribute to local community & networks
• Contribute actively to conferences and/or participate in workshops, e.g., involvement beyond the role of attendance.

Minimum requirements

• A relevant Doctoral qualification, currently in an Associate Professor position.
• Between eight (5) and eight (8) years of working experience in the Higher Education environment
• A broadly-defined area of Experimental Condensed Matter Physics and Nanoscience.
• A proven research track record in reputable journals and conference proceedings
• Supervision experience at BSc (Hons) (minimum of 5), Masters (minimum of 3) and Doctoral (minimum of 2) levels (completed students).
• A strong and sustained output of research in terms of DHET-accredited publications, postgraduate supervision, and participation in international subject-specific conferences.
• The candidate should have thorough and hands-on experience in solid-state materials characterization including powder X-ray diffraction and profile analysis, and in experimental methods to studying magnetism, thermal and electric transport, and heat capacity of materials belonging to the above topics.
• The candidate should have knowledge and hands-on experience in utilising optical pieces of equipment like photoluminescence (PL), Fluorescence Spectroscopy and UV-Vis.

Recommendations:

• Experience in the materials synthesis of binary and ternary systems pursuant to the above research topics, along with the production and growth of single crystals of relevant intermetallic sample material.

Competencies and Behavioural Attributes:

• Good written and oral communication skills
• Strong leadership, organizational, and interpersonal skills
• Critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Demonstrated ability to work with faculty staff, students, and community members as well as organizational leaders.
• Proven experience in creating campus and community partnerships.
• Collegial and emotionally intelligent.
• Innovative, proactive, and creative.
• Ability to work in a pressurised environment and independently.
• Great writing and presentation skills.
• High level of integrity and ethical foundations.

Working Conditions and Expectations:

• May be required to travel between campuses.
• May be required to travel nationally and internationally for research and presentations

Deadline:6 April 2025