The Department of Food Science, Aarhus University invites applications to a Tenure Track position in Sensory and Consumer Science to begin June 1st, 2026 or as soon as possible.
The positionThis tenure track position will strengthen and complement ongoing research in sensory and consumer science, in the area of human perception of food and beverages at the Department of Food Science. This position is focused on the interface between human senses and perception of food and contribute to designing healthy and sustainable food and beverage applications with high consumer acceptance.
The position is aligned to the Science Team ‘Food Quality Perception and Society’ (FQS) at the Department of Food Science http://food.au.dk/en/foodresearch/science- teams/food-quality-perception-society/. The Science Team has access to state of the art well-established sensory and analytical facilities, and advanced infrastructure, with a professional, trained and screened sensory panel and an ISO-approved sensory laboratory. Core to the team’s research approach is the measurement of human perception and acceptance of healthy and sustainable food application. Besides, in FQS there is access to instrumental and analytical techniques utilizing advanced facilities e.g. Olfactometry, Gustometry, Virtual Reality, Biometrics, GC-MS, LC-MS and NMR. There is also potential to access complementary research infrastructure via our close collaborators in psychology, physiology and neuro-imaging fields.
The candidateThe successful candidate must have a strong research profile in sensory and consumer science, more specifically in human multisensory perception and acceptance of healthy and sustainable food.
In addition, the candidate must be able to demonstrate promise of outstanding capabilities in independent research, dissemination, and funding. A tenure track appointment requires demonstration of independent and novel research initiatives and international experience as a post-doc, demonstrated by a significant number of international publications.
Successful candidates will be expected to:
- deliver innovative research of the highest international standard
- establish and develop their own research area within the existing FQS science team
- publish research outcomes through a significant number of international peer- reviewed publications
- deliver teaching at the Department of Food Science (graduate-level teaching in English);
- supervise Bachelor-, Master- and PhD students
- complete postgraduate teacher training for Assistant Professors at Aarhus University
- be granted competitive research funding from external funding bodies
- write and speak English fluently
Qualifications- A relevant PhD and a minimum of 2-3 years postdoc experience in Food Science, Sensory Science, Consumer science, Human Nutrition or equivalent.
- Strong competences in sensory and consumer science, including human perception and acceptance of food and methodologies used in sensory and consumer science, and/or health, nutrition and sustainability aspects of food.
- Strong Competences in study design and data analysis, including multivariate data analysis utilizing advanced statistical analysis tools
- Proven publication record in international peer-reviewed journals
- Experience in class-room teaching and supervision of BSc, MSc and PhD students
- Experiences in writing research proposals for external funding bodies
- Experience in international research collaboration and networking
- Knowledge about researchbased advice of the Danish Government
The Department of Food ScienceThe Department of Food Science is part of the Faculty of Technology, Aarhus University and includes research across the food value chain within the areas of Plant Production Systems, Biofunctional Food, Systems Biology, Food Chemistry and Technology, Food Quality, and Sensory and Consumer Science. The Department currently employs approx. 60 full time research staff and 80 PhD students and Postdocs, with an additional approx. 60 Master and Bachelor thesis-based students and visiting researchers, who together contribute to an international research environment where English is the preferred language in the laboratory, at meetings and at seminars.
We offer a challenging and independent job opportunity in an ambitious and inspiring research and education environment with an informal atmosphere. We are looking for a dynamic employee who is able to work independently and maintain an overview during periods of high workload. We expect that you are efficient at planning your time and organizing major tasks. You enjoy interaction with both scientific staff, students and technical-administrative staff and you have a flair for establishing collaborative relationships. The Department works in teams and therefore self-leadership, clear and open communication, success in mentoring, supervising and teaching are important qualities needed to be successful in the Department. In addition, the Department has a strong culture that is based on openness, equality, consultation and inclusion, and contributing to the Depart-ment strategy and working environment is viewed as important.
The Department is responsible for a Master’s programme in Molecular Nutrition and Food Technology, taught at AU, Denmark, and a Master’s programme in Food and Health at the Sino-Danish Center in Beijing, China. In addition, Department staff contribute to several other key interdisciplinary educations, including Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes in Agrobiology, and a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering in Food Technology, Aarhus University. Staff also teach on a number of other educations offered at other Universities in Denmark and China.
The Department also conducts research-based advice of the Danish Government in the areas of plant production and food quality.
Please refer to http://food.au.dk/ for further information about The Department of Food Science and to https://tech.au.dk/en/and http://www.au.dk/en/ for information on Faculty of Technical Sciences and Aarhus University, respectively.
Place of work and area of employmentThe place of work is Department of Food Science, Aarhus University, Agro Food Park 48, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark. The working hours are 37 hours per week.
For further information contact Associate Professor Ulla Kidmose, email: ulla.kidmose@food.au.dk, cell phone +45 20865197.
Living in Aarhus / DenmarkPlease visit the International Centre website (http://www.au.dk/en/internationalcentre/) for information about arriving, working and living in Denmark.
Application procedureShortlisting is used. This means that after the deadline for applications – and with the assistance from the assessment committee chairman, and the assessment committee if necessary, – the head of department selects the candidates to be evaluated. The selection is made on the basis of an assessment of who of the candidates are most relevant considering the requirements of the advertisement. All applicants will be notified within 6 weeks whether or not their applications have been sent to an expert assessment committee for evaluation. The selected applicants will be informed about the composition of the committee and will receive his/her assessment. Once the recruitment process is completed a final letter of rejection is sent to the deselected applicants.
Letter of referenceIf you want a referee to upload a letter of reference on your behalf, please state the referee’s contact information when you submit your application. We strongly recommend that you make an agreement with the person in question before you enter the referee’s contact information, and that you ensure that the referee has enough time to write the letter of reference before the application deadline.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to ensure that letters of reference received after the application deadline will be taken into consideration.
If you wish to add a referee
after you have submitted your application, you must send this person’s details (name, job title, place of work, and email address) as well as the name of the position you have applied for to: HR.Nattech@au.dk
Formalities and salary range Technical Sciences refers to the
Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Danish Universities under the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.
The application must be in English and include a curriculum vitae, degree certificate, a complete list of publications, a statement of future research plans and information about research activities, teaching portfolio and verified information on previous teaching experience (if any). Guidelines for applicants can be found
here.Appointment shall be in accordance with the collective labour agreement between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. Further information on qualification requirements and job content may be found in the
Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities. Salary depends on seniority as agreed between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and the Confederation of Professional Associations.
Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants.
Research activities will be evaluated in relation to actual research time. Thus, we encourage applicants to specify periods of leave without research activities, in order to be able to subtract these periods from the span of the scientific career during the evaluation of scientific productivity.
Aarhus University offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including relocation service and career counselling to expat partners. Read more
here. Please find more information about entering and working in Denmark
here.
The application must be submitted via Aarhus University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aarhus University's website.Aarhus University Aarhus University is an academically diverse and research-intensive university with a strong commitment to high-quality research and education and the development of society nationally and globally. The university offers an inspiring research and teaching environment to its 38,000 students (FTEs) and 8,300 employees, and has an annual revenues of EUR 935 million. Learn more at www.international.au.dk/
