Associate Professorship in Ruminant Herd Health
fuldtid
Associate Professorship in Ruminant Herd Health
Associate Professorship in Ruminant Herd Health
Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
University of Copenhagen
The University seeks to appoint an associate professor for research, teaching and public sector service work within ruminant herd health topics at the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, to commence the 1st of September 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter.
Information about the Department can be found at: www.sund.ku.dk
The Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences offers a dynamic, inclusive, and collaborative environment organized into four sections. The associate professor will be employed in a full-time academic position in the Section for Animal Health and Welfare at Frederiksberg Campus, more precisely in the interdisciplinary Research Group for Ruminant Systems & One Health (Ruminants Systems and One Health (RUMIOH) – University of Copenhagen).
The focus of the research group lies mostly within diagnostics, treatment, surveillance and prevention of diseases in cattle, including infectious and zoonotic diseases, and animal welfare. The group also works on register-data analysis of production and health parameters, vaccination and antimicrobial use in dairy and beef producing farms, veterinary jurisprudence, as well as ruminant nutrition and rumen microbiome research, and sustainability of different animal production systems in a broader sense. The group collaborates with a broad spectrum of other disciplines (including natural and social sciences, and humanities), other research groups, and institutions, including different Danish cattle sector actors. The research group also runs an on-campus exhibition ‘Production Animals. The art of the possible’, which different stakeholder groups, students, researchers, and the citizens visit to have guided tours.
The veterinary programme provides research-based education, and most of the research and teaching in ruminant herd health is carried out in commercial cattle herds and small ruminant herds in different parts of Denmark. There is collaboration with the veterinary sister department at the Large Animal Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Taastrup, which offers state-of-the-art facilities for research, clinical teaching, and clinical service.
The Department also holds a Public Sector Service agreement with the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, which means that duties of the academic staff include responding to questions from the veterinary authorities and carrying out risk assessments and research projects in response to concerns of relevance for the veterinary contingency.
Job description
The successful candidate will support and develop the herd health area by carrying out research (including attracting external funding for and managing research projects), dissemination, planning and conducting teaching, public sector service, and societal outreach, within topics of relevance for ruminant health and herd health management. Participation in the teaching in veterinary epidemiology and jurisprudence may also be relevant.
Duties also include pre-graduate supervision of bachelor and veterinary thesis students, and of postdocs, assistant professors and PhD students, and the associate professor is expected to take part in some of the administrative tasks at the department. Some transportation time for farm visits in other parts of Denmark for teaching and research must be anticipated.
The profile of the person employed will include experience with diagnostics, treatment and prevention of ruminant diseases, e.g. infectious diseases, mastitis, metabolic diseases, calf health, and animal welfare, both at an individual and herd level. A good understanding of epidemiological methods and data analysis is desirable.
The associate professor’s responsibilities will primarily consist of:
To be qualified for an associate professor position, you will be assessed according to these six overall criteria for recognising merit at the University of Copenhagen: Research, teaching, societal impact, organisational contribution, external funding, and leadership. Find information about each criterion.
The successful applicant should be able to document:
Terms of employment
The position is permanent.
The average weekly working hours are 37 hours per week.
Salary and other terms and conditions of appointment are set in accordance with the Agreement between the Ministry of Taxation and AC (Danish Confederation of Professional Associations) or other relevant professional organisations.
The position is covered by the Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities 2025.
Questions
For further information, please contact Professor Liza Rosenbaum Nielsen, liza@sund.ku.dk
Foreign applicants may find the university’s International Staff Mobility useful.
Application
The application must be submitted in English and must include the following documents:
After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the Appointments Committee. All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment. The Dean then appoints an expert assessment committee in order to make an assessment of the selected applicants for the specific post. Selected applicants are notified of the composition of the committee and each applicant has the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicant him/herself. You can read about the recruitment process at the university's Job Portal.
Please note that the applicant will be contacted if the assessment committee requires further documentation.
The applicant will be assessed according to the Ministerial Order no. 242 of 13 March 2012 on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities.
The University of Copenhagen encourages all interested applicants to apply for this position.
Please submit the application with the required attachments. Only online applications will be accepted. The closing date for applications is 23.59 p.m. CET, 18 January 2026.
Interviews for this position are likely to be on 21 May 2026.
Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
University of Copenhagen
The University seeks to appoint an associate professor for research, teaching and public sector service work within ruminant herd health topics at the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, to commence the 1st of September 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter.
Information about the Department can be found at: www.sund.ku.dk
The Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences offers a dynamic, inclusive, and collaborative environment organized into four sections. The associate professor will be employed in a full-time academic position in the Section for Animal Health and Welfare at Frederiksberg Campus, more precisely in the interdisciplinary Research Group for Ruminant Systems & One Health (Ruminants Systems and One Health (RUMIOH) – University of Copenhagen).
The focus of the research group lies mostly within diagnostics, treatment, surveillance and prevention of diseases in cattle, including infectious and zoonotic diseases, and animal welfare. The group also works on register-data analysis of production and health parameters, vaccination and antimicrobial use in dairy and beef producing farms, veterinary jurisprudence, as well as ruminant nutrition and rumen microbiome research, and sustainability of different animal production systems in a broader sense. The group collaborates with a broad spectrum of other disciplines (including natural and social sciences, and humanities), other research groups, and institutions, including different Danish cattle sector actors. The research group also runs an on-campus exhibition ‘Production Animals. The art of the possible’, which different stakeholder groups, students, researchers, and the citizens visit to have guided tours.
The veterinary programme provides research-based education, and most of the research and teaching in ruminant herd health is carried out in commercial cattle herds and small ruminant herds in different parts of Denmark. There is collaboration with the veterinary sister department at the Large Animal Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Taastrup, which offers state-of-the-art facilities for research, clinical teaching, and clinical service.
The Department also holds a Public Sector Service agreement with the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, which means that duties of the academic staff include responding to questions from the veterinary authorities and carrying out risk assessments and research projects in response to concerns of relevance for the veterinary contingency.
Job description
The successful candidate will support and develop the herd health area by carrying out research (including attracting external funding for and managing research projects), dissemination, planning and conducting teaching, public sector service, and societal outreach, within topics of relevance for ruminant health and herd health management. Participation in the teaching in veterinary epidemiology and jurisprudence may also be relevant.
Duties also include pre-graduate supervision of bachelor and veterinary thesis students, and of postdocs, assistant professors and PhD students, and the associate professor is expected to take part in some of the administrative tasks at the department. Some transportation time for farm visits in other parts of Denmark for teaching and research must be anticipated.
The profile of the person employed will include experience with diagnostics, treatment and prevention of ruminant diseases, e.g. infectious diseases, mastitis, metabolic diseases, calf health, and animal welfare, both at an individual and herd level. A good understanding of epidemiological methods and data analysis is desirable.
The associate professor’s responsibilities will primarily consist of:
- Research, including publication/academic dissemination
- Research-based teaching, including associated examination
- Research leadership, including guidance and supervision of researchers
- Obligation to share knowledge with the rest of society, including participation in public debate
- Academic assessments
- Securing external research funding
- Research-based public-sector consultancy
To be qualified for an associate professor position, you will be assessed according to these six overall criteria for recognising merit at the University of Copenhagen: Research, teaching, societal impact, organisational contribution, external funding, and leadership. Find information about each criterion.
The successful applicant should be able to document:
- DVM degree with Danish authorization (or immediate eligibility)
- PhD degree within ruminant herd health (or similar qualifications)
- Research qualifications equivalent to those gained through successful work as an assistant professor/postdoc within the field of ruminant diseases and herd health
- Research-based teaching experience within ruminant diseases and herd health
- Key authorship of scientific international peer-reviewed publications within topics of relevance for the position
- A track record of external research funding
- research and teaching in commercial cattle farms
- public sector service tasks (consultancy)
- supervision of PhD and master-level students
Terms of employment
The position is permanent.
The average weekly working hours are 37 hours per week.
Salary and other terms and conditions of appointment are set in accordance with the Agreement between the Ministry of Taxation and AC (Danish Confederation of Professional Associations) or other relevant professional organisations.
The position is covered by the Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities 2025.
Questions
For further information, please contact Professor Liza Rosenbaum Nielsen, liza@sund.ku.dk
Foreign applicants may find the university’s International Staff Mobility useful.
Application
The application must be submitted in English and must include the following documents:
- Application, including motivations for applying for this position (Maximum 2 pages)
- Curriculum vitae, including information about external funding
- Diplomas (Master’s, PhD, and other relevant certificates)
- A complete list of publications
- Research plan (3‐5 pages)
- Uploads of maximum 5 publications to be considered in the assessment
- Teaching plan
- Teaching portfolio (Guidelines)
After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the Appointments Committee. All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment. The Dean then appoints an expert assessment committee in order to make an assessment of the selected applicants for the specific post. Selected applicants are notified of the composition of the committee and each applicant has the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicant him/herself. You can read about the recruitment process at the university's Job Portal.
Please note that the applicant will be contacted if the assessment committee requires further documentation.
The applicant will be assessed according to the Ministerial Order no. 242 of 13 March 2012 on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities.
The University of Copenhagen encourages all interested applicants to apply for this position.
Please submit the application with the required attachments. Only online applications will be accepted. The closing date for applications is 23.59 p.m. CET, 18 January 2026.
Interviews for this position are likely to be on 21 May 2026.