Postdoctoral researcher in Sustainability in Business (2 years)
Application closes on
10.01.2024
Unit
School of Business
Job category
Other teaching and research personnel
Aalto University is where science and art meet technology and business. We shape a sustainable future by making research breakthroughs in and across our disciplines, sparking the game changers of tomorrow and creating novel solutions to major global challenges. Our community is made up of 13 000 students, 400 professors and close to 4 500 other faculty and staff working on our dynamic campus in Espoo, Greater Helsinki, Finland. Diversity is part of who we are, and we actively work to ensure our community's diversity and inclusiveness. This is why we warmly encourage qualified candidates from all backgrounds to join our community.
Aalto University School of Business is the leading business school in Finland. The School belongs to a selected group of business schools in Finland that have been granted the most important international quality accreditations in the field. The School of Business is an innovative and lively community of about 3500 students and 400 members of faculty and staff.
Aalto University School of Business invites applications for
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER IN SUSTAINABILITY IN BUSINESS
Project on "The emergence of social and environmental impact assessment practices to finance solutions to tackle grand challenges" (funded by the Research Council of Finland)
Are you excited to explore how new sustainability-driven markets and industries take shape? Do you want to develop new understanding of practices and processes related to financing solutions to tackle grand challenges, like climate change, the biodiversity crisis or social inequality? Do you have experience in collecting and analyzing large qualitative datasets, and strive for high-quality research?
The Department of Management Studies at Aalto University School of Business seeks applications for a two-year position as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Organization and Management -subject. The start date is negotiable, and situates preferably between 28 February and by 30 September 2024. The position is related to a project that studies the emergence of impact assessment practices and metrics in the nascent impact investing market in the Nordics and the role of markets in solving complex environmental and social problems (2023-2027).
The project focuses on the social side of constructing, navigating and utilizing emerging impact assessment practices and the role of markets in creating solutions to grand challenges. Reserach topics include e.g. meaning-making and framing processes related to impact assessment and group dynamics and change processes in the financial sector. Prior expertise in impact assessment or impact investing is not required, as the candidate will be supported by the project's Principal Investigator, Dr. Heli Nissilä, in developing relevant subject knowledge on the topic.
We expect the candidate to have a demonstrated ability to conduct independent qualitative data collection and analysis. Prior empirical and conceptual understanding of sustainable business practices and/or sustainable markets and industries and sustainability transitions is a merit. Knowledge of relevant litatures is considered important. The topic of the ongoing project that the suitable candidate will work on can be linked to various literatures in organization theory (e.g. institutional theory, sociology of markets, economic sociology of valuation, framing, sense-making) or to innovation and technology management or the sustainability transitions literature that explores how established socio-technical systems transform to better account for sustainable development. Moreover, a suitable candidate has ambition to develop as a scholar, and to conduct high quality research with the aim to publish in high impact journals in the fields of organization and management, innovation and technology management, or sustainability transitions. Evidence of publishing skills is a merit. The position is associated with a very moderate teaching load - one course per year.
We look for scholars who are about to complete, or have completed their doctoral studies in a relevant field of study. The position requires fluent English language skills. Additional language skills are a merit. The post-doctoral researcher is required to be in residence for the duration of the appointment.
We offer
The postdoctoral scholar joins an engaging empirical project that is well underway with ongoing data collection. The project's Principal Investigator, Dr. Heli Nissilä, has long-standing experience in conducting qualitative research in the context of sustainable markets and fields, institutional theory and sustainability transitions. Several of her manuscripts on topics with direct relevance to the project target leading management journals or are under review at such outlets. The project has four international collaborators who are all distinguished Professors at top business schools around the world – with relevant expertise for the project.
We offer:
- a full-time position for 2 years with an extension possibility
- ability to focus on research, enabled by a low teaching load
- the opportunity to collect data and participate in industry events in Finland and abroad
- the opportunity to attend international academic conferences
- a thriving research community that hosts a strong Sustainability in Business research group
- possibility to pursue cutting-edge research at one of the leading management departments in
Europe, together with the project's principal investigator and international collaborators
- a competitive salary of approximately 50.000 euros per annum
Aalto University also provides health care and retirement benefits. Finland is known for high quality of life, great work-life balance, clean nature, and family-friendly policies such as affordable high-quality daycare and free schools. Helsinki is a vibrant international city with a metropolitan area population of over 1.1 million people.
The department has a lively, international research community with numerous doctoral students and post-doctoral researchers from several countries. The working language is English.
How to apply
Please submit your application enclosing all relevant documents through our recruitment system Workday no later than January 10 , 2024 at 23:59 EET (UTC+2).
To apply, please share the following application materials as a single file in PDF format ('lastname_firstname_application.pdf'):
- Letter of motivation, containing a section that explicates your prior experience on qualitative data collection and analysis as well as the key literatures you have used, and your other relevant experience for this position
- Curriculum Vitae (strictly limited to 4 pages)
- A list of publications (with the most significant publications highlighted)
- A selected research paper or a similar writing sample
- Names and contact information for two references
All application materials should be submitted in English. Please refer to the title of the position concerned in your application.
Further Information
For further information, please contact Dr. Heli Nissilä, heli.nissila(at)aalto.fi. In questions related to the recruitment process, please contact HR Partner Jenna Knuutinen, jenna.knuutinen(at)aalto.fi.
Please note that candidates will be informed about the process only after the application period has closed. Please do not send any attachments to HR via e-mail. All documents shall be provided through the Workday -recruitment tool.
Aalto University reserves the right for justified reasons to leave the position open, to extend the application period and to consider candidates who have not submitted applications during the application period.
Public description of the project
"Nascent markets as sites for addressing grand challenges: emerging impact assessment practices in creating societally beneficial outcomes"
Pressing environmental and social problems, like climate change, social inequality or the biodiversity crisis, have created an acute need for developing markets to help solve these grand challenges. However, market contexts push towards wealth creation and efficiency in ways that do not typically consider ecological, social or moral values and goals. Instead, markets tend to create conservative goal transformation, co-optation and trade-offs in terms of environmental and social goals. In order to use markets to address such goals, we need to better understand the conditions and processes that support the creation of societally beneficial outcomes in markets. This project investigates a new key trend in this context, namely the emergence of social impact assessment, referring to practices, measures and standards for evaluating, quantifying and qualifying the effect of an organization on the well-being of the natural environment and the society. We collect and analyze a large qualitative data set of interviews, archives and observations to produce new knowledge on the micro-processes of impact assessment – to achieve societally beneficial market goals. This will allow us to better understand the reshaping of markets in ways that acknowledge a broader range of outcomes relating to, not just the economy, but also the society and the natural environment.
More about Dr. Heli Nissilä:
More about Aalto University:
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Heli Nissilä
Post Doctorate Research Fellow
Helsinki
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