Assistant Professor(s) Associate Professor(s) in Product Development, Sustainable Industrial Design Engineering or Tech-driven Innovation

SDU Innovation and Design Engineering (IDE) part of the Department of Technology and Innovation (ITI) at the Faculty of Engineering (TEK) University of Southern Denmark (SDU) invites applications for one or more positions as Assistant Professor or Associate Professor.

We seek candidates who can strengthen IDEs profile within one or more of the following overlapping areas:

Product Development and Innovation
Industrial Design Engineering e.g. Modularisation and Platform Design
Materials Circularity and Sustainbility
Tech-driven Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship

The positions are available from March 1 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter. Applicants must indicate clearly whether they apply for an Assistant Professor or an Associate Professor position as assessment will follow the corresponding criteria.

To strengthen our contribution to societal and industrial challenges we particularly welcome applicants whose work advances product development and innovation within one or more of IDEs three strategic focus areas:

IDEs three strategic focus areas

Design for Green Transition and Circular Economy

Including for example:
methods and tools for circular product design material substitution low-impact materials and climate-conscious decision-making;
modular and platform-based product architectures enabling repair upgrading remanufacturing and recycling;
design methodologies that integrate life-cycle thinking early in the innovation process.

Sustainable Industrial Engineering (including manufacturing)

Including for example:
development of sustainable manufacturing concepts resource-efficient production systems and low-emission industrial processes;
integration of design engineering with digital tools automation and robotics to improve productivity and sustainability;
methods for translating sustainability goals into actionable engineering solutions for industry.

User-driven Innovation (including health innovation)

Including for example:
human-centred design methods early-stage prototyping and user involvement in innovation processes;
product and system innovation addressing societal needs such as health ageing welfare technologies and wellbeing;
approaches that improve usability adoption safety and value creation in new technologies and services.

Together these three focus areas support IDEs ambition to contribute to the green transition sustainable industrial development and user-centred innovation across sectors including health and welfare technologies where relevant.

What we offer

At SDU Innovation and Design Engineering you will find:

A dynamic and growing research unit emphasising interdisciplinarity collaboration and societal and industrial relevance.
Research-based teaching especially in the Masters programme Product Development and Innovation (PDI) and contributions to Bachelor programmes.
Access to modern prototyping design and testing facilities with opportunities for collaboration across SDU (e.g. SDU Robotics materials labs).
Strong engagement with industry and societal challenges with emphasis on developing knowledge and solutions that support the green transition circular economy user-driven innovation and sustainable industrial practices.
A collegial knowledge-sharing environment with support for professional development and external funding efforts.

Qualification requirements for Assistant Professor

Applicants must:

Hold a PhD in a relevant field.
Show research potential through publications and/or manuscripts under review.
Demonstrate ability or potential to deliver high-quality teaching and contribute to curriculum development.
Be able to teach and supervise within product design innovation modularisation platform design materials and circularity and related topics.
Show motivation for collaboration with colleagues students and external partners including industry.
Have an international outlook and ambition to develop an independent research profile.

Qualification requirements for Associate Professor

Applicants must:

Hold a PhD in a relevant field.
Present a strong publication track record in peer-reviewed venues.
Show success in securing external research funding and collaborating with industry or other partners.
Have documented teaching experience course development and supervision at Masters/PhD level.
Demonstrate ability to contribute to pedagogical development within the PDI programme.
Provide evidence of academic leadership.
Contribute to strengthening IDEs strategic focus areas and cross-disciplinary collaborations.

For candidates at Associate Professor level there may be opportunities where relevant to pursue external starter Grant provided their research aligns with IDEs strategic themes and supports innovation for the green transition sustainable industrial development or user-driven solutions in product development including health-related innovation.

Workplace description

SDU Innovation and Design Engineering (IDE) is a research and teaching unit within the Department of Technology and Innovation at the Faculty of Engineering. We are located at SDUs main campus in Odense in the centre of one of Europes leading robotics and technology clusters.

Our mission is to advance research education and societal engagement in product development innovation and design engineering. We value interdisciplinary collaboration and work closely with industry to develop sustainable circular and user-centred solutions that support societal needs and technological development.

Read more:SDU Innovation and Design Engineering

Further information

For further information about the positions please contact Lykke Margot Ricard Associate Professor and Head of Unit SDU Innovation and Design Engineering at lmr@ or +.

If you experience technical problems please contacthcm-support@.

Application procedure

Applicants are advised to read theSDU information on how to apply.

Assessment of the candidates is based on the application material and an application must include:

• Motivated application.
• Curriculum Vitae.
• Masters and PhD degree certificates or equivalent (copy of original/official English translation).
• Complete list of publications.
• Publications most relevant to the position (up to 5 peer-reviewed preferably SCOPUS-indexed journals)
• Teaching Portfolio.
• Research plan.
• A statement/documentation of other qualifications relevant to the position may also be included.

All documents must be in English and PDF format. CPR number (civil registration no.) must be crossed out. All PDF-files must be unlocked and allow binding and may not be password protected.

UPLOAD GUIDE: Motivated application shall be uploaded under Cover letter (max. 5 MB) Curriculum Vitae shall be uploaded under Resume (max 5 MB). All other documents shall be uploaded under Miscellaneous documents (max 10 files of max 50 MB per file).

The application deadline is February 1 2026at 11.59 PM/23.59 (CET/CEST)

Assessment and selection process
Applications will be assessed by an assessment committee. Shortlisting may be applied and only shortlisted candidates will receive a written assessment.Read about shortlisting at and tests may be part of the overall evaluation.

Read about theAssessment and selection process.

Conditions of employment

Appointment as Assistant Professor is initial for a 3-year period with a preferred start date from March 1 2026 or as soon as possible hereafter.

Employment as an assistant professor requires a minimum PhD qualification at the time of employment. During employment the Assistant Professor will complete the Lecturer Training Programme. Employment will be in accordance with the collective agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations for academics in the state with the associated circular on the protocol for the job structure for academic staff at Danish universities and the provisions for assistant professor as described herein.

Appointment as Associate Professor is an open-ended position with a preferred start date of March 1 2026 or thereafter.

Employment as an associate professor requires academic qualifications at PhD level as well as scientific and teaching qualificationscommensurate with the position as an associate will be in accordance with the collective agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations for academics in the state with the associated circular on the protocol for the job structure for academic staff at Danish universities and the provisions for associate professor as described herein.Further information on salary and employed in the position may based on a specific individual managerial evaluation be exempted from time registration also known as a self-organizer.

The University of Southern Denmark wishes our staff to reflect the surrounding community and therefore encourages everyone regardless of personal background to apply for the position. SDU conducts research in critical technologies which due to the risk of unwanted knowledge transfer are subject to a number of security measures. Therefore based on information from open sources background checks may be conducted on candidates for the position.

Further informationfor international applicants about entering and working in Denmark. You may also visitWorkinDenmarkfor additional information.

Further informationabout The Faculty of Engineering.