Assistant Professor in Education

Institute of Education

Higher School of Economics 

Moscow, Russia

The Institute of Education of the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Russia invites applications for full-time, tenure-track positions of Assistant Professor in education, sociology of education, education policy studies, economics of education, psychometrics, organization studies, and leadership studies. Knowledge of Russian is not required as teaching and research are both conducted in English.

Institute of Education is a leading Russian think tank and center for research, training and professional networking in education with extended international partnership. Institute of Education is also a holder of unique high quality databases on different levels of education in Russia that are gathered by its research centers and laboratories.

We invite applications to join our research centers with focus on different areas of research in education. 

► Assistant professor with the Laboratory for University Development

We welcome motivated scholars with academic background in different disciplines and with strong interest in higher education research and in development of critical and innovative theoretical approaches. We welcome scholars interested in research agenda of the Lab (https://uni.hse.ru/en/), and mainly promote three long-term research projects under the supervision of leading international scholars (overlapping participation is an option):

- Contribution of Higher Education to Individuals and Society: Comprehensive Accounting (under supervision on Simon Marginson, Oxford University, UCL)

- Efficiency, Performance and Impact of Higher Education Institutions (under supervision of Tommaso Agasisti, Politecnico di Milano)           

- Inequality in Higher Education: High Participation, Diversity and the State (in cooperation with Laura Perna, University of Pennsylvania; Gaele Goastellec, University of Lausanne; Jussi Valimaa, University of Jyväskylä)

- University research capacity in Post-Soviet Countries (Maia Chankseliani, Oxford Univeristy; Isak Froumin and Igor Fedyukin, HSE University)

► Assistant Professor with the Centre for Psychometrics and Educational Measurement

The Centre for Psychometrics and Educational Measurement is looking for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the area of Advanced Psychometrics. We welcome motivated scholars with research experience in the area of advanced psychometrics such as multidimensional IRT modeling, cognitive diagnostics models (CDM), latent class analysis, growth models, network psychometrics, or/and Bayesian psychometrics. The candidates preferably also need teaching experience in advanced quantitative or computational methods at the master and postgraduate level. Implementing open-source software and creating high-quality databases are welcomed.

Set up in 2012, the Centre for Psychometrics and Educational Measurement is engaged in multifaceted research, applied developments, advisory and professional networking in educational and psychological measurement and psychometrics. The Centre for Psychometrics and Educational Measurement is a leading research center in test development and psychometrics in Russia. It is involved in delivering a Masters’ programme in Measurement in Psychology and Education as well as a PhD programme in Education (track in Measurement and Evaluation in Education). Partnering with leading foreign research hubs and acclaimed experts, the Centre pursues a diverse academic and advisory agenda in evaluating the performance of learners across educational settings and at various levels. The Centre’s expertise spans the following key areas: educational and psychological measurement (measuring complex constructs, including 4C and social & emotional skills, developing testing tools for skills and academic progress; adaptive testing; computerized testing; processing and interpreting test results), conducting multi-faceted research in the area of education measurement, including as part of collaborative international endeavors, and advising various institutional stakeholders on educational assessment and monitoring issues.

► Assistant Professor with the Laboratory for Cultural Sociology and Anthropology of Education

The Laboratory for Cultural Sociology and Anthropology of Education engages innovative and ambitious empirical approaches for meaning-centered analysis in educational and career trajectories. Of particular interest in current and forthcoming research is the school to work transition of young persons. In these areas we focus on the application of the prominent and developing field of cultural sociology for understanding and explaining social inequalities in late modernity and the accompanying decision-making processes that affect these kinds of transitions and trajectories. Through this research we seek to understand the role(s) and effects that these choices and changes have in people’s lives. We also focus on their implications for the social mobility project more broadly. The Laboratory makes use of the data from the unique Trajectories in Education and Career (TrEC) longitudinal survey project. We employ both quantitative and qualitative approaches in our research.

We therefore seek for this position an international scholar of sociology with skills in either quantitative or qualitative methods. They must have an interest in applying their expertise to a meaning-centered analysis of education, youth, careers, and mobility. Knowledge of Russian is not required, as teaching and research are both conducted in English. Applicants who wish to work with the existing qualitative data of the Laboratory will, however, need a strong working knowledge of the Russian language.

The Laboratory is headed by Dr. Dmitry Kurakin, who has published widely in the areas of cultural sociology, sociology of education, and social theory. He also serves as a Faculty Fellow of the Center for Cultural Sociology at Yale University.

► Assistant professor with the Laboratory for Digital Transformation of Education

The laboratory conducts fundamental and applied research in the field of digital transformation of the education system and educational organizations in general and higher education, the use of new teaching tools based on digital solutions, their inclusion and impact on the educational process, the role of artificial intelligence in teaching and learning. We conduct a wide range of studies on the impact of digital tools and technologies on student success and educational outcomes. We have a direct impact on government policy in the field of digital transformation of education.

We are looking for experts with experience in developing and using digital educational tools based on virtual and augmented reality, serious games or artificial intelligence with knowledge of contemporary methods of statistical data analysis and with an interest in publishing in top-international journals.

► Assistant professor with the Laboratory for Curriculum Design

The Laboratory for Curriculum Design is focused on the research of educational content and curriculum models. We are looking for a researcher in curriculum theory, philosophy of education or sociology of knowledge who is able to analyze different types of curriculum and identify their assumptions and effects. We are interested in the connections between the demands of society and the labor market and organization of knowledge and skills within the educational process. We are looking for researchers who are willing to pose research questions in the field of curriculum study on the intersection between fundamental theoretical questions, which are at the same time important for the practical transformation of the content of education  (in particular, participation in the initiatives of government agencies, international organizations and private initiatives)

Among the questions that we are addressing:

• Epistemological and sociological underpinnings of school knowledge and curriculum,

• Selection and justification of the inclusion/exclusion of certain elements in the curriculum,

• Interrelations between formal and informal transmission of knowledge,

• Contemporary models of curriculum and curriculum design and ways of their implementation,

• Comparative studies of international education systems and respective changes in the educational content.

► Assistant professor with the Educational Innovations Laboratory

Educational Innovations Lab at the Institute of Education conducts research on non-systemic grassroots innovations, digital technologies and the process of change of educational systems related to new educational technologies. The lab carries out both qualitative and quantitative research. The focus of our research for the nearest future is an interaction of grassroots innovations with the formal education system, the ecosystem that promotes innovations; individual and system-level factors of grassroots innovations in education, their landscape, barriers and drivers, and other related topics.

The lab also organizes an annual Competition of innovations in education. The Competition gathers the applications on innovative ideas from any sphere of education both formal and non-formal. There are no restrictions on age and professional affiliation. Every year we get about 600 individual and group applications from university and school staff, entrepreneurs, students and all those interested in education. This competition is a valuable source of research data, as we administer the quantitative study together with the application process and qualitative study when semi-finalists come to summer school. The data from these studies from 2014 will be available to you and next year round can be elaborated in our joint research.

Last year the lab obtained the Russian science foundation research grant and continues working on applications for Russian and international funds.

► Assistant Professor with the Center for Modern Childhood Research

The mission of the Center is to become a globally recognized leading center of competence in the field of childhood research, early development, adolescence, and parenting. In our work, we actively use the methods of computational social sciences and new data, such as data from social networks and other digital traces. We explore psychological well-being of adolescents and how it can be predicted based on digital traces, online behavior of children, modern parental cultures, children’s independent mobility and parental control, gender inequality, and new forms of inequality associated with parenting and educational space. We have a direct impact on parenting and childhood policies.

 We are looking for experts with experience in research areas listed above and with knowledge of contemporary methods of statistical data analysis and with an interest in publishing in top-international journals. We welcome motivated scholars with research experience in the area of childhood and parenting research and computational social science. The candidates preferably also need teaching experience in advanced quantitative or computational methods at the master and postgraduate level. Programming skills (R, Python) are welcomed.

► Assistant professor with the Centre for General and Extracurricular Education

Established in 2000, the Centre for General and Extracurricular Education is engaged in a vast scope of basic research, applied developments and advisory support to underpin more robust, evidence-centric agendas for the development of secondary general and extracurricular education in Russia and beyond.

The Centre pursues multi-faceted research and aims to cooperate with various stakeholders to foster education equality across communities, promote appropriate teaching, ensure adequate financing and governance, and enhance learning outcomes.

The Center is launching a number of new regional projects to study various aspects of general education. In new projects, the Center will focus on the study of school social capital, educational poverty and the effects of extracurricular education. Therefore, we seek for an international researcher in education with skills in either quantitative or qualitative methods. We welcome motivated scholars with research experience in the areas listed above and with knowledge of contemporary methods of statistical data analysis and with an interest in publishing in top international journals.

► Assistant professor with the Laboratory for Prevention of Antisocial Behavior 

Laboratory for Prevention of Antisocial Behavior conducts research on different types of aggressive and violent behavior among children and youth as well as on applied instruments for its prevention. The main focus of the Laboratory is school bullying. Research into how school bullying is linked with gender, social characteristics of the family and school climate was performed for the first time in Russia on the sample exceeding 3000 students from middle and high school, and university.

Laboratory developed the Russian questionnaire of Bullying Prevalence and School Climate based on several well-proven international instruments.

In 2019, the Lab helped to release a series of illustrated antibullying guides for schoolchildren, teachers, school psychologists and parents in hard copy.

Laboratory also possesses expertise in other fields of adolescents’ antisocial behavior such as school shootings, gang involvement, etc.

We are looking for researcher with experience in research areas listed above, who are interested in making a joint international research including Russian data on youth violence prevalence. Researcher’s skills might be in either quantitative or qualitative methods, but knowledge of statistical data analysis is required.

About HSE University

The Higher School of Economics (HSE University) is a young, dynamic and fast-growing Russian research university. Over the past 20 years, HSE University has become a leader in Russian education, while also being recognized globally.

For instance, we were the first state-run university in Russia to begin recruiting on the international academic market. We aim at being a university with a highly attuned approach to training new professionals. Therefore, we are eager to hire people with real experience, as well as basic and applied knowledge. Committed to high-quality research, HSE University now has more than 100 research institutes and centers and over 30 international research laboratories collaborating with international specialists from all over the world.

Requirements

The general requirements for the tenure track positions are the following:

• Candidates must hold a recent PhD in the field of education or related areas, which was awarded over the last 5 years or received before starting work at HSE in a relevant field by an internationally recognized university and has been assessed by external reviewers as having the potential to pursue research that is publishable in leading peer-reviewed journals;
• Teaching experience at leading foreign universities is desirable;
• Knowledge of Russian is not required as research and teaching are both conducted in English. Therefore, fluent English is obligatory.

The successful candidate is expected to conduct high-quality research publishable in reputable peer-reviewed journals with research support provided by the University.

Conditions

Tenure track positions are only available on a full-time, residential basis.

Overall, appointments are usually made for an initial three-year period (starting September 2020) and, upon successful completion of an interim review, contracts are normally extended for a further three years until the tenure review.

HSE University provides excellent opportunities for international faculty. For instance, we can offer a competitive salary (indexed to inflation annually and subject to a 13% flat income tax), health insurance, travel support, research support and other benefits. Since there is a key focus on generating high quality research, the teaching load of newly hired faculty is low. All individual terms of employment will be reflected in the offer letter.

Application Process

Applications must be submitted online. Please provide a CV, a statement of research interest and a recent research paper submitted via an online application form. At least two letters of recommendation should be sent directly to the Review Committee at International Faculty Recruitment at iri@hse.ru before the application deadline.

Read more about the application process here.

The deadline for the applications is January 12, 2020.

For more information:

• about Tenure Track recruitment - Frequently Asked Questions
• about HSE university – official web-site
• about the Institute of Education – official web-site of the Institute
• about international specialists' life in Moscow - International Faculty Support page

If you have any additional questions, feel free to contact the International Faculty Recruitment Office at iri@hse.ru