Want to do my job? Now you can!
As I already mentioned last week, here in Germany, academic jobs are often not tenured and come to an end. So it is with my job, which I will do until the end of September this year. It is sad for me, but hey, life goes on. This also means, my job is open for other people as well. In this post, I want to talk about what my job entails.
The call for application
So before I begin describing my job, I want to make you aware of the call itself. It is online for a couple of weeks now and you can find it in German and in English here. You need to apply online and the deadline for application is the 16th of April, so only a little over two weeks form now.
You should apply without photo but with proof of the required qualifications. Usually that is a motivational letter, a CV, certificates, publication list, and so on.
What I do on a daily basis
So what is the job about? Basically I am the assistant to the chair of Digital and Computational Archaeology. This means I need to teach (in English) 2 hours each week, each semester. In my case, I teach a course on 3D reconstruction in the summer semester and I jointly teach two courses on 3D documentation and core competencies in the winter semester. I can teach more if I want, but I don’t need to. Sometimes I like trying out new stuff though.
Besides teaching, I need to advise students in their course of study, take care of several tasks within the institute (website, computer pool, keys, etc.) and make sure that everything works smoothly in our department. I also supervise the interns when we have some and take part of regular staff meetings within the institute.
What I do long-term
Besides the day-to-day operations, I also do some things long-term. So for example I always try to participate in projects, either within the university or department or in cooperation with another university. In the last couple of years, I built up a quiet nice tech repository at the lab. We now have VR goggles, a 3D printer, RTI domes and other tech. This needs to be updated from time to time.
I also wrote my PhD during my time for which I have dedicated windows during my working hours. Besides the PhD I also write articles and chapters to build up my CV. I also started the project of digitising the institute collection (together with the interns), which has to be continued of course.
As you can see, there is quiet a lot to do, but I can also say, that the working environment is quiet nice. I have great colleagues, can work independently, and have more or less the freedom I need. It is also a great stepping stone and I am glad, that I did it!
