Centre Administrator for Centre for Urban Network Evolutions (UrbNet)

The Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre for Urban Network Evolutions (UrbNet), School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, invites applications for the position as centre administrator. The position is a full-time administrative position (AC-TAP, Fuldmægtig) and needs to be filled by 1 August 2025. The position is fixed-term ending 31 January 2026 without any possibility of prolongation.

The position
We are seeking a candidate who can work in close collaboration with the UrbNet centre director, Professor Rubina Raja, to support the day-to-day operations and facilitate the administration of the centre. The job entails a variety of assignments/tasks, often with short deadlines and in particularly in the connection with the closing down of the centre after more than a decade of high impact research. The candidate should be comfortable with independently managing several tasks simultaneously while not compromising the quality of work or losing track of details in the execution of the task. As UrbNet will be closing down at the end of 2025, a significant part of the centre administrator’s responsibilities will involve the winding down of the centre’s activities—including assisting with reporting obligations to various funding bodies – first and foremost the Danish National Research Foundation, managing staff offboarding, organising the centre’s closing events and conferences, and supporting the completion of its various publication projects as well as the financial reporting in close collaboration with the university’s financial department. Given that the position is time-limited, the ideal candidate should be able to take up responsibilities from day one. Candidates with prior experience as a centre administrator or similar experience will therefore have a distinct advantage.

The candidate will be engaged in and/or responsible for the following activities (among others):

• Supporting the centre director on a daily basis in all centre related matters from administration to research planning and execution
• Facilitating the administration of the centre, including project management and support
• Communication and PR, including maintaining content for UrbNet’s website and newsletter
• Coordinating and overseeing the compilation of information for and writing of reports to various funding bodies, including ensuring that the Centre’s staff meet all reporting requirements
• Coordinating and organising conferences and workshops, including correspondence with speakers/participants, travel and accommodation arrangements, and the layout of programmes/book of abstracts
• Copyediting and editorial work in at least Danish and English, as well as coordination and correspondence with various contributors and publishers
• Providing general assistance to UrbNet staff on day-to-day matters
• Liaising with AU departments and faculties as well as a string of UrbNet’s international collaborators – individuals and organisations alike

Qualifications
The ideal candidate will:

• Hold at least a MA in a relevant academic discipline
• Be proficient in both academic Danish and English as well as have knowledge of further languages needed for the study of archaeology and ancient history (German, Italian, French)
• Have a minimum of one year’s proven experience in a similar role involving support for academic project management
• Be familiar with university and large-scale research organisation
• Have experience preparing reports for funding bodies, including compiling information and summarizing data as well as doing statistical analysis
• Have experience in event coordination, particularly academic conferences and workshops
• Be able to manage publication workflows and demonstrate expertise in copyediting and editorial tasks, with a keen eye for detail and a commitment to high-quality work in both Danish and English
• Have experience communicating with researchers at all career stages across a range of disciplines

For further information about the position, please contact Professor Rubina Raja, rubina.raja@cas.au.dk.

For more information about the application and employment procedure, please contact HR supporter Gerd Cecilie Bech Thomsen, gebeth@au.dk.

About UrbNet
The Centre for Urban Network Evolutions (UrbNet) was founded in 2015 as a groundbreaking archaeological research initiative exploring the evolution of urbanism and urban networks from the Hellenistic Period to the Middle Ages. The centre is based at Aarhus University, School of Culture and Society, and is funded as a Centre of Excellence by the Danish National Research Foundation.

UrbNet aims to compare the archaeology of urbanism from medieval Northern Europe to the ancient Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean World, and determine how – and to what extent – urban networks catalysed societal and environmental expansions and crises in the past. The centre is firmly rooted in the humanities but enjoys close, collaborative ties with the natural sciences.

UrbNet aims to advance the understanding of the historical process of urban evolution, and it does so by developing the ability of archaeology to characterise the scale and pace of events and processes. Recently developed scientific techniques afford the potential for archaeology to refine the precision of dates, contexts and provenance ascribed to excavated materials. UrbNet’s key ambition has been to integrate these new forms of data as a new “high-definition” approach to the study of global and interregional dynamics.

UrbNet’s work comprises projects that intersect questions and problems concerning urban development and networks in the regions from Northern Europe via the Levant to the East Coast of Africa. It involves elaborate work on empirical material from a number of existing excavation projects, and the centre aims to make substantial contributions to theoretical and methodological developments in the field.

The School of Culture and Society
The Centre for Urban Network Evolutions is anchored at the School of Culture and Society. At the School of Culture and Society, the object of research and teaching is the interplay between culture and society in time and space:

• From the traditional disciplines of the humanities and theology to applied social research
• From Antiquity to the issues facing contemporary societies
• From local questions to global challenges

The school’s ambition is to produce compelling research with an international resonance as well as to offer teaching and talent development of the highest quality. The school has a broad cooperative interface with society as a whole, both in Denmark and abroad, and contributes to social innovation, research communication and further and continuing education.
For further information about the school, please see http://cas.au.dk/en/.

Salary and terms of employment

In accordance with the current collective agreement between the Ministry of Taxation and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (Akademikerne)

Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants.

Faculty of Arts

The Faculty of Arts is one of five main academic areas at Aarhus University.

The faculty contributes to Aarhus University's research, talent development, knowledge exchange and degree programmes.

With its 700 academic staff members, 200 PhD students, 9,000 BA and MA students, and 1,500 students following continuing/further education programmes, the faculty constitutes a strong and diverse research and teaching environment.

The Faculty of Arts consists of the School of Communication and Culture, the School of Culture and Society and the Danish School of Education. Each of these units has strong academic environments and forms the basis for interdisciplinary research and education.

The faculty's academic environments and degree programmes engage in international collaboration and share the common goal of contributing to the development of knowledge, welfare and culture in interaction with society.

The application must be submitted via Aarhus University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aarhus University's website.