Professor in Metal Surface Engineering and Heat Treatment - DTU Construct

At DTU, Department for Civil and Mechanical Engineering, we are looking for an expert to reinforce our internationally recognized activities within gas interactions with metal surfaces and microstructural engineering by heat treatments and develop new activities. 

The professor will be affiliated with the Section for Materials and Surface Engineering.

The Section is dedicated to enhancing the performance and sustainability of materials. The section’s research covers design, synthesis, characterization, testing and modelling of materials and their surfaces tailored to specific applications and extreme environments. Microstructural engineering is a key subject. The section has a scientific staff of about 25 people.

Responsibilities and qualifications
You will contribute to further development of the section’s research and must have a proven track record within several of the following research fields:

• Thermo-chemical surface treatments involving gas-metal reactions
• Microstructural engineering through heat treatments to modify materials properties
• Materials for defence applications
• Collaboration with research institutions and industry, nationally and internationally

You are expected to take a leading role in research and innovation efforts within these fields by generating new research projects that involve other faculty members within this and other sections and attract PhD students. In particular with respect to defence applications, focus will be on collaboration with staff from other sections at the Department and DTU as well as European research institutions and industry. 

With respect to teaching, you will contribute to and develop courses:

• on materials science, physical metallurgy and surface engineering, incl. laboratory courses
• to adapt them to industrial MSc students, e.g. inclusion of online modules

Furthermore, you must:

• be highly self-motivated
• enjoy taking on new and challenging tasks
• have a documented and successful track record for teaching at all university levels
• have documented experience in supervising students at the Beng/BSc and MSc levels as well as PhDs and Postdocs

You are expected to take a lead role in teaching at the BEng, BSc, MSc and PhD levels.

DTU employs two working languages: Danish and English. You are expected to be fluent in at least one of these languages, and in time are expected to master both.

You will be assessed against the responsibilities and qualifications stated above and the following general criteria:

• Documented experience and quality of teaching and curriculum development
• Research impact and experience, funding track record and research vision
• International impact and experience 
• Societal impact
• Innovativeness, including commercialization and collaboration with industry
• Leadership, collaboration, and interdisciplinary skills
• Communication skills

Salary and terms of employment
The appointment will be based on the collective agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. The allowance will be agreed upon with the relevant union. 

The position is a full-time position with starting date in the summer of 2026 or according to mutual agreement.

Further information 
Further information may be obtained from Head of Section, Professor Grethe Winther, grwi@dtu.dk.

You can read more about Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at www.construct.dtu.dk. 

If you are applying from abroad, you may find useful information on working in Denmark and at DTU at DTU – Moving to Denmark. 

Application procedure
Your complete online application must be submitted no later than 1 June 2026 (23:59 Danish time). Applications must be submitted as one PDF file containing all materials to be given consideration. To apply, please open the link "Apply now", fill out the online application form, and attach all your materials in English in one PDF file. The file must include:

• Application (cover letter) addressed to the President
• Vision for teaching and research 
• CV including employment history, list of publications indicating scientific highlights, H-index and ORCID (see http://orcid.org/)
• Teaching portfolio including documentation of teaching experience
• Academic Diplomas (MSc/PhD)

You can learn more about the recruitment process here.

Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, disability, race, religion or ethnic background are encouraged to apply. As DTU works with research in critical technology, which is subject to special rules for security and export control, open-source background checks may be conducted on qualified candidates for the position.

DTU Civil and Mechanical Engineering develops and utilizes science and technical knowledge for the benefit of society and sustainable development. We undertake research, education, innovation, and scientific advice of the highest quality within building design and processes, building construction and safety, building energy and installation, solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, materials technology, manufacturing engineering, engineering design and thermal energy systems.

DTU – For the benefit of society since 1829
DTU is one of Europe's leading elite technical universities. Through research and education at an international top level, we create solutions to the major societal challenges of our time and help secure Europe's global leadership in sustainable technological development. Since Hans Christian Ørsted founded DTU almost 200 years ago, our mission has remained the same: We develop and create value through the natural and technical sciences for the benefit of society. DTU has 13,800 students, 1,600 PhD students, and 6,500 employees. We work in an international environment and have an inclusive, stimulating, and informal work culture. DTU has campuses in all parts of Denmark and in Greenland and collaborates with the best universities around the world.