The University of Vienna is internationally renowned for its excellence in teaching and research, and counts more than 7,500 academics from all disciplines. This breadth of expertise offers unique opportunities to address the complex challenges of modern society, to develop comprehensive new approaches, and educate the problem-solvers of tomorrow from a multidisciplinary perspective.

At the Faculty of Historical and Cultural Studies at the University of Vienna seeks to appoint a

Tenure-Track Professorship in Museum Studies

The position

We invite applications from outstanding early-career researchers whose work critically and historically engages museum practices related to visual arts in their social, political, aesthetic, and epistemic dimensions. Areas of specialization may include exhibition and collection theory and history, exhibition displays, education, digital transformation, and museum ecologies. Experience in collaboration with museums, exhibition venues, or artistic research contexts is desirable. The position is intended to strengthen collaboration within the university and with cultural institutions in Vienna and beyond, with the goal of establishing an innovative perspective on research-led museums studies within the art history program. Your responsibilities include: developing and leading a dynamic research agenda in museum studies; designing and teaching courses inter alia in museum studies within the curriculum of art history and for related study disciplines; establishing partnerships with museums, cultural institutions, and research centres; mentoring students and supervising master and doctoral theses; contributing to department and university administration.

The professorship is affiliated with the Department of Art History, one of the oldest and largest in the field. See: https://kunstgeschichte.univie.ac.at/en/

Your academic profile:

• Doctoral degree/PhD
• Two years of international research experience during or after doctoral studies
• Outstanding research achievements, excellent publication and funding record, international reputation
• Gender and diversity competence
• Experience in designing of and participating in research projects, ability to lead research groups and acquire third-party funding
• Enthusiasm for excellent teaching and supervision at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral level

We expect the successful candidate to acquire, within three years, proficiency in German sufficient for teaching in bachelor's programmes and for participation in university committees.

We offer:

• the opportunity to obtain a permanent position and eventual promotion to full professor; the initial contract as Assistant Professor is limited to six years, after positive evaluation of a qualification agreement the contract becomes permanent as Associate Professor; Associate Professors can be promoted to Full Professor through an internal competitive procedure.
• a dynamic research environment
• a wide range of research and teaching support services
• attractive working conditions in a city with a high quality of life
• an attractive salary according to the Collective Bargaining Agreement for University Staff (level A2) and an organisational retirement plan

Application documents (in English):

• Letter of motivation
• Academic curriculum vitae
  • education and training (PhD Certificate, PDF)
  • positions held to date
  • career breaks (e.g. relevant parental, family or other care periods)
  • awards and honors
  • commissions of trust
  • previous and current cooperation partners
  • complete list of acquired third-party funding and, if applicable, of inventions/patents
  • list of most important scientific talks (max. 10)
  • teaching and mentoring
  • supervision experience (Master and PhD), if applicable
• List of publications
  • link to your own publicly accessible ORCID record, with a complete and current publication list
  • three key publications as electronic full text version (PDF, max 30 MB)
• Research statement
  • most important research achievements (max. 2 pages) and planned future research activities (max. 4 pages)
  • synopsis of three key publications with relevance to the position advertised
  • publication strategy
• Teaching and supervision statement
  • teaching and supervision concept, including a description of the previous and planned priorities in academic teaching and supervision (max. 2 pages)
  • teaching evaluations (if available, PDF)

If you have any questions, please contact:

tenuretrack.personal@univie.ac.at
Only applications submitted through the link "Apply now" below will be considered.

We look forward to new personalities in our team! 
The University of Vienna has an anti-discriminatory employment policy and attaches great importance to equal opportunities, the advancement of women and diversity. We lay special emphasis on increasing the number of women in senior and in academic positions among the academic and general university staff and therefore expressly encourage qualified women to apply. Given equal qualifications, preference will be given to female candidates.

University of Vienna. Space for personalities. Since 1365.

Data protection

​Application deadline: 09/17/2025
Reference no.: 4420