The candidate should be a personality of international standing who represents the field of functional materials in research and teaching. The focus of the professorship "Functional Materials" is on innovative modern materials that open up new application possibilities and exploitation potentials through the link between controlled atomistic structure and the resulting functional properties. These include, for example, topics such as material synthesis (including new sustainable synthesis methods); catalysis; materials for energy conversion and storage; thermoelectric materials; materials with tailored optical and electrical properties; materials chemistry; materials for new sensor technologies; microelectro-mechanical systems (MEMS); or materials for quantum technologies. In addition, research competencies are expected that will contribute to positioning the Department of Materials Science even better holistically with regard to the major social challenges. 

The Montanuniversität Leoben expects the integration of these activities into joint research projects with other chairs, especially in the areas mentioned above. Practical relevance of research activities is essential, and the acquisition of third-party funding for research activities is mandatory. 

In teaching, the entire field of vacuum and thin-film technology as well as parts of the field of microelectronics are represented, currently especially for students of the bachelor's degree program "Materials Science and Technology" and the two master's programs "Materials Science" and "Advanced Materials Science and Engineering". The Chair of Functional Materials and the Department of Materials Science are involved in international training and research programs worldwide, so the languages of instruction at the Department for students at Bachelor's, Master's and PhD level are both English and German.

It is expected to cooperate with the other chairs of the Department of Materials Science and other chairs at Montanuniversität Leoben, local non-university research institutions (Materials Center Leoben, Polymer Competence Center Leoben, Austrian Academy of Sciences) as well as other chairs of the university involved in the Clusters of Excellence for Materials, Energy and Recycling. 

The applicant is expected to have teaching and research experience as well as didactic skills to design excellent teaching and to have demonstrated the competence of applying his/her engineering knowledge to problems from the economy in the course of his/her professional activity. Leadership skills and in particular the ability to work in a team, as well as the willingness to take on organisational and administrative tasks within the university, are required.

The classification and remuneration are based on the collective agreement of the universities in the application group A1. In this classification the gross monthly salary for full-time employment is € 6713,30 (14 x per year). The actual remuneration and the precise terms of employment are subject to the appointment negotiations.

Employment requirements are a doctorate in the relevant field as well as a habilitation or equivalent qualification. 

The Montanuniversität Leoben is committed to increasing the proportion of women and expressly encourages qualified women to apply. In the case of equal qualification among applicants, women shall be given preference. 

Applications with the documents listed below must be enclosed in English: 
• Letter of motivation (max. 2 pages) 
• Comprehensive curriculum vitae (including ORCID number and language skills) 
• Complete SCI publication list including citation statistics (e.g. @scopus) 
• Supplement of the five most important publications with significant participation, showing the motivation for why these publications were selected (max. 5 pages) 
• Presentation of previous research and teaching activities • List of the acquired projects and their volumes as well as the documentation of selected relevant projects 
• Presentation of the research concept with regard to the planned activity at the chair and within the department at the university (max. 3 pages) 
• Presentation of the planned teaching concept with regard to teaching at the university (max. 2 pages) 
• Outline of the planned networking within Montanuniversität Leoben (max. 2 pages) 

Applicants are requested to submit their documents electronically by 27.09.2026 to the Rector of the Montanuniversität Leoben, Univ.-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.mont. Dr.-Ing.E.h. Dr.h.c. Peter Moser, Franz-JosefStraße 18, A-8700 Leoben, Austria. Please upload your documents as a zip-file with the file name "MUL-Last name_First name.zip" under the following link: https://oc.unileoben.ac.at/index.php/s/XEetF69GsKKJZ4j 

Additional information can be obtained from the Head of the Appointment Committee, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Raul Bermejo, A-8700 Leoben, Austria, Tel.: +43-3842-402-4100, e-mail: raul.bermejo@unileoben.ac.at, URL: http://www.unileoben.ac.at