Tenure track evaluation criteria

Tenure track evaluation criteria are based on the principles of predictability, transparency, and comparability with international standards. The performance is evaluated through the following dimensions:

• Research and/or artistic and professional work,
• Teaching, and
• Service (activity in scientific community, academic leadership and societal interaction)

The evaluation is carried out as a comprehensive overall assessment, and the same criteria are used both in recruitment and in promotion assessments.

The criteria used in tenure and promotion reviews as well as in recruiting to tenured levels are described in more detail in Appendix 3 of the Aalto Tenure Track Policies and Procedures -document.

Assistant Professors

When recruiting for first term Assistant Professor positions, the evaluation is mainly based on the potential of the candidate in the evaluated dimensions. When recruiting or reviewing for second term Assistant Professor positions, the evaluation is based on both merits and potential.

In a systematic evaluation of the potential for a successful career on the tenure track, the following factors may be considered:

• Early exceptional research or artistic merits
• Early exceptional teaching merits
• Rate of progress in earning merits
• Comparison and benchmarking of the candidates
• Independence and originality
• Networking
• Recommendation letters

Associate and Full Professors

Candidates recruited or promoted to the level of Associate or Full Professor must have high academic merits, be of first rank among distinguished members of their discipline, and must show a continued contribution to academic research.

According to the Aalto tenure track policy, the minimum requirements for reaching tenure are:

1. Excellence in research and/or artistic work and high-quality teaching, and/or
2. Excellence in teaching and high-quality research and/or artistic work.

The following criteria are considered key criteria when reviewing a candidate for tenure and determining excellence in either research/artistic work and/or teaching:

When recruiting or reviewing a candidate for promotion to the Full Professor level, the review should consider the key criteria described above in the dimensions of research/artistic work and teaching, with increased emphasis on the following:

• international (and national) visibility and standing of the candidate and her/his team in the field
• success in winning competitive funding
• achievements in doctoral education
• experience in curriculum development

In addition, the candidate for Full Professor is expected to have increasing contributions to service, for example, including the following activities:

• candidate’s outreach and dissemination of her/his work
• mentoring and coaching of junior colleagues
• formal training developing academic leadership
• academic leadership positions including committees and educational programs
• service to the scientific/artistic community and/or industry and society at large

For candidates in the career track, both tenure and promotion reviews focus mainly on merits achieved since the last review or recruitment.

For more detailed descriptions of evaluation processes and criteria, see the Aalto Tenure Track Policies and Procedures document.

Teaching Competence Assessment

The candidate’s teaching competence is assessed in academic recruitments as well as in advancement reviews. The assessments are carried out by the teaching competence assessment committee of each school. The committee follows these guidelines (including an assessment matrix) in their assessments. Please note that the teaching assessment is an overall, holistic process and competence can be demonstrated in many ways. 

The comprehensive assessment framework is used to define the candidate’s overall teaching ability, maturity, and potential as a teacher and teaching and learning developer. 

In the section Guidelines for a candidate you can find help to write or update your teaching portfolio.

Language requirements for tenure track

Candidates are required to have such fluency in English as is required for carrying out their duties. A foreign citizen or a non-native Finnish citizen may be appointed to a teaching or research post without demonstrating proficiency in the Finnish or Swedish languages.

School-specific criteria

In addition to the general Aalto evaluation criteria described above, each School has further specified their tenure track criteria:

• School of ARTS Tenure Track Criteria
• School of BIZ Tenure Track Criteria
• School of CHEM Tenure Track Criteria
• School of ELEC Tenure Track Criteria
• School of ELEC Criteria for fixed-term Assistant and Associate level
• School of ENG Tenure Track Criteria
• School of SCI Tenure Track Criteria