Professorship and Head of Institute Digital Communication Environments

The Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW (HGK Basel) is looking for a new head for its Institute Digital Communication Environments, one of its five institutes. This involves a professorship with a focus on research, which is orientated towards topics of visual communication, digital cultures and media design.

Your tasks
The Institute Digital Communication Environments (IDCE) at the HGK Basel comprises a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programme as well as a research and continuing education division.

Your responsibilities include:

–Leadership of the IDCE, including strategic direction, budget and personnel management, as well as overseeing development, planning, and implementation.
–Active participation in the Management Board of the HGK Basel, contributing to internal and external committee work.
–Strategic positioning and networking of the IDCE on both regional and international levels.
–Head of Research at IDCE, responsible for securing third-party funding, leading research initiatives, publishing in academic journals, presenting at conferences and exhibitions, and supervising PhD candidates.
–Strengthening the connection between research and teaching within the institute as well as across the university to promote interdisciplinary collaboration, including active participation in teaching.

Your profile
You hold a university degree (MA) and a doctorate (PhD) or have several years of equivalent distinguished international research experience in a design discipline or related field.

Furthermore, you meet the following criteria:

–You have extensive leadership experience, incl. human resources, finance, strategy and development.
–You have several years of high-profile research, practice and teaching experience, particularly in one or more of the following areas: Graphic Design, Digital Design, Visual Communication, Visual Cultures, UX/UI Design, Generative AI, Game Design, Editorial Design, Media Design.
–You have an established research network, can demonstrate high quality research outputs, and already have successfully acquired third-party funding for research projects.
–You have experience with innovative teaching methods and the implementation of high-quality, research-led and practice-orientated teaching.
–You have excellent communication and organisational skills.
–You hold a qualification in higher education didactics or are willing to acquire this within the first few years.
–You possess excellent German and English language skills in both spoken and written form.

The FHNW strives to increase the proportion of women in professorships and in leadership positions. We are committed to a diverse and inclusive learning environment that actively promotes equity, inclusion, and social justice, and therefore seek candidates whose experience, teaching philosophies, and scholarly practice will help to expand and support this commitment.

Your prospects
FHNW professors shape their activities along their field of expertise, shaping it through their experiences and interests. The integration into an institute or a study programme promotes professional exchange and interdisciplinary cooperation across universities. The flexible working conditions allow employees a high degree of self-determination and personal responsibility.

We look forward to receiving your application by June 30, 2025.

Start date: per September 1, 2026 or by agreement. Workplace: Basel

Will you soon be part of our team
Please send your documents via the corresponding online advertisement to Nadja Brunazzi, HR Lead. For any questions and information on the job profile, please contact Prof. Dr. Claudia Perren, Director HGK Basel, T +41 61 228 43 46.

About the Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW
We aspire to be an inspiring and ambitious academy while being welcoming, joyful and transformative. We value the diversity of our student body, encourage collaboration and love surprises. On our campus, we offer studio spaces 24/7, excellently equipped workshops and labs, individual mentoring and counselling, international exchange programmes, open discourse spaces and social infrastructures. Our creative neighbourhood on the Dreispitz, the cultural city of Basel and our geographical location in the three-country triangle make the HGK Basel a unique place to study and work.