Visiting Fellowship Division of Landscape Architecture HKUrbanLab

Visiting Fellowship
Division of Landscape Architecture
HKUrbanLab | Faculty of Architecture | HKU
The Division of Landscape Architecture is now inviting applications for its new
Visiting Fellowship scheme. The fellowships are intended to allow talented young
academics from leading landscape architecture schools to come to HKU for up to
one year, to develop their research and teaching skills. The Division is looking to
appoint two ‘Visiting Fellows’ each academic year, for a period of 6-12 months.
One appointment will have a focus on research and one on teaching.
Eligibility
The scheme is open to young full-time academic staff (lecturer, assistance
professor or senior) within a landscape school in a recognized university.”
The exact requirements of the visiting fellow positions would be subject to
agreement with the Division, prior to appointment, but might comprise:
Visiting Fellow for Research - would be expected to work on, or lead, a
collaborative research project within the Division of Landscape Architecture,
and to publish (have accepted for publication) at least one scholarly article in
an international, peer-reviewed landscape journal during the period of the
fellowship. The research study should align with the current strategic
research interests in the Division (noted below). The VTR would also be
required to offer a post-graduate research seminar in the fall semester
relating to their research work.
‘Visiting Fellow’ for Teaching - would be expected to co-teach, with other
faculty members, within one design studio and one core technical course per
semester; and to offer a specialist seminar (within either undergraduate or
taught postgraduate landscape programs) associated with their own teaching
expertise and approach.
Support
The Division would provide working space, office support, use of HKU facilities etc.
We would commit to involve visiting fellows within the teaching and research work
being undertaken in the Division, and to support them academically in their own
work, as far as practicable.
The Division would provide the visiting fellow with a monthly stipend of HK$22,500
for the duration of their appointment. Beyond this, the visiting fellow would be
required to make their own arrangements for travel, visas, and accommodation.
Applications
Appointments would be made on a competitive basis. Candidates should apply for
either the Visiting Fellow for Research position or the Visiting Fellow for Teaching
position, not both. Candidates are required to submit the following documents:
i.
a proposal (max. 1200 words)
for the Visiting Fellow for Research position this should include:
relevant research experience and academic publication record,
current areas of research,
intended research study and specific research outputs from the
period of the fellowship, and
outline for the proposed research seminar course.
for the Visiting Fellow for Teaching position this should include:
relevant teaching experience and details of previous courses taught /
co-taught,
description of the candidate’s teaching philosophy and pedagogical
approach,
identification of possible participation in design studio and technical
courses within the undergraduate and/or taught postgraduate
landscape programs of the Division, (curricula and syllabuses can be
found on line at http://fac.arch.hku.hk/la/introduction/)
proposal for one specialist seminar course
short CV and portfolio of relevant design / research / teaching work (up to 24 x
A4 pages, maximum file size 8mb),
iii. certified true copies of relevant academic and professional qualifications,
iv. names and contact details of two academic referees.
ii.
Applications should be submitted via email (apptdla@hku.hk) and packaged into a
single PDF file. The deadline for submission of applications is 10 April 2015.
Applications will be evaluated by the Division’s Review Panel. Short-listed
candidates will then be interviewed on-line by the Panel, for final selection. It is
intended that a decision could be made by the end of April 2015. The
appointments would start from mid-August 2015, subject to agreement with the
visiting fellow.
Information about the Division of Landscape Architecture
http://fac.arch.hku.hk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/HKU-Landscape-Annual2013-14.pdf
Teaching Landscape at HKU
Landscape architects have a leading role to play in addressing some of the most
pressing environmental and community problems that face the World today, and
in helping to achieving a balanced, sustainable future. In addition to our abilities in
planning, design, construction and management, we have unique skills in being
able to see the context, in navigating a huge range of scales and geographies, in
understanding both the natural and man-made, and how they change over time.
The discipline of landscape architecture has been taught at the University of Hong
Kong since 1993. The Division of Landscape Architecture offers a four-year
Bachelor of Arts in Landscape Studies (BA(LS)) undergraduate degree, a two-year
taught postgraduate Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) degree, and MPhil
and PhD research postgraduate programs.
These research based programs are multidisciplinary and integrate technical and
theoretical studies of ecology, earth sciences, geography, sociology, cultural
studies, the fine arts, architecture, urbanism and engineering. They train young
landscape architects to address the complexities of today’s built environment
through spatial design, sustainable solutions, and effective development practices.
The programs encourage students to have the broadest conception of what
landscape is, and to foster an innovative and dynamic vision of what landscape
architecture could be.
The Division is committed to excellence in teaching and research, in furthering the
discipline and practice of landscape architecture within our cultural and
geophysical context. We maintain very small class sizes (instructor: student ratio
<1:12) to allow us to deliver high quality outcomes based learning, with a strong
emphasis on active and experiential learning. We engage with a wide range of
project types and scales. We focus our studies on topical landscape issues in Hong
Kong, China and across Southeast Asia.
Landscape Research at HKU
Staff within the Division are engaged with a broad range of research initiatives
include: landscape history and conservation; emerging territories; 20th century
Chinese and SE Asian landscape; designing for high density urban environments
and communities; definitions of public space and patterns of pedestrian
movement; urban green infrastructure, quality of life and public health; urban
renewal; post-industrialization, pollution, environmental degradation and
remediation; rural settlements, productive landscapes; no-cost solutions,
sustainable futures; informal settlements and displaced communities; resilience
and designing against climate change and natural disasters; and advanced
computer applications in landscape architecture.
Research projects are typically located within the HKUrban Lab: Centre for High
Density Healthy Cities; HKUrban ScienceLab; and Community Design Practice
Program. What distinguishes our work is its intellectual motivation, the freedom
to pursue, test and build theory through design methodologies, and the close
interaction between design and researcher.