justanon
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« on: July 07, 2009, 09:53:02 AM » |
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Old forumite posting under new name here...
A job ad in my field has been posted for the Université de Lausanne. After lots of web searching, I can tell that there are three campuses, that the department in which this job is posted offers BA & MA degree, no PhD, and that the teaching load is called "6 hours" (but every faculty member listed seems to be teaching three or four courses a semester). There is an elaborately PDFed HR site which tells you everything but the salary range. I can see that it is a gorgeous city (have lived in France but never in Switzerland---how would that compare?). Cost of living looks to be higher. May I ask opinions about the town, the Uni, working en Suisse, etc.? It is an Associate/Full job; I am about to be promoted to Full here and would hope to try for that going in (but, would that be possible/likely?). Different expectations for teaching, I assume, but what? And for research, I assume, but different how? And what about the legendary admin monsters in European Unis? Are they real, or just chimerical dragons?
Any and all of your info is welcome, and thank you.
Justanon
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the_walrus
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« Reply #1 on: July 07, 2009, 01:16:31 PM » |
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Don't have much to say, other than that I understand swiss academic salaries to be *very* high. (Cost of living high too, though...)
Oh, and "6 hours" most likely means 6 contact hours a week, so e.g., if a class meets two hours a week, then that could be three classes a semester, or if 3 hours, then two, etc.
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categorical
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« Reply #2 on: July 08, 2009, 09:04:38 AM » |
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I studied in Switzerland and know the University of Lausanne some. It's a good school and beautiful area. Costs are high in Switzerland, but the salaries are commensurate with the costs . Lausanne is less international than Geneva, but still terrific, and a good place to live as a foreigner. Swiss students are usually very well prepared, but class dynamics are often very different from what we have in the U.S. There is more lecturing by the prof. and less participation from students. Professors have more authority than in the U.S., which can be both bad and good.
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justanon
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Posts: 2
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« Reply #3 on: July 09, 2009, 04:14:14 PM » |
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Thank you so much. This helps; I assume it is a quarter system, then, instead of a semester system? Also, would it be OK, or a gaffe, to ask the HR people about my eligibility (since I'm a US citizen) for their insurance and retirement schemes etc.? Here one doesn't broach such things until an offer has been made, but I'm reading that the decision time is very fast for European jobs, and I would like to have time to mull things over (or, not apply at all if those matters are unfavorable). Appreciatively,
Justanon
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categorical
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« Reply #4 on: July 10, 2009, 09:08:46 AM » |
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I'm not sure about whether they're on the semester or quarter system now. The Swiss system has changed a lot in the last five years. A friend of mine was a finalist for a job a few years ago and found, if I remember correctly, that she would have had to pay into the retirement plan to become fully vested. I'm sure that they'll give you all the information if you become a finalist.
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parispundit
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« Reply #5 on: July 17, 2009, 08:17:00 AM » |
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I've been to the town, and know some people at the university. The town is VERY hilly. The people at the university seem happy enough with it, but who knows if they are your campus, let alone dept. I think I'd prefer to live in Geneva and commute, which would be possible
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prof_tournesol
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« Reply #6 on: July 21, 2009, 09:44:58 AM » |
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Commuting from Geneva might be possible, especially by train, but I think that Lausanne is one of the most livable of all Swiss cities. The location is really lovely, and you'll get some good exercise going up and down the hills.
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paoloalberto
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« Reply #7 on: August 05, 2009, 10:00:07 PM » |
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I think I'd prefer to live in Geneva and commute, which would be possible Who wouldn't? Geneva is amazing with its lake, watches and auto show. |
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dellaroux
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« Reply #8 on: August 06, 2009, 08:56:20 AM » |
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Spent a day there once, long ago, and would go back again in a heartbeat...in fact, thanks for reminding me. I think next time I'm otherpuddleside, I will.
It's on the train routes from Paris to the south, so lots of rail travel options, and it's also right on Lac Geneve, with many small bedroom communities nearby.
Switzerland is expensive, no getting around that. And the hierarchical stuff (and the fonctionnaire mentality) is alive and well, in fact it's one of the places I had in mind when posting elsewhere yesterday about tightly controlled cultures where people take their identities for the rest of their lives from what they did in the transition from lycee to college, and how they landed...defining-moment stuff, and all that.
Your languages need to be up to snuff, by the way...no way you can deal with hierarchies like that in translation.
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Pax in terra choreagibus
Ballo non bello parare
How am I?: There are four levels: Alive, Alert, Awake & Functioning. Right now, I'm standing upright & moving forward.
We are gifted superfluously--the cosmos is more generous than we can ask or imagine.
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categorical
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« Reply #9 on: August 17, 2009, 04:12:55 PM » |
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Switzerland is expensive, no getting around that. And the hierarchical stuff (and the fonctionnaire mentality) is alive and well, in fact it's one of the places I had in mind when posting elsewhere yesterday about tightly controlled cultures where people take their identities for the rest of their lives from what they did in the transition from lycee to college, and how they landed...defining-moment stuff, and all that.
Your languages need to be up to snuff, by the way...no way you can deal with hierarchies like that in translation.
I don't think that I would characterize Switzerland this way. I lived there in the 1990s, and while I agree that it is a very managed society, I don't think that it's controlled. I also don't think that it's hierarchical. That describes Austria to me. I think French-speaking Switzerland can be very tolerant. The problem for foreigners is that it takes time to be welcomed into the culture--3-4 or more years--a duration too long for some. |
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ideagirl
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« Reply #10 on: August 28, 2009, 11:20:43 PM » |
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Old forumite posting under new name here...
A job ad in my field has been posted for the Université de Lausanne.
Omigod I'm so jealous. Can I ask, where did you see Swiss job postings? |
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wegie
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« Reply #11 on: September 03, 2009, 11:57:49 AM » |
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Old forumite posting under new name here...
A job ad in my field has been posted for the Université de Lausanne.
Omigod I'm so jealous. Can I ask, where did you see Swiss job postings? Dunno where the OP saw the job they're interested in, but a lot more Swiss jobs are showing up on jobs.ac.uk than there used to be. Hmm. A little digging finds this page. Nothing in the Law Faculty though, ideagirl. |
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qrypt
Qryptacular & not really a Member-Moderator
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the great vampire squid round the face of humanity
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« Reply #12 on: September 03, 2009, 01:02:46 PM » |
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Someone please kill a sociologist there for me...
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"I'm tired of being your love slave!"
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