As part of the Circular School teaching project funded by the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education, the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design is seeking to fill the following position starting July 1, 2026, or as soon as possible:

Academic and Artistic Associate – Bioregional Weaving (f/m/d)

The position is limited to four years and is part-time (75%). Remuneration is based on the provisions of the Collective Agreement for the Public Service of the German Länder (TV-L), depending on personal qualifications, up to pay grade E 13.

About the project:

The Circular School is a new teaching and research program at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design, funded by the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education. The program focuses on working with circular processes and time-based materials, whose cycles of creation and reuse are intended to serve as a model for a new approach to organizing academic studies. Building on the Bio Design Lab and its previous projects, the Circular School is developing a cross-disciplinary program that combines teaching, artistic and design research, site-specific material practice, and public outreach. Students are involved in these activities from their first year of study and learn through formats that go beyond the traditional seminar and semester structure. In cooperation with regional and national partner institutions, this creates a new space for learning and research both within and outside the university. The goal is to translate ecological and social responsibility into creative action and to further develop the HfG Karlsruhe as an open, networked, and experimental university.

Area of responsibility:

The Bioregional Weaving position is responsible for the spatial, social, and bioregional networking of the Circular School. It connects the university, city, region, natural environments, cultural institutions, local initiatives, workshops, producers, and other partners into an expanded learning and research environment.

Responsibilities include in particular:

• Establishing, maintaining, and further developing the partner and stakeholder network of the Circular School
• Researching and mapping regional resources, places, initiatives, production contexts, cultural techniques, and ecological contexts
• Conceiving, organizing, and conducting excursions, field trips, off-campus formats, and mobile teaching formats
• Sharing responsibility for developing and implementing the Circular School teaching formats, especially Circular Studios, workshops, lecture series, Summer Schools, and public programs
• Programmatic activation of the mobile lab (incubator) in collaboration with the project team, students, and external partners
• Developing formats that make local ecologies, bioregional value creation, craft knowledge, social infrastructures, and circular practices tangible
• Supporting student projects in field research, site research, partner engagement, co-design processes, and public presentations
• Collaborating with the Digital Garden Keeping and Material Cultivating areas on documentation, material practice, mediation, and knowledge transfer
• Contributing to annual exhibitions, conference and festival contributions, publications, and other dissemination and transfer formats

We reserve the right to change the scope of responsibility.

Your profile:

• Completed university degree in a scientific, artistic, or design-related field, e.g. design, architecture, urban/regional studies, cultural studies, environmental sciences, transformation design, curatorial practice, mediation, or a related field
• Experience in transdisciplinary, artistic-design, or research-based projects with a spatial, ecological, or social focus
• Experience in building and maintaining networks, cooperations, community processes, or participatory formats
• Interest in bioregional design, circular value chains, local resources, ecological transformation, and experimental teaching formats
• Experience in conceiving and conducting excursions, workshops, public programs, exhibitions, or outreach formats
• Ability to mediate between different actors, forms of knowledge, places, and institutional contexts
• Knowledge of mapping, qualitative research, process documentation, co-design, or field research is an advantage
• Very good written and spoken German and English skills
• Independent, structured, communicative, and cooperative working style
• Willingness to work regularly at changing locations, in outdoor formats, evening events, and excursions

What you can expect from us:

• International working environment
• Opportunities for mobile working and working from home
• Flexible working hours
• Professional development and training opportunities
• Support for your mobility with the JobTicket BW
• A highly motivated team eager to explore new paths

General information:

HfG Karlsruhe is committed to promoting greater cultural diversity and equality among its academic and administrative staff. Applicants with severe disabilities will be given priority where equally qualified.

Please submit your application, including your CV and the standard application documents, via the online application form by June 17, 2026. Interviews will take place at short notice, tentatively on June 22–23 and June 29–30, 2026.

For information about the position, please contact Julia Ihls by email at jihls@hfg-karlsruhe.de. Application costs (including travel expenses) cannot be reimbursed.

Information on the collection of personal data from the data subject pursuant to Article 13 GDPR can be found on our homepage under "Open Positions".

Please note that the German text version of the job advertisement is the legally binding version.