The Federal Government-Länder programme: making careers in science more predictable and transparent

The tenure-track professorship targets early-career researchers, enabling them to transition directly to a lifelong professorship after successful conclusion of the probationary phase (usually after six years maximum).

The Joint Federal Government-Länder Funding Programme for Junior Academics establishes the tenure-track professorship on a broad basis at German universities and other higher education institutions.

It makes the career path more predictable and transparent for many early-career researchers because the transition to a lifelong professorship depends solely on a positive tenure evaluation. The clearly defined length of the tenure track phase also means that young academics know for sure, at an earlier stage of their career, that they will stay in the academic system.

Funding volume

The Federal Government is providing up to one billion euros (2017-2032). The aim is the permanent establishment of the new funded tenure-track professorships. They will thus be available to generations of junior academics over the long term and also strengthen the German academic landscape overall.

Structural reforms

The introduction of the tenure-track professorship targets a cultural change at German universities by establishing an additional career path to a professorship on a permanent basis. However, the focus of the programme goes beyond just this goal. The programme is also meant to provide impetus for the further development of overall faculty staff structures at German universities, also with a view to career paths other than a professorship. The aim of the Joint Federal Government-Länder programme is also to make improvements in equal opportunity and in balancing work and family.

Duration

The overall duration of the Federal Government-Länder programme is 15 years (2017-2032).

Tenure-track professorship

In the past, the path to a lifelong professorship in the German academic system was considered to be long and unpredictable, in particular by international comparison. This is why the Federal Government and the Länder adopted the Funding Programme for Junior Academics in 2016.

The goal is the permanent establishment of the tenure-track professorship as a separate career path in addition to the conventional professorship appointment procedure.

Tenure-track professorships are a means to provide early-career academics with dependable career prospects while greater predictability also strengthens the entire academic system. Much like junior professors, tenure-track professors are initially employed by the university on a fixed-term contract, but following a successful probationary phase, they transition directly to a lifelong professorship. This means that permanent appointment must not – in addition to a successful evaluation – be made contingent upon the availability of an open tenure position at the university when the tenure track period ends. For comparison: offers of tenure-track positions which include the proviso that transition to a permanent professorship depends on the availability of a free post at the university will not receive funding under the programme.

The joint Federal Government-Länder programme guarantees that the academics employed by the universities funded under the programme receive adequate initial resources and are able to pursue independent research and teaching activities early in their career.

An evaluation is conducted to assess whether the probationary phase was successful or not. The decision in favour of or against permanent employment is based solely on the tenure track professor’s work quality and performance. The evaluation may not take financial or strategic aspects into consideration. Tenure-track professors are thus provided with early planning certainty for their own career path.

Funding

The basis for funding is the administrative agreement between the Federal Government and the Länder of 19 October 2016 to launch a funding programme for junior academics.

The administrative agreement regulates the key points governing funding. It stipulates the following requirements and characteristics of a tenure-track professorship:

• the structures, procedures and quality standards for tenure-track professorships must be regulated in the university statutes,
• tenure-track professorships are to be limited to a period of up to six years. They can involve either a W1 or W2 position,
• job advertisements are usually posted internationally and include a commitment to enabling the direct transition to a tenure position,
• applicants for a tenure-track professorship should have moved to another university after they earned their PhD or have engaged in research outside the appointing university for at least two years,
• filling the tenure-track professorship calls for a regular, quality-controlled appointment procedure or an equivalent procedure involving internationally renowned reviewers. Should the job profile of the professorship warrant it, non-German reviewers are to be involved,
• holders of tenure-track posts work independently in research and teaching in their capacity as professors. This is why the tenure track professorship comes with adequate funding, and
• the transition to a lifelong professorship is conditional on a successful, quality-controlled evaluation based on clearly defined, transparent criteria. This evaluation is a means to check whether the performance defined at the time of appointment has been achieved and whether the professional and pedagogical aptitude required for the permanent professorship is proven. An interim evaluation may be planned to provide orientation for the continued career path. The applicable quality standards governing appointment procedures are to be applied in the evaluation.