professorship in germany
You are a senior researcher, post-doc or already professor and you are looking for a professorship in Germany. Find below some basic information about how to proceed.
Where?
The official universities have professorships with research and teaching activities. Universities of applied sciences have professor positions as well although with emphasis on teaching activities.
Who?
- To apply for a professor position at a German university, you need a PhD and several years of recognized research experience.
- The common method to get a professorship at a German university is the habilitation (teaching thesis). It consists of a postdoctoral thesis, the habilitation treatise, and a public lecture. Usually, one cannot get a professorship at the university at which the habilitation thesis was written.
- Besides research and managing tasks, you will have teaching duties. Having teaching experience is therefore very advantageous.
- To apply for a professor position at a German University of applied sciences, you need a PhD and 5 years of occupational experience after the doctorate, of which 3 years have to be done at a non-university institution. The kind of working experience depends on the subject that has to be taught and on the requirements of the department.
What?
- Ordinary professor: Ordinary professorships are usually permanent positions. The professors are appointed by the university. They have their own research groups and have generally teaching duties.
- Junior professorship: The junior professorship (assistant professorship) do research and teach on their own. Junior professorships are offered by the universities. Rights and responsibilities depend on the requirements of the university. However, they are similar to those of regular professors. They are endowed 70.340 ¤ on average. The position as junior professor lasts three years and can be extended for another three years.
- Tenure track: In some federal states, the junior professorship can be provided with the so called “tenure track option”: After a positive evaluation at the end of the sixth year, the junior professor must be offered a lifelong professorship at the same university.
How long?
Ordinary or extraordinary professorships are usually permanent positions. However, temporary positions have been created recently, e.g. junior professors or tenure track positions (see above).
How much?
In Germany, there exist different pay grades (Besoldungsgruppen). The salary varies from place to place and on the pay grade. It start at about 3400 Euro for an assistant professor. Go to our salary section for more details.
How to proceed?
Open professor positions are announced in national and international newspapers, journals and on job portals (e.g. science job portal of myScience.de). The job ad indicates how to apply and which documents (CV, publication list etc.) you have to join.
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