Science

Junior Professorship

The introduction of the junior professorship established a new career path which provides young scientists with another avenue towards a professorship. The objective was and still is to provide young scientists with an opportunity for independent research and teaching already in their early 30s.
The junior professorship was introduced with the 5th Amendment to the Framework Act for Higher Education (5th HRGÄndG) in 2002. Following the Federal Constitutional Court's ruling of 27 July 2004, which, inter alia, declared unconstitutional and void the framework regulation for junior professorships, it became necessary to provide a new legal basis for the junior professorship. On 31 December 2004, the Amendment to Administrative and Labour Regulations in Higher Education entered into force. It provides a stable legal basis for the continuation of the junior professorship.

All Länder have meanwhile anchored this personnel category in their Land Higher Education Acts. Junior professorships have been successfully established at German institutions of higher education.  Altogether, 786 junior professorships at 65 universities were supported with funds the Federal Government provided for equipment.

 About one out of seven appointed junior scientists came from abroad, many of them were German returnees. About one third were women. The junior professorship contributes to making Germany and German science more attractive in the international competition for the brightest minds.

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(URL: http://www.bmbf.de/de/820.php)

Documents

  • Framework Act for Higher Education

    [PDF - 143.9 kB]

    in the version published on 19 January 1999 (BGBl. I p. 18), last amended by Article 1 of the same law on 28 August 2004 (BGBl. I p. 2298), taking into consideration the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court of 27 July 2004  (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/pot/download.php/M%3A2764+Framework+Act+for+Higher+Education/~/pub/hrg_20050126_e.pdf)

  • Gesetzentwurf zur Änderung dienst- und arbeitsrechtlicher Vorschriften im Hochschulbereich

    [PDF - 102.0 kB]

     (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/pot/download.php/M%3A3153+Gesetzentwurf+zur+%26Auml%3Bnderung+dienst-+und+arbeitsrechtlicher+Vorschriften+im+Hochschulbereich/~/pub/hdavaendg.pdf)