A central strategic area of Charité − Universitätsmedizin Berlin focuses on academic career development. There is a particular need for the promotion of early career scientists in human medicine as they face specific challenges stemming from the three-fold burden of research, teaching, and clinical work. An early decision point to enter an academic career as well as reliable, predictable and transparent career paths are critical for individual success and, hence, for the success of the institution. The broad implementation of a formalized tenure track program, as a standardized career development system, represents a key strategic goal of Charité.

The specific aims of the tenure track program of the Charité are:

1. to optimally promote individual career development through early independence and improved predictability and reliability of career paths;
2. to enhance the attractiveness of Charité for the most excellent early career scientists, both nationally and internationally;
3. to recruit excellent junior scientists as drivers of innovation;
4. to enable excellent junior scientists to remain at Charité throughout their career;
5. to support a dynamic appointment strategy that enables the development of novel research focus areas and department structures.

This strategy will facilitate a cultural change in academic human medicine that will promote Germany as a hub for scientific excellence and that will afford Charité to be competitive in the future.