In the future, we will use self-driving cars, inspect the inside of our bodies with highest precision, move through virtual worlds and send photos, documents and messages that reach their recipients within seconds – regardless if they are currently doing their work in the office next door, at the giant telescope in Chile, or on an expedition to the North Pole. Digitalization is radically changing our lives in many areas. Science and research are also increasingly concerned with this phenomenon and its background, opportunities and risks.

Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) has been focusing on scientific innovation and research on the virtual world for many years. We support interdisciplinary approaches and questions in order to obtain a holistic picture of the object of research. 20 faculties and almost 200 courses of study, two clusters of excellence, five research buildings and numerous special research areas provide the breeding ground for innovative research at Germany's largest campus university.

In order to inspire outstanding young scientists to embark on a long-term scientific career at Ruhr-Universität, we offer attractive and predictable career prospects. To this end, every fifth W2 or W3 professorship that becomes vacant will be advertised as a tenure-track professorship; and as a rule, our W1 professorships will be equipped with a tenure track. Ruhr Universität is an equal opportunity employer and offers comprehensive support to ensure the compatibility of family and career. To ensure a fair and transparent appointment process, we rely on external evaluation by the EU Commission's Human Resources Excellence in Research Award (HRS4R).

The twenty tenure-track professorships which are funded within the Joint Federal Government-Länder Tenure-Track Programme strengthen RUB’s computer science, the field of "digital transformation in economy and society" and human medicine research based on Big Data.