The Technische Universität Kaiserslautern (TUK) considers the recruitment of researchers in an early career phase as an important strategic measure for human resources development. As such, 120 junior professors were appointed to TUK since 2002, about a quarter of these with tenure track, providing a wealth of experience.

Since 2017, TUK has established a new TT system, which fully adapts international standards and anchors TT professorships in TUK’s appointment system with respect to quality and quantity. The TT system supports career paths starting from W1 or W2 positions being promoted upon positive evaluation to W2 or W3 permanent professorships, respectively.

The new TT system is regulated by the University By-Laws and is based on a quality assured process according to international standards. New elements are an agreement on objectives for probation, which renders qualifying conditions transparent, and a tenure evaluation carried out by a tenure commission whose members come from across the university. The new TT system will be centrally rooted in TUK’s appointment system.

For ensuring a powerful start-up phase and for further developing the university, TUK has applied for 13 TT professorships in the program by the Federal and State Governments with these objectives:

1. To sustainably transform TUK’s appointment system.
2. To introduce the new career path university-wide.
3. To strengthen research areas related to TUK’s profile building: TT professors will do research related to society’s grand challenges (e.g. in the area of energy), as well as areas important for current collaborative research centres (CRC).

TUK’s TT professors receive extensive support, e.g. through a mentoring system, the wide range of support services offered by the TU-Nachwuchsring (Platform of early career researchers), as well as through offers in the area of internationalisation, gender equality and compatibility of family and career.