Exchange of experiences with the new career path between universities on 13 June 2024 in Berlin
On 13 June 2024, representatives of the universities funded under the tenure-track programme met at the Berlin offices of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) to exchange their experiences with the lasting establishment of the tenure-track professorship career path.
The event was led by Prof. Dr. Erika Kothe, Professor for Microbial Communication at the University of Jena and member of the selection committee for the Joint Federal Government-Länder Funding Programme for Junior Academics (tenure-track programme). A total of 120 people participated. The event was hosted by VDI/VDE-IT.
Dr. Elke Luise Barnstedt, former Vice President for Personnel and Law at KIT and co-chair of the selection committee for the tenure-track programme, gave the keynote speech. She emphasised the programme’s success but also identified challenges encountered in establishing the tenure-track professorship at the universities. These pertain among other things to establishing clearly defined criteria for the subsequent tenure evaluation and the procedure for the tenure evaluation, including the involvement of a large number of committees. The two latter topics were also addressed during the panel discussions in the course of the event.
A total of four panels discussions were held for in-depth exchanges between the universities. The panel discussions provided a venue for open exchange and the presentation of best practice examples by the universities. Solutions to overcome challenges in establishing the tenure-track professorship career path were jointly discussed. This provided the participants with new ideas and suggestions for the lasting implementation and further development of the tenure-track professorship at their university. The panel discussions, which were moderated by representatives of the mentioned universities, focused on the following four key challenges:
Evaluation criteria, evaluation procedure and mentoring – Alena Fröde (TU Dresden), Irina Kohlrautz (PH Ludwigsburg), Dr. Katharina Reinholdt (Bauhaus Universität Weimar), Dr. Jessica Wilzek (PH Schwäbisch-Gmünd)
Lasting implementation of the tenure-track professorship and cultural change – leadership: Prof. Dr. Christoph Schneider (HU Berlin), Prof. Dr. Oliver Günther (U Potsdam); organisation: Gwendolyn Papke, Dr. Uta Sommer (HU Berlin), Dr. Anja Stanciu (U Potsdam), Ulrike Filbrandt (U Hannover)
Evaluation results, transitions and further development – Prof. Dr. Georg Krausch (U Mainz), Prof. Dr. Sylvia Paletschek (U Freiburg), Prof. Dr. Uwe Cantner (U Jena).
Internationalisation, attractiveness and competition – Prof. Dr. Jetta Frost and Dr. Stefanie Lünsmann-Schmidt (U Hamburg), Prof. Dr. Kathrin Möslein and Dr. Jochen Weinzierl (FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg)
In the concluding podium discussion, the organisers of the four panel discussions presented the results of their exchanges and spoke about the current state and future of the tenure-track professorship in Germany, among other things about the already realised further developments of tenure-track statutes and completed evaluation procedures as well as the further realisation of lasting implementation. Establishing clearly defined and transparent evaluation criteria that are both attractive and measurable continues to be a challenge. The evaluation procedure itself, which in part involves numerous committees, is challenging as well. The importance of mentoring programmes was also highlighted and the potential with regard to further internationalisation of the tenure-track professorship was emphasised.
University networks involved with the tenure-track professorship career path also introduced themselves during the event: the four working groups of the Tenure Track Network, the UniWiND post-doc network and UniNetzPE.