Head of junior research group status at FAU

1. Those granted head of junior research group status at FAU, otherwise known as FAUngls, are experts in their field.Applicants are expected to have been successful in a quality-controlled, competitive, external evaluation procedure. This can be proven by:

• • Successfully acquiring third party funds in the junior research group programmes run by the Helmholtz Association, the Emmy Noether Programme at DFG, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the Elite Network of Bavaria or a comparable young research group programme from another funding authority or
  • Successfully receiving funding from programmes such as the ERC Starting Grant (EU), the Liebig Fellowship (Chemical Industry Fund), the Heisenberg Programme (DFG), the Sofja Kovalevskaja Award (Alexander von Humboldt Foundation) or in a comparable programme offered by another funding provider.

2. Those granted head of junior research group status at FAU lead a working group which is not subject to scientific, academic or financial constraints. They have been successful in one of the programmes listed in no. 1 above.

• • They have acquired funding for (themselves and) at least two research associates (who have completed at least a Master’s degree, a ‘Diplom’ or the state examination). They are not obliged to have obtained funding for their own position, but it counts in their favour if they have.
  • Staff costs allocated to the research associates each amount to at least three person-years (equivalent to full-time positions).
  • They are responsible for staff and the budget.

3. Those granted head of junior research group status at FAU ought to have completed their doctoral degree no more than 6 years ago (date of oral examination). In line with family policy (as set forth in Section 2 Fixed-Term Research Contracts Act, WissZeitVG), this period may have been extended by 2 years for the purpose of caring for a child under 18 years of age.

4. Those granted head of junior research group status at FAU are expected to have been involved in collaborations with extramural research institutions, with an institute of higher education or with business and industry and as far as possible also have spent time doing research abroad.

5. Professors (W1,W2 or W3) are not entitled to be granted head of junior research group status at FAU.

1. The faculties grant heads of junior research groups the right to act as a supervisor for doctoral theses on the basis of the General Doctoral Regulations of FAU (RPromO). Many faculties already allow those who have been granted head of junior research group status to act as doctoral supervisors, and this is now to be introduced throughout all faculties of FAU. According to the relevant degree programme and examination regulations and the Higher Education Examiners Act, HSchPrüferV (in particular section 3 HSchPrüferV), heads of junior research groups will also be entitled to supervise and review Bachelor’s theses, Master’s theses and other comparable final theses. The above rights are not a compulsory prerequisite for being granted head of junior research group status at FAU, however.
2. Heads of junior research groups are invited to take part in the FAUnext programme, a needs-based targeted programme for further qualification and coaching aimed at high-potential staff to prepare them for the next stage in their careers.
3. Heads of junior research groups shall be duly taken into consideration when decisions are taken concerning measures in their faculty. They are involved in the allocation of funds in their faculty on the basis of performance and capacity and their projects are considered by the relevant faculty as third-party funding when allocating funds based on performance and capacity.
4. The faculty agrees PERO target agreements with the heads of junior research groups. Please contact the relevant research coordinator at your faculty for further details.
5. Like junior professors, heads of junior research groups coming from outside the University are exempt from the prohibition of professors being appointed from within the University.

FAU provides heads of junior research groups who come from outside FAU and are financially independent (in other words bringing their own funding obtained in a competition) with an additional equipment budget as seed financing.

Would you like to meet to discuss your research, share experiences or just have a talk with other people who are on the same wavelength? You are very welcome to come and join in the Stammtisch organised by Dr. Nadia Müller-Voggel (FAUngl) and Dr. Elisabeth Bergherr (FAUngl). During these informal gatherings you can meet other researchers and have a chat about various different topics.

Due to the current situation, meetings are currently being held online. As soon as circumstances allow, however, the meetings will be held face to face in a relaxed atmosphere. Please contact Dr. Müller-Voggel by e-mail for further details.