Head of junior research group status at FAU

1. Those granted head of junior research group status at FAU, otherwise known as FAU-NGLs, 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 up to 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. FAUnext will be launched during 2020. You will be told all about it in good time.
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.

Heads of junior research groups are appointed by the faculties during a selection process. Applications can be filed spontaneously or in response to a call for applications from the Dean of the respective faculty, in both instances using the online application process in CRIS (Current Research Information System). The decision to grant head of junior research group status is taken by the Faculty Council and applies for the duration of the acquired funding for such time as the researcher remains a member of FAU. Applicants are provided with a certificate confirming their head of junior research group status at FAU. They are listed as a head of a junior research group (FAU-NGL) on the FAU Graduate Centre website.

Once you submit your application in CRIS, we are notified by the Graduate Centre and check the formal requirements (e.g. have all required documents been submitted and all requirements met). The application is then forwarded to the faculty and a decision is taken by the Faculty Council. The Graduate Centre issues a certificate confirming head of junior research group (FAU-NGL) status once the application has been approved.

In order to make it easier for you to apply, an online application feature has been integrated into CRIS (Current Research Information System). For most of you who have already entered your data in CRIS this makes submitting an application very straightforward as all you have to do is release the areas relevant for the application (e.g. publication list). If you do not yet use CRIS, you will first of all need to enter your data in CRIS.

Please contact Dr. Silke Schnurbusch if you have any questions relating to what should be included in your application. If you have any technical issues, please contact cris-support@fau.de.

Applications should be submitted online via CRIS.

We have prepared an information sheet to help you when preparing an application.