FAUnext career programme

FAUnext

FAU considers the education and training of staff with high potential as one of its greatest obligations and most important opportunities.

Are achieving professional independence, strengthening academic profiles and gaining additional skills some of your top priorities?

Then why not take part in a qualification programme that is unique among universities throughout Germany, and offers you a wide range of training opportunities for all important topics in your current career phase?

Module registration for 2023/2024 starts on 1 September 2023, 10am. Please notice: A large part of the events take place in presence.

The advantages at a glance:

Individual supervision and selection of the training best suited to your needs
Training conducted by excellent and innovative external instructors and internal experts at FAU
Includes a personal status review and comprehensive career coaching with certified coaches
No time-consuming searches for courses with external providers
No overlaps in terms of topics
Extensive networking within FAU due to different participants in various modules
More cost-effective than individual courses offered by external providers
No application necessary if you belong to the target group
Small course groups in which the trainers respond to your individual needs

In general, all modules are held in English. If there are no English speakers participating in the modules, they will be held in German.

Target group and application process

You can take part in the FAUnext programme if you are one of the following:

W1 professor
Head of a junior research group at FAU
Qualified postdoctoral researcher (participant in Emerging Talents Initiative (FAUeti) or Erlangen start-up funding (FAUelan))

You don’t need to apply to take part in the FAUnext programme. If you are in one of the target groups, you will automatically receive an invitation and can take part at any time.

The programme

You can participate in the programme at any time after receiving an invitation. Your training begins with a individual status review. This comprises a self-reflection form, followed by a feedback meeting at the Graduate Centre if necessary. The results of the status review will help you to select modules for your personal development from the range of modules we offer. You can then register for the modules (registration is binding).

Program contents and services

FAUnext provides support to participants in all aspects of the PERO fields of action at FAU. In line with these fields of action, we offer eight modules in addition to a further module for professorship as a career goal. One or two modules are offered for each field of action. An additional module with the title “Professorship as a career goal”, “Career paths outside university” and
“Negotiation skills” cannot be clearly assigned to only one PERO field.

If you participate in the program, you are entitled to the following benefits, which you can access within two years:

Participation in three modules of your choice. One module consists of 16 work units (AE) of 60 minutes each.
Participation in our networking event.
Receipt of a self-assessment form.
Feedback session on the self-assessment form with a certified career coach to select the modules best suited for you.
Career coaching over 4-5 sessions of 1.5 to 2 hours each within your two years of participation, conducted by our certified coaches. You can coordinate the dates individually with your coach.

In addition, the program is designed so that you can also take advantage of all the benefits and complete at least three modules within one year.

Here is a brief overview of the module topics:

People

Module P1 Developing your own style of management – Cultivating self-awareness
Module P2 Developing your own style of management – Managing yourself and others

More information on the People modules

Education

Module E1 Advanced Higher Education – Focus on your own teaching
Module E2 Online teaching

More information on the Education modules

Research

Module R1 Developing competitive third-party projects
Module R2 Developing successful networks

More information on the Research modules

Careers pursued outside university

The subject matter covered in our modules is just as relevant to careers pursued outside university, and is not tailored exclusively to becoming a professor. Career paths at university or elsewhere are individual, tailor-made solutions, and the best way to explore your various options is with individual coaching sessions or by participating in the “Career paths outside university” module.