General conditions

All procedures associated with a W1 professorship at FAU are based on the Regulations on Structures, Procedures and Quality Standards of Tenure-Track Professorships and the Evaluation of Professorships at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (Tenure Track Regulations) dated 29 May 2017 (German)

Legal basis: Sections 47-48, HRG; Section 2, paragraphs 14-18, HSchPG

FAU appointment guidelines

After achieving a doctoral degree, a W1 professorship represents the next possible stage of your academic career. It is designed to enable you to acquire the qualifications required for an appointment as a full university professor.

As a W1 professor, you will act as a university lecturer and will be a full member of the academic personnel of the university. Your independent research and teaching activities will be determined by this relationship and you will have the right to supervise doctoral candidates and to examine students.

The BayHSchPG makes a distinction between professors and W1 professors, as the difference in the naming of the posts already makes clear.

W1 professors are generally employed as public servants (Beamte) for a fixed-term and may only use the title of ‘professor’ during their appointment. A fixed-term appointment based on an employment contract (Angestelltenverhältnis) may be deemed appropriate for a W1 professor.

Your official duties (Section 16 BayHSchPG) as a W1 professor will include gaining additional qualifications to prepare for your appointment to a full professorship by undertaking academic- research- and teaching-related tasks.

You will not be authorised to sit on appointments committees or act in professor evaluation proceedings.

Would you like to apply for a professorship? Like all other professorships, available W1 professorships are publicly advertised, usually internationally.

Candidates who have worked as research associates or research assistants during the pre- or post-doctoral phase should note that the total time spent in an employment relationship in one or more institutions may not exceed 6 years (9 years in the fields of medicine and clinical psychology; specialist training). These maximum employment periods allowed prior to appointment as a W1 professor are specified in the Academic Fixed-Term Contract Act (WissZeitVG); these employment periods may also have been spent at a Max Planck institute or working for an external research institution. Exact employment dates are required for calculation purposes. Employment periods in excess of this ‘6-year rule’ need to be justified on a case-by-case basis for each applicant.

W1 professorships are usually based on a two-phase employment contract that generally extends for six years; the appointment is made for a period of three years during the first phase.

At the end of your first three-year phase, your work as a university lecturer in this period will be subjected to an intermediate evaluation. Your performance will be assessed; if the result is positive, your contract will be extended to cover the total period of six years as will your temporary status as a public servant (Beamte) if you are employed on these terms. The assessment procedure and measures for determining the quality of your performance

are specified in the Tenure Track Regulations. In the event of a negative intermediate evaluation, an additional bridging period of one year may be granted assuming you agree to this.

The university may also combine the W1 professorship with a tenure track option, although at FAU the tenure track option does not guarantee a tenured professorship (Please see the Tenure Track Regulations). In this case, the tenure evaluation will only be used to determine whether you have the necessary qualification to continue along the academic path to a W2 or W3 professorship.

This tenure evaluation is usually only undertaken following a positive intermediate evaluation (see the Tenure Track Regulations). The appointment may be made if the requirements of Sections 18 (3)(4) and 18 (3)(4)(1), BayHSchPG are met; in this case it is not necessary to advertise the post and invite external applications.

Are you applying for a W1 professorship at FAU as an international applicant? We have compiled some information to assist you in understanding the professorship and career path systems in Germany and to familiarise you with appointment procedure practices in this country: What is a professorship? Career paths at FAU.

As a W1 professor, you will receive initial start-up funding from FAU.

Before your appointment, the dean will conclude a performance agreement with you, which will also cover the general terms and conditions governing the period of your professorship. The aim is to define expectations, standards and quantifiable evaluation criteria for the subsequent evaluation procedure – possibly also an appropriate schedule. The criteria will take into account whether your W1 professorship is associated with a tenure track option. This performance agreement constitutes the basis for your intermediate evaluation and, if you also have the tenure track option, the appropriate equivalence qualification for your subsequent later appointment.

As a W1 professor, you will be supervised by a mentor who is not working in your field. This person will help you meet the requirements set out in your performance agreement and will supervise and advise you while you prepare for your role as a higher level university professor.

Once you have undergone the intermediate evaluation, you will receive detailed feedback about your performance thus far during the course of a personal interview. You will also be issued with a certificate showing the decision of the faculty council on whether or not to grant you a postdoctoral lecturing qualification.

You will find further information and support material under Service centres.