After completing your doctoral degree
Would you like to stay on at FAU to gain further qualifications as a postdoctoral researcher, possibly completing a habilitation? Are you already employed at FAU and would like to develop your core skills through professional development courses? Or are you wondering how to finance your research activities?
Careers after completing a doctoral degree
What happens after completing a doctoral degree? FAU offers postdoctoral researchers a number of different options and career paths.
Information on this page
Training courses and career planning
At FAU, early career researchers drive innovation, societal progress and academic excellence. In our opinion, helping talented early career researchers to gain further qualifications and accompanying them on their individual career path is our key task.
The FAU Graduate Center offers interdisciplinary information events and seminars on key qualifications. These are open to all doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers at FAU.
The purpose of the event is to provide you with some ideas for planning your academic or non-academic career, to show you what support FAU provides for postdoctoral researchers and to offer a forum for exchanging ideas and information.
Gain some input and ideas for your path to success during presentations and discussions, get in touch with experts from FAU and talk to professors who have already been appointed.
FAU considers the education and training of staff with high potential as one of its greatest obligations and most important opportunities. The career program FAUnext supports excellent postdoctoral researchers, FAU heads of junior research groups and W1 professors in all the important areas of their career phase.
In our lunch talk series FAUnext4all, we invite guest speakers to hold brief presentations on specific topics that are of interest to the target group of postdoctoral researchers and assistant professors (W1).
The coaching is offered in-house by Dr. Silke Schnurbusch. She has been certified by the German Association for Coaching and Training (dvct) and has many years’ experience in advising and coaching early career researchers.
If you are interested in coaching sessions, please make an appointment directly.
The FAUprofund program deals with questions concerning applications by early career researchers for third-party funded projects.
We at FAU are here to help, and this program gives you the opportunity to participate in targeted professional development designed to further your research career.
Funding and advice for applications for third-party funding
FAU provides early career researchers with a wide range of services to help them in their research, from looking for suitable funding to successfully completing projects.
Our internal funding programs offer you additional options for financing your research projects.
With the Emerging Talents Initiative (FAUeti), FAU supports excellent early career researchers (postdoctoral researchers to W1 professors before their interim evaluation) in applying for external funding. This should give early career researchers the possibility to promote an innovative project independently and extend their academic independence.
Contact: eti@fau.de
The Faculty of Medicine offers researchers a wide range of support options. These range from their own programs for funding medical research, to advice on applying for external funding, to support in conducting clinical studies.
For initial questions with regard to your research project, you can contact the advisors at your faculty directly.
Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Theology
Dr. Cordula Glass
Research associates
Contact
Dr. Robert Fischer
Research associates
Contact
Faculty of Business, Economics, and Law
Dr. Dennis Kirchberg
Research associates
Contact
Faculty of Medicine
Dr. rer. nat. Anja Goldmann
Staff
Contact
Faculty of Sciences
Patrik Stör
Resarch and Internationalisation
Contact
Faculty of Engineering
The research institutions connected to FAU also have their own job portals:
Equal opportunities at FAU
Within the context of measures aimed at encouraging equal opportunities, FAU offers a number of funding opportunities directed specifically at women.
Further offers for women at FAU are available on the website of the Office of Equality and Diversity.
The ARIADNE programs support high-potential female early career researchers at various qualification levels. They center on the appointment of a mentor who provides advice on strategic and practical questions regarding career paths.
Outstanding female doctoral candidates in their final phase and other female early career researchers aiming to pursue an academic career can apply for a scholarship from the program for encouraging equal opportunities for women in research and teaching (FFL).
(International) mobility
Click on the tabs to receive further information.
The Welcome Center is the central point of contact and university service for internationally mobile researchers, international guests, and host institutions at FAU.
Welcome to FAU! Here we have compiled important information for you to find your feet and get off to a flying start at FAU.
ERASMUS+ teaching mobility funds visiting lecturers at European partner universities. This offers participants the opportunity to gain initial experience abroad at the same time as conducting research on their own scientific work.
Postdoctoral researchers should also take a look at euraxess Germany.
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the DAAD offer fellowships for international postdoctoral researchers to come to Germany and researchers based in Germany who want to go abroad. The DAAD offers a return fellowship for postdoctoral researchers who would like to return to Germany after spending time in another country.
Planning is vital if you intend to spend a longer period of time abroad. But what exactly should you bear in mind if you want to be well prepared for a stay abroad?
Our checklist will help you:
- Is the time I spend abroad taken into account for pay grade purposes when I return to employment at FAU?
- What happens with my job if I accept a scholarship whilst I am employed?
- What effect will time spent abroad have on my pension?
- Do I need a work permit to work in the host country?
- Do I need a visa and/or a residence permit?
- Should I keep my German bank account, open a new account abroad, or keep my German account and open a new account?
- Am I covered by my liability and accident insurance when I am abroad?
- How are travel expenses paid? Are my relocation costs to and from the foreign country covered?
- What tax do I need to pay on my scholarship? Where can I get further information?
- Where should I pay my insurance contributions during my time abroad?
- What happens with my place of residence in Germany?
Our tips
- Contact your funding provider if you have any questions.
- The EURAXESS Germany portal supports mobile researchers and answers important questions on spending time abroad, even giving specific case examples. The portal gives information on the topics of visa, work permits abroad, tax, social security and traveling with your family.
- The national office for cross-border health care in other countries within the EU can provide you with information on health insurance and treatments abroad.
- If you have any questions about employment contracts and pensions, you can contact Human Resources at FAU. We would recommend talking to the human resources department at your current employer and the “Deutsche Rentenversicherungs Bund” or the respective pension insurance provider before going abroad.
- Legal advice in all matters relating to university or public service law is offered by the German Association of University Professors and Lecturers (Deutscher Hochschulverband).
- In addition, coordinators at the faculties can provide advice on individual cases.