Junior professorship at Paderborn University
For many years now, Paderborn University has been maintaining junior professorships as an alternative qualification model for a professorship. The number of these positions is being successfully expanded and today their share in professorships at Paderborn University is considerably above the national average. The model has proven its worth: The vast majority of junior professors trained at Paderborn University have been granted a tenured professorship.
Hereby, the junior professorships play an important role in the research profile of Paderborn University: They act as a temporary supplement or expansion of existing research focuses and enable the probing of new fields of research.
Information for junior professors
- Framework conditions and characteristics of a junior professorship
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In general, the prerequisites for the appointment to a junior professorship are an outstanding doctoral degree and where applicable further scientific or academic achievements as well aptitude in the areas of pedagogy and didactics. Proof of further subject-specific qualifications may be required.
Junior professors are appointed for a fixed-term by a quality-assured appointment procedure. Initially, they are appointed for three years. An intermediate evaluation will be conducted in the third year to establish whether the person has proven themselves as a university professor and whether the junior professorship is extended for a further three years. The focus of the evaluation is on research and teaching work; however, it will also consider activities within the scope of academic self-administration.
Legally, junior professors belong to the group of university professors, however, due to their qualification and fixed-term status they are also allocated to the group of junior scientists and academics. An allocation to the group of university professors in general grants the same rights and obligations as applicable for permanent professorships. Junior professors independently carry out research and teaching activities, are involved in the academic self-administration and are authorised to supervise doctoral candidates. The teaching commitments of W1 professors are however less pronounced (4 periods per week in the 1st phase, five semester periods per week after the successful completion of the intermediate evaluation).
- Qualification opportunities for junior professors
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Information regarding qualification opportunities and advice services is available here.
Additional offers focusing specifically on junior professors and other executives are:
- Coaching for professors – a joint service from the Staff Development Team and the Equal Opportunities Office
- Individual Didactic Coaching as well as further services offered by the Higher Education Development Unit (e.g. peer observation of teaching, advice on the development of study programmes and workshops)
- Training and further training courses on leadership skills offered by the internal training, continuing and further education division
- The German Association of University Professors and Lecturers offers seminars, coaching, mentoring and counselling for professors among other things in the context of appointments.
- Awards and funding programmes
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Information on science and teaching awards as well as on funds for research projects and trips is available here.
Another specific offer for junior professors is the option of funding research projects by employment as a scientific or academic research assistant within the scope of the equality concept.