Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Professorships with Perspective

With the tenure-track procedure the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin provides a reliable and transparent career path to lifelong professorship, and thus aims to bind excellent academics at an early stage and provide them with targeted support.
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Attract and promote excellent young research talents

The innovative strength and productivity of the research at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU) builds on the potentials of young researchers. The HU Berlin introduced the tenure option in 2005 as a way to facilitate the transition of academics to lifelong professorship already in the early stages of their career. Since 2018 it has been implementing the “real” tenure-track across all faculties. A central tenure board monitors the introduction of the procedure.

Strengthening structures and advancing cultural change

Since 2017 the concept of promoting young researchers at the HU Berlin has been funded through the Federal Government-Länder-Programme to promote young academics. Altogether 26 professorships were appointed with a total funding amount of 24.5 million Euro. Thus important new topics in research and teaching could be established at the faculties in a sustainable way. The wide dispersion of funded tenure-track professorships allows for an academic career system based on early academic independence to be pushed forward across all faculties.

Improving international attractiveness

The internationally adaptable tenure-track procedure moreover increases the attractiveness of the HU Berlin in the global competition for the top talents. The share of tenure-track professorships in relation to new appointments for permanent W2- and W3-professorships shall increase significantly by 2020. The aim is to appoint half of the lifelong professorships in future to women.