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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Universities of Freiburg and Jena to hold national conference on tenure track principle
The future of academic career paths in Germany will be the topic of discussion on 15 and 16 May 2025 at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. The Universities of Freiburg and Jena are hosting the high-profile conference ‘The Tenure Track Principle: Career Paths and Cultural Change in the German Academic System’.
The tenure track professorship was established in the German academic system in the past years with the intention of creating earlier and more reliable career prospects. Young academics can apply for these professorships in the first years after earning their doctoral degree, without having to first complete their habilitation. The positions are initially granted for a fixed term but are converted into permanent professorships on a higher salary scale after a positive final evaluation.
‘Our experience with the tenure track professorship has been very positive. At the conference, we will debate how we can transfer this positive experience to positions other than professorships’, explains Prof. Dr. Thomas Pertsch. ‘In this way, it could be possible to make academic careers alongside the professorship easier to plan and more reliable’, adds the University of Jena’s Vice President of Research and Innovation. ‘One of our main concerns is to make a change in the structure of academic staff – to create a more diverse academic landscape in Germany that is also an attractive destination for international researchers and fills positions in a way that is transparent and focused on quality and potential’, says Prof. Dr. Sylvia Paletschek, Vice Rector for University Culture at the University of Freiburg.
The conference is being organized by the University of Freiburg and the University of Jena in cooperation with UniWiND and the German U15 university consortium, with funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Representatives from higher education policy, members of the Germany-wide tenure track network, and academics in the doctoral and postdoctoral phase will debate with each other on the podium. At a parliamentary evening, the higher education policymakers from the new federal government will introduce themselves and provide insight into current (higher education) policy discussions. This evening will be presented in cooperation with the German U15 consortium.
On-site participation in the conference is no longer possible, but there will be a live stream, which can be accessed at https://tenuretrack-deutschland.de/veranstaltungen/tenure-track-tagung-2025. The page also provides a detailed conference programme.
Press representatives are cordially invited to register for conference accreditation under the following address:
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
2025 Tenure Track Conference Office
Graduate Academy, Haus für den wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchs ‘Zur Rosen’
Johannisstraße 13, 07743 Jena
Contacts: André Stiegler, Mareike Timm, Anne Dünger
Telephone: +49 3641 9-401317
Fax: +49 3641 9-401302
tt-tagung@uni-jena.de
https://www.uni-jena.de/en/314171/the-future-of-academic-career-paths
Contact
University and Science Communications
University of Freiburg
Tel.: +49 761 203 4302
Email: kommunikation@zv.uni-freiburg.de
https://uni-freiburg.de/en/the-future-of-academic-career-paths/
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