The basic premise of the new appointment and career policy is that every academic staff member should have as much clarity as possible about her or his career possibilities at the faculty and what he or she can do to advance his or her career. This requires unambiguous criteria for appointment and promotion; these criteria also need to be viewed in the context of the strategic course set by the respective department and the Faculty as a whole. The new policy reflects faculty policy on equality, diversity and inclusiveness.

The most important topics touched upon by the new appointment and career policy are: 

• Open recruitment and broad-based selection committees

To find the most appropriate candidate, each new job vacancy will be filled by means of an open recruitment procedure. Candidates will be selected by broad-based committees.

• Tenure track as a critical career instrument

In principle, appointments under the new appointment and career policy are subject to tenure tracks. A tenure track is a temporary appointment (for a period not exceeding six years) that, if the staff member fulfils the agreed-uponconditions, leads to a permanent appointment to a higher position. The agreed-upon terms are cast in the form of a contract. 

If a tenure track is to succeed, the candidate must be afforded the possibility of doing research from the very beginning of his/her employment. To achieve this, the amount of time that young researchers can dedicate to research has been increased to 50% of the scope of the appointment. 

Besides the tenure track option, it is also possible to conclude a permanent employment contract that does not specify any further promotion targets. The latter option could be considered if assigning a tenure track is deemed less appropriate for any reason, e.g. given the composition of the department in question or if the jobs market is particularly tight in a particular subdiscipline. 

• Permanent employment

The basic idea is that the prospect of permanent employment should be the norm unless temporary employment is the only viable alternative. This applies in any event to level 1 lecturers, assistant professors (university lecturers), associate professors (senior university lecturers) and full professors. Other academic personnel are appointed for fixed terms, in principle; this includes PhD candidates, postdocs and staff members on a tenure track. 

Works Council

The Faculty Works Council was actively engaged with the development of the new policy. The Works Council and the Board have agreed that the impact of the new policy will be evaluated after it has been in effect for two years. 

Target group

The update to the appointment and career policy applies to academic personnel only, with the exception of PPLE.