A Professorship in Germany

Tübingen is also home to a number of world-class non-university research institutions, such as institutes from the Max Planck Society, the Helmholtz Association, the Senckenberg Nature Research Society and the Leibniz Association. Occasionally, joint professorships are advertised, which means that applicants will be embarking on a long-term academic career at both the university and the cooperating research institute.

Each professor is required to teach a certain number of hours each semester. At German universities, the teaching workload is usually measured in the number of hours taught per week, so-called “Semesterwochenstunden” (SWS), with one SWS equalling 45 minutes of teaching and 15 minutes of preparation time. W1-professors teach 4 SWS prior to and 6 SWS after their interim evaluation. Full W3-professors teach 9 SWS, while senior lecturers teach 12 SWS. Professors and lecturers can apply for a reduction of their teaching workload in exceptional cases, but it is the university’s policy to strongly encourage all researchers and scholars to teach their full load in order to ensure that as many of our students as possible are educated by the mostly highly qualified staff.

Only full professors (W3) at the University of Tübingen are eligible to apply for research semesters. They are entitled to take every ninth semester off from teaching and administrative duties in order to pursue specific research endeavors and improve their teaching offerings. In order to get approval for this period of absence, they must demonstrate to their dean that their classes will be taught by an adequate substitute from within the existing staff. 

As a rule, German universities are self-governing. This means that professors are expected to be actively involved in governing their department, faculty, and university in various capacities over the course of their career. Participation in university committees for teaching and research, faculty search committees, as well as examination boards, are traditional tasks of professors at German universities. Professors can also be elected into the Academic Senate, a body responsible for the overall development of the university. Some faculties at the University of Tübingen have established full-time deans, elected from among the professors, whereas others elect deans and vice-deans for shorter terms of office which they hold alongside reduced teaching duties. Applicants for professorship positions may therefore also be judged on the basis of their experience in management and leadership.

Professors enjoy full independence in their teaching and research. In fact, this freedom for the arts and sciences – and explicitly for teaching and research – is guaranteed by the German constitution. Though it is related, academic freedom must be distinguished from freedom of speech, which is also highly valued at the university (see the principles passed by the University Senate in 2020). Tübingen takes an uncompromising stance on academic freedom and demands it from all academic cooperation partners as well, no matter where they are from. 

The same is true of good scientific practice. The University of Tübingen expects all of its researchers to adhere to established standards of good scientific practice and to instill these values in their students and doctoral candidates. An affirmed commitment to good scientific practice is also important for successful applications of third-party funding at the national and international level. 

There are several position papers by important funding entities and commissions, as well as position papers issued by the University of Tübingen itself, that can be used as guidelines. In addition to medical research projects involving humans, for which there is a separate Ethics Commission, animal testing requires particular sensitivity from researchers.    

Tübingen Principles of Animal Welfare and Animal Research

The University of Tübingen is home to an important medical faculty and a large University Hospital (“Universitätsklinikum Tübingen”, UKT). The Faculty of Medicine was one of the four founding faculties at the University of Tübingen in 1477. With its non-clinical facilities, as well as its research and teaching areas, it is one of the largest medical training and research institutions in Baden-Württemberg. The UKT welcomes patients from all over the world who come for treatment and seek to benefit from the highest standards in research, patient care, and nursing.

The medical faculty is structured according to the organizational units of the University Hospital. Professors in the Faculty of Medicine are generally expected to engage in patient care as well as in research and teaching. 

University Hospital Homepage

The University of Tübingen is committed to diversity and continues to improve its support for its international staff. Translations of many official documents and forms are available and numerous support services are run by English-speaking staff. You do not have to speak fluent German to be able to work effectively at the University of Tübingen. When it comes to legal affairs, however, the official language of the university and the state is German. The legally relevant version of official documents (including a letter of appointment with the results of negotiations) will therefore be in German, as German is the official contract language of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and the Arts (MWK) in Baden- Württemberg.    
 

The central Gender Equality Office is headed by the university’s gender-equality representative (elected from among tenured faculty), and supports the Senate Equality Committee, as well as the faculties’ own gender-equality officers and committees. The office is also open to all other members of the university and external parties that need information and advice related to the broad issues of equal opportunities for men and women as students, researchers, and faculty.  

Among other responsibilities, the Gender Equality Office provides information on programs to foster gender equality in research, provides support for third-party funding applications with a specific focus on gender-equality measures, provides advice in cases of sexual harassment, produces guides to gender-sensitive language, and administers support measures for individual female researchers. Another focus is to help build structural systems aimed at creating favorable conditions for the equality of female researchers and students at the University of Tübingen.

The Diversity Office supports the University of Tübingen in its goal to develop a university culture based on diversity and equal opportunity, in which all its members can develop and contribute based on their individual abilities regardless of gender, ethnic origin, age, social and religious background, disability, or sexual orientation. This goal is anchored in the university’s mission statement. The office is responsible for developing and implementing a diversity policy that encompasses all areas of the University of Tübingen and takes diversity into account in all its dimensions. With this mandate, the Diversity office is the point of contact for all questions related to the topic of diversity. It advises, supports, and mediates in cases of disadvantage and discrimination in studies and in the workplace.

For further information on gender equality or diversity at the university, please refer to: Gender Equality Office