Founded in 1743, the long-standing Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) is one of the top universities in Germany. It excels in research and has a strong international focus. In 2018, it has been ranked as Europe’s No. 5 and Germany’s No. 1 innovator in the university landscape (Reuters) and Germany’s No. 2 in terms of engineering research funded by the DFG and No. 1 in terms of funding per professor (DFG).
The proposed FAU tenure-track is a new, performance-based career option, which complements and enhances the range of career and appointment paths available in the long-term by offering a reliable, predictable internal career path. The FAU tenure-track is designed for young scientists with relevant international experience, who specifically choose FAU as the platform for their long-term career development and the region Erlangen-Nuremberg as an ideal science location, where they can successfully demonstrate their exceptional scientific talent. The FAU tenure-track strengthens the profile of FAU as a top-performing university attractive for young scientists and a cooperative partner in the international science system. For the appointment as well as the evaluation of tenure-track professors, a stringent quality management is assured by a transparent procedure with strict performance-based criteria. Experienced mentors provide junior professors with valuable advice and assistance. During the upcoming sustainable implementation of the tenure-track system, FAU can refer back to a successful pilot run of 38 tenure-track professorships and to the results of a comparative evaluation of temporary versus tenure-track professorship positions for young scientists. Experience gained during the pilot run, results from the evaluation as well as a strategic analysis of the initial conditions and career options at FAU are the basis for the current long-term implementation of the FAU tenure-track strategy.