The Philipps-University Marburg (UMR) will implement the tenure-track-professorship on a permanent basis as a regular procedure, thereby offering outstanding scientists an additional and predictable career path to a permanent professorship during their early career phase. In future, UMR will fill between 20% and 30% of all professorships through the tenure-track procedure.
A core element of UMR's strategy for personnel development and for promoting young researchers is the recently established Marburg Young Faculty Club (MYFC). This institution will support tenure-track professorships through specific funding and development offers, tailored to the R3 career level, following offers from the Marburg Research Academy (MARA) for doctoral candidates and postdocs (R1/R2). Scientific independence for the tenure-track professorships is secured through adequate levels of personnel funding and financial resources. Additional profile elements for establishing and supporting the tenure-track professorships in Marburg will be specific degrees of freedom in the design of the tenure-track phase, targeted measures to facilitate compatibility between family life and career, as well as actively recruiting more young female scientists. Level R3 researchers holding other temporary qualification positions (e.g. Heisenberg Fellows, junior research group leaders) are MYFC members as well, and thus will use the established support services on an equal footing.
In addition to a professorship, the profiling of other career paths constitutes yet another focus of UMR’s personnel development strategy. In particular, the introduction of a trainee program in science management for young researchers, as well as the establishment of an independent further education program for employees permanently engaged in research are envisaged.