Capitalising on the programme’s funding, the University of Kassel will systematically establish the appointment of professors to tenure-track positions, thus establishing this career path option in compliance with the comprehensive, yet flexible legal provisions in the State of Hesse. Henceforth, the University of Kassel will appoint 15 percent of all professors in this way. This endeavour is intertwined with the University’s research profile and aims at facilitating a cultural change in the development of early-career researchers. The allocation of the thirteen professorships funded by the programme will be in line with the research objectives as defined in the University’s strategic plan, striving to strengthen basic research. To do so on a recurring and strategically driven basis, the University intends to establish a pool for tenure-track faculty positions.
In recent years, the University of Kassel has put substantial effort in fostering early-career researchers by providing a specific career development framework (2012), by introducing supervision agreements for doctoral researchers (2013), by founding a graduate academy (2014), and by strategically allocating and promoting entry-level, so-called W1 professorships (2015). As a result, the University has been able to increase the number of successfully completed doctoral dissertations significantly. Further improvement is needed in supporting (externally funded) post-doctoral researchers and allocating tenure-track faculty positions according to the University’s profile areas. Therefore, by using the programme’s overhead funding for supplementary strategic actions, the University will, in particular, focus on facilitating the post-doctoral career development phase, as well as support the appointed tenure-track professors. In so doing, it will further advance equal employment opportunity and the balancing of work and family responsibilities.