Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin is committed to supporting exceptionally talented individuals at all stages of their career. The Humboldt Talent Track represents a further development of the tenure-track professorship and will see it being firmly established as a university-wide career path. The central aim of this initiative is to assist young academics on their way to obtaining a professorship. It constitutes a vital investment in the innovative power and potential of tomorrow’s researchers.

What are the aims?

• Achieve greater transparency and facilitate career planning
• Increase responsibility for tenure-track professorships at the university level
• Provide security for young academics on the way to the next stage of their career
• Make the tenure-track more appealing for international applicants by improving compatibility with international career paths
• Improve equality of opportunity and work-life balance

What is new?

• Enshrining the structures, procedures and quality standards in the university statutes
• Making the tenure-track career path available at other career levels besides the junior professorship track
• Rolling out the procedure in all faculties across the whole university
• Ensuring the procedure is transparent and raising the assessment criteria
• Improving support for tenure-track professors by introducing a mentoring scheme
• Appointing a central Tenure-Track Board to undertake interdisciplinary quality assurance and supervision of the tenure-track procedure
• Incorporating the tenure-track professorship into the university’s structural development plan

Humboldt-Universität adopted the tenure-track model early on with excellent results. As a participant in the Joint Federal Government-Länder Funding Programme for Junior Academics, Humboldt-Universität embraces the opportunity to offer the tenure-track professorship as a fully-fledged career path that is both attractive and sustainable.