Professorship appointment process in Germany
The long road to a professorship in Germany 鈥� What does the professorship appointment process look like?
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Because of the legally established principle of finding the best possible candidate, the process of filling a vacant professorship can be an extremely lengthy one. How long does it take? What steps can be expected along the way? And what is the justification for bans on in-house appointments?
Updated: 2025-03-05
Contents
What is the appointment process for a professorship in Germany?
The process of filling open junior professorships or full professorships adheres to a strictly defined system and well-established choreography. The ultimate goal is the identification of the best possible candidate. This principle 鈥� laid out in the German constitution, the 鈥淏asic Law,鈥� as the foundation for hires in the public sector 鈥� is designed to ensure excellence in both research and teaching at the university making the hire.
How long does the appointment process last?
The selection of the best possible candidate takes time. As a rule, the respective faculty or institute must notify university administrators one-and-a-half years to two years before a position becomes vacant (depending on the applicable German state laws and the university鈥檚 own regulations) so that they can plan accordingly. Even in cases of sudden, unplanned vacancies, the appointment process does not become appreciably shorter due to a tight legal corset.
The first step involves the institute and university administrators determining the necessity of filling the vacancy, the focus of the position 鈥� should a change be desired 鈥� and the financial framework. Once the approval meetings are concluded and the precise profile of the position agreed on, a call for applications is issued, usually internationally. In some German states, the state Ministry of Science must first provide its approval before a professorship can be filled, while that decision is reserved for the Academic Senate at some universities. Publicly accessible protocols provide information on the form and denomination in which the professorship is advertised.
After that comes:
- the application process
- the interview (audition), including public lecture
- the preparation of the appointment proposal
- the appointment
In total, up to two years, but at least around 14 months, elapse between a vacancy being reported and the professorship being filled.
What qualifications must an applicant have?
Once it becomes clear that a professorship is to be filled, the faculty assembles an appointment committee. This body controls and directs the entire appointment process from start to finish. Its goal is to find the best qualified academic for the position 鈥� and to convince that person takes the job. In parallel with the call for applications, the appointment committee actively searches for qualified candidates and encourages them to apply. In most cases, though, 鈥渘on-applicants鈥� may also be considered (though rules at some universities require that they give their permission) and even appointed.
The principle of finding the best candidate takes professional competence into account, but it also considers a variety of other skills and abilities. Appointment rules at the University of Hamburg (UHH) for example, list the following points that must be considered when choosing a candidate:
- Academic qualifications
- Didactic abilities
- Ability to give the university new impetus in research and teaching
- Expectations of academic contributions to UHH鈥檚 primary research priorities
- Particular commitment to teaching and experience in the development of curricula
- Management skills, especially personnel management, and social skills
- Experience in bringing in external funding
- Experience abroad
- Willingness and aptitude for interdisciplinary collaboration
- Ability to consider gender issues in research and teaching
How does the appointment process continue?
Once the application deadline has past, the so-called 鈥渁udition鈥� phase takes place within the timeframe laid out in the appointment regulations (usually three months). Only the most promising candidates are invited to take part in this phase. It generally includes the holding of a public lecture followed by a discussion, a sample in-class teaching session and the presentation of the candidates teaching and research concepts.
Once the appointment committee has heard all of the auditions from the invited candidates, it chooses those who fit best and commissions external, independent evaluations of those candidates (usually two evaluations per candidate). Then, within a certain predetermined timeframe 鈥� at the University of Paderborn, to name one example, it is two-and-a-half months after the final audition 鈥� the appointment proposal, sometimes called the appointment list, must be drawn up. Generally, this list includes the three best candidates, ranked in order of preference. University administrators then have the final say and make the offer 鈥� not necessarily to the candidate at the top of the list 鈥� after which appointment negotiations can begin.
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Are there exceptional cases in which the call for applications can be waived?
The public 鈥� and, in most cases, international 鈥� call for applications to fill an open professorship is generally a legal requirement. Still, in certain situations, it can either be completely waived or the appointment process can be significantly simplified. Each German state has its own set of laws regulating procedures at universities in that state, so it is unsurprising that there are differences when it comes to this eventuality. But in all 16 German states, no call for applications is necessary when a temporary employment relationship is being converted into a permanent one 鈥� whether it is for the same professorship or a higher-ranking one.
A waiving of the call for applications or a simplified appointment procedure is also allowed when:
- a part-time professorship is changed into a full-time professorship
- a tenure-track junior professor with the appropriate qualifications is appointed to fill a vacant tenured or permanent professorship
- an exceptionally qualified person is available to fill the professorship, the recruitment of whom is in the university鈥檚 interest (extraordinary appointment)
- the professor has received an offer from another university for a higher-value professorship (or, in Bremen and North Rhine-Westphalia, a professorship of at least equal value) and there is a desire to prevent that professor from leaving
- the process for choosing the best possible candidate is replaced by a different concept for guaranteeing quality 鈥� a concept which must be approved by the relevant state ministry
- a joint appointment process between a university and research institute is being carried out and a proven expert from the research institute involved is to be given a professorship (Bremen)
- the position is a temporary replacement (Hamburg)
It what cases might there be a ban on in-house appointments?
The ban on in-house appointments 鈥� called a Hausberufungsverbot in German 鈥� holds that nobody can be appointed to an open professorship at the same institute where he or she is already employed. It isn鈥檛, however, a ban as such. Rather, German state laws pertaining to university hiring practices have established strict guidelines for appointment proceedings, according to which in-house appointments are only allowed in justified exceptional cases. Those guidelines are intended to avoid suspicions of nepotism in addition to precluding the entrenchment of certain intellectual tendencies or scientific approaches. However, a complete ban on in-house appointments would not be consistent with the German constitution, since it would violate the principle of equal treatment and the concept of identifying the best possible candidate.
One exception involves tenure-track junior professors applying to positions advertised with reference to the possibility of a long-term professorship and the denomination of the two positions is comparable. For other junior professors, the laws of many German states hold that they can only be appointed to a long-term professorship if they have conducted research for at least two years (Hesse: three years; Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: several years) outside of the institute in question or transferred to the university after receiving their 鈥減romotion,鈥� the advanced degree beyond a doctorate that professors in Germany generally must earn.
An appointment from a temporary civil servant position or from a fixed-term employment relationship under private law to a long-term professorship also represents an exception to the ban on in-house appointments in many cases. Some state laws, such as those in Brandenburg or Saxony, also permit in-house appointments if the candidate in question has already received an appointment at another university or was at least part of an appointment proposal there. In such cases, the appointee鈥檚 qualifications and aptitude have been established externally.
