Ways of Assistant Professorship

In the following you find an overview of assistant professorships at the University of Rostock. The legal regulations governing the appointment of assistant professors are laid down in the State Higher Education Act and in the appointment regulations together with supplementary guidelines. If you have any questions, please contact the Unit Appointments.

FORMS OF ASSISTANT PROFESSORSHIP

The assistant professorship without tenure track (W1 up to six years) is a temporary qualification position without the option to be appointed and taken on as a W2 or W3 lifetime professorship at the University of Rostock. After three years, an interim evaluation will take place. If the interim evaluation is successful, the employment relationship is extended for another three years. Otherwise, the employment can be extended for up to one year with the consent of the junior professor.

A new appointment as a junior professor is possible if the position is to be filled by a tenure-track professor.

The assistant professorship with tenure track option (W1 up to six years) is also a temporary qualification position without a direct commitment for appointment and takeover of a W2 or W3 lifetime professorship at the University of Rostock. Instead, the appointment as an assistant professorship opens up the option of an appointment to a lifetime professorship immediately following the junior professorship,subject to a waiver of the invitation to tender (tenure-track option). The tenure-track option for an assistant professorship must already be stated in the announcement for the assistant professorship. The acceptance of a W2/W3 lifetime professorship takes place within the framework of an ordinary appointment procedure, with a justification for waiving the invitation to tender. The appointment procedure can be initiated at the earliest after a successful interim evaluation by the faculty.

The assistant professorship with tenure track (W1 up to six years) is a temporary qualification position with direct commitment to appointment and takeover of a W2 or W3 professorship at the University of Rostock. After a positive interim evaluation and subsequent tenure evaluation, there is an entitlement to a W2/W3 lifetime professorship (so-called tenure track professorship). This places special demands on the selection procedure for the assistant professorship, since a prognosis must be made at an early stage of the academic career. Binding criteria for tenure evaluation are agreed upon at the time of appointment. Transfer to the lifetime professorship is carried out in a "quality-assured evaluation procedure" that meets the quality standards applicable to appointment procedures. In the event of a negative tenure evaluation, the tenure-track professor's employment may be extended by up to one year at the request of the tenure track professor.

THE PROCEDURE

The appointment procedure for an assistant professorship does not differ significantly from an appointment procedure for a professorship and is based on the State Higher Education Act (LHG M-V) and the appointment regulations of the University of Rostock including supplementary guidelines and statutes.

The figure shows the sequence of an appeal procedure. The timeline is based on experience and can therefore differ in individual cases.

On the website of the unit Appointments you will find information about current appointment procedures at the University of Rostock.

Three years after taking up an assistant professorship with or without tenure track, an interim evaluation must be carried out. The procedure begins eight months before the end of the 3-year period. The interim evaluation will determine whether the assistant professor has proven his/her worth as a university lecturer and whether he/she has achieved the performance defined at the time of appointment to the assistant professorship.

All details of the interim evaluation are regulated by the regulations for assistant professorships and tenure track professorships in accordance with § 62 and § 62a of the State Higher Education Act (LHG M-V).

Six years after taking up an assistant professorship with tenure track, a tenure evaluation must be conducted. The procedure begins 16 months before the end of the 6-year employment contract. In exceptional cases, such as in order to ward off a foreign reputation of at least equal value, an early tenure evaluation procedure may be granted. The tenure evaluation procedure determines whether the performance requirements established upon appointment to an assistant professorship have been met during the fixed-term employment relationship and whether the candidate has the necessary professional and pedagogical aptitude to be accepted for the permanent professorship.

All details regarding tenure evaluation are set out in the regulations for assistant professorships and tenure track professorships in accordance with § 62 and § 62a of the State Higher Education Act (LHG M-V).