The Athene Young Investigators in December 2019, at an event hosted by then Vice President Prof. Mira Mezini. From left to right: Dr. Meike Saul, Dr. Juliane Krämer, Dr. Martin Grimmer, Dr. Johann Isaak, Dr. Michael Muma, Dr. Eric Grosse, Dr. Jurij Koruza, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Mira Mezini, Dr. Arash Asadi, and Dr. Tatiana Tatarenko.
(Missing: Dr. Xufei Fang and Dr. Philipp John)
The Athene Young Investigator Programme aims to qualify early career researchers for the post of university professor by
- increasing their scientific independence,
- supporting their commitment to teaching and to student supervision,
- offering special training to broaden their transferable skills and extracurricular qualifications,
- providing them with the opportunity to participate in academic self-administration,
- improving the visibility of their individual research profile.
All Athene Young Investigators are well integrated into their respective department at TU Darmstadt and are supported by experienced senior researchers. In addition, the university offers its Athene Young Investigators
- a funding period of 3+2 years,
- the privilege to supervise their own doctoral candidates,
- a discipline-specific budget for self-determined use (research expenses, conferences, travel expenses, stays abroad including childcare, further education opportunities, assistants, publication costs, etc.),
- opportunities for independent teaching,
- pay grade EG 14 TV-TU Darmstadt,
- training courses for extracurricular qualification (i.e., soft and transferable skills) for Athene Young Investigator specifically tailored to the needs of advanced junior researchers.
The Athene Young Investigator Programme has been conceptualised as a five-year, quality-assured programme, including an evaluation during the third year.
The competitive selection process is organised in two rounds and is overseen by the selection committee “Nachwuchsprogramme” which consists of six professors (representing all disciplines at TU Darmstadt) and the Gender Equality Officer, with the Vice President for Research and Early Careers acting as chair. In the first round, the committee pre-selects applicants whose proposals are then reviewed by external international reviewers.
Subsequently, candidates are invited for a personal introduction consisting of a 15-min. talk followed by a 20-min. interview. Based on the external reviews and on the interview, the committee then takes the final selection decision.
The applicant’s declared aim shall be to strive for a post as university professor. In addition, the applicant shall have and experience
- a (current or prospective) position in a department at TU Darmstadt,
- funding for a PhD position, either self-acquired or provided by the department (exceptions may apply),
- at least one year and at most five years of postdoc experience (compensation for maternity and/or parental leave, long sick leave etc. is possible),
- a doctorate completed with outstanding results,
- the engaged support of a supervisor with regard to the career goal “qualification for a professorship”
- scientific excellence by international standards (publications with significant own contribution, collaborations, awards, etc.),
- pedagogical aptitude for academic teaching,
- potential abilities to take on leadership and project management roles,
- substantial international research experience or substantial experience in the research division of a commercial enterprise.
- Offers provided by the Center for Educational Development and Technology
(“Hochschuldidaktische Arbeitsstelle”) - Towards Leadership – Young Academic Professionals Leadership Programme
- Workshops for advanced junior scientists applying for professorships, jointly organised by the Rhine-Main Universities (RMU)
Next closing date for applications is November 15th, 2023. Next Athene Young Investigator appointments start on April 1st, 2024.
| Athene Young Investigator | Appointment | Portrait |
|---|---|---|
| Portraits by Astrid Ludwig, TU Darmstadt | ||
|
Dr. Jens Marquardt Political Science |
April 2023 |
in German Portrait Dr. Marquardt |
|
Pelin Tozmann (PhD) Materials and Earth Sciences |
April 2023 | Portrait Ms. Tozman |
|
Dr.-Ing. Alejandro Jiménez_Saez Electrical Engineering and Information Technology |
April 2023 | Portrait Dr.-Ing. Jiménez-Sáez |
|
Dr. Martin Adam Law and Economics |
April 2022 | Portrait Dr. Adam |
|
Dr.-Ing. Tobias Meuser Electrical Engineering and Information Technology |
April 2022 | Portrait Dr.-Ing. Meuser |
|
Dr.-Ing. Yvonne Späck-Leigsnering Electrical Engineering and Information Technology |
April 2022 | Portrait Dr.-Ing. Späck-Leigsnering |
|
Dr. Stephan Schulz Environmental Engineering Science |
April 2021 | Portrait Dr. Schulz |
|
Dr. Vanessa Zeller Materials and Earth Sciences |
April 2021 | Portrait Dr. Zeller |
|
Dr.-Ing. Arne Scholtissek Mechanical Engineering |
April 2021 | Portrait Dr.-Ing. Scholtissek |
|
Dr.-Ing. Lin Xiang Electrical Engineering |
April 2021 | Portrait Dr.-Ing. Xiang |
|
Dr. Alexander Tichai Physics |
December 2020 | Portrait: Dr. Tichai |
|
Dr.-Ing. Tomislav Maric Mathematics |
October 2020 | Portrait: Dr.-Ing. Maric |
|
Dr. Xufei Fang Materials and Earth Sciences |
October 2019 |
In German Portrait: Dr. Fang |
|
Dr. Johann Isaak Physics |
October 2019 |
In German Portrait: Dr. Isaak |
|
Dr. Martin Grimmer Human Sciences |
April 2019 |
In German Portrait: Dr. Grimmer |
|
Dr. Tatiana Tatarenko Electrical Engineering and Information Technology |
April 2019 |
In German Portrait: Dr. Tatarenko |
|
Dr. Meike Saul Biology |
April 2018 | Portrait: Dr. Saul |
|
Dr. Arash Asadi Computer Science |
October 2017 |
In German Portrait: Dr. Asadi |
|
Former Athene Young Investigators |
||
|
Dr.-Ing. Federica Ferraro Department of Mechanical Engineering |
April 2023 since May 2023: Junior Professor, TU Braunschweig |
Portrait Dr.-Ing. Ferraro |
|
Dr. Christian Janson Computer Science |
April 2021 | Portrait Dr. Janson |
|
Dr. Miriam Oesterreich Department of Human Sciences |
April 2020 since 2021 Berlin University of the Arts |
In German Portrait: Dr. Oesterreich |
|
Dr. Pia Domschke Department of Mathematics |
April 2019 since August 2019: Frankfurt School of Finance & Management |
In German Portrait: Dr. Domschke |
|
Dr. Joel Lynn Department of Physics |
April 2018 since July 2019: Data scientist, Viasat Inc., USA |
In German Portrait: Dr. Lynn |
|
Lin Wang, Ph.D. Department of Computer Science |
April 2018 since December 2018: Assistant Professor, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
In German Portrait: Dr. Wang |
|
Dr. Eric Grosse Department of Law and Economics |
October 2017 since April 2020: Juniorprofessor, Universität des Saarlandes |
In German Portrait: Dr. Grosse |
|
Dr. Juliane Krämer Department of Computer Science |
October 2017 since 2021: Professor, University of Regensburg |
In German Portrait: Dr. Krämer |
|
Dr.-Ing. Michael Muma Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology |
October 2017 since 2022: Professor, TU Darmstadt |
In German Portrait: Dr.-Ing. Muma |
|
Dr.-Ing. Philipp Beckerle Department of Mechanical Engineering |
October 2017 since October 2018: Assistant Professor, Technische Universität Dortmund; since 2021: Professor, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg |
In German Portrait: Dr.-Ing. Beckerle |
|
Dr. Philipp John Department of Physics |
April 2017 | |
|
Dr. Christina Birkel Department of Chemistry |
April 2017 since January 2019: Assistant Professor, Arizona State University, USA |
Portrait: Dr. Birkel |
|
Dr.-Ing. Amr Rizk Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology |
April 2017 since July 2019: Juniorprofessor, Universität Ulm; since 2021: Professor, Duisburg-Essen |
In German Portrait: Dr.-Ing. Rizk Portrait by Thomas Lenz, TU Darmstadt |
|
Dr. Alesia A. Tietze Department of Chemistry |
April 2017 since January 2019: Assistant Professor, Göteborgs Universitet, Sweden |
|
|
Dr. Jurij Koruza Department of Materials and Earth Sciences |
April 2017 since 2021: Assistant Professor, TU Graz, Austria |
|
|
Dr.-Ing. Christian Hatzfeld † Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology |
April 2018 | |
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