How to become a professor at TU Darmstadt

As a professor at TU Darmstadt, you shape global change sustainably and in a forward-looking way through excellent, relevant and responsible science and academic research. You will have access to excellently equipped laboratories, modern equipment, qualified staff, and extensive material resources. All in all, ideal conditions for pursuing your academic and research goals with a high degree of personal responsibility and creative freedom.

Join us! Inspire our talented students and make them burn for your research topics. Collaborate with excellent next-generation scientists and researchers. Become part of a superb academic community: at our departments and interdisciplinary fields of research , in the Wissenschaftsstadt of Darmstadt and at the Rhine-Main Universities.

We offer you a variety of career paths: from assistant professorship with tenure track (fixed-term for six years) to tenured professorship. In addition, we create innovative appointment models together with renowned non-university research organisations.

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As professors, you are granted academic freedom in accordance with the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (GG) (Article 5 Section 3 Sentence 1). Consequently, your right to strive for scientific knowledge autonomously with regard to content and methods used, as well as your right to organise your teaching with regard to content and didactics independently are guaranteed by the German constitution.

With an assistant professorship with tenure track, you choose an attractive path to a tenured professorship, offering a high degree of autonomy and a wide range of opportunities to fully realise your talent. After your doctorate and usually an initial postdoc phase, you will have the opportunity to set up your own research group at TU Darmstadt, sharpen your academic research profile, become visible in your academic and research community, and establish yourself as a competent teaching personality. Your six-year tenure-track professorship will immediately advance to a tenured professorship when ending with a positive tenure decision.

Based on its previous experience, TU Darmstadt has updated the statutes for assistant professorships. The individual agreement on objectives is now a central element of the qualification phase. It is paired with regular feedback meetings, which will help you to stay on track. The decision to award tenure is based on your personal performance. Meeting the jointly agreed objectives is also a decisive factor.

As an assistant professor with tenure track, you will teach 4 contact hours per week (SWS). In addition, you can expect an attractive, negotiable salary based on the W2 salary scale.

With a tenured professorship at TU Darmstadt, your strong scientific profile and high visibility will enable you to make outstanding contributions to research-driven progress and the sustainable shaping of global change. You will lead an academic research group. You will have the laboratories, and the required materials and equipment at your disposal to pursue your academic and research goals freely and independently. You will also heavily influence the next generation of expert scholars, scientists and researchers. You will develop a long-term academic research programme or establish new lines of development. You will engage in knowledge transfer with social and business partners . You will actively shape your academic research and teaching community at TU Darmstadt, the Rhine-Main Universities, and in the Frankfurt Rhine-Main region.

As a tenured professor, you will teach 8 contact hours per week (SWS). You can also expect an attractive, negotiable salary based on the W2 or W3 salary scale.

The budget for staff and equipment depends largely on the area of research.

Generally, there is a staff budget for at least one doctoral candidate position and administrative support. Depending on the area of research, the professorship is also provided with financial resources to invest in equipment etc. and a dedicated budget. Institutes and research groups requiring larger computing capacities can use the Lichtenberg Cluster at TU Darmstadt.

Support: We will be there for you in all of your endeavours: TU Darmstadt supports assistant professors with tenure track through a variety of offers, such as a special mentoring programme. The Welcome Centre, the Family Service and the Language Resource Centre are there to support you when arriving in Darmstadt, e.g., with German courses for you and your family members. The Center for Educational Development and Technology (HDA) offers you hands-on and competent support for your teaching. You can benefit from numerous offers by the Organisational and Human Resources Development team to further your personal competencies. You can find numerous other offers here.

Are you interested in an assistant professorship with tenure track?

You have successfully completed a higher education Master’s degree programme and have subsequently contributed independently and innovatively to academic research and teaching during an outstanding doctorate? You are an extremely talented and aspirational researcher, scholar and/or scientist, and you have the potential to become an academic researcher of international renown within the 6-year qualification phase? If so, we invite you to send in your application!

Are you aiming for a tenured professorship?

You are an experienced researcher who has achieved success in academia or demonstrated excellent scientific expertise in professional practice. You have a relevant research profile, an extraordinary reputation as a researcher and are widely known internationally? We look forward to receiving your application!

Apply here

Attractive employer

TU Darmstadt is an attractive employer! Learn more about this place of work and the many perspectives and opportunities, we have on offer for our employees.

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