Join the Tenure Track at TUM
TUM Faculty Tenure Track is the performance-driven career path for promising early-career scientists with international experience.
It is the first true tenure-track system based on international standards at a German university: the TUM Faculty Tenure Track, which leads to a permanent W3 professorship upon successful evaluation.
For the TUM tenure track program, we seek early career scientists with first scientific successes and a convincing research program. The W2 professorship is limited to 6 years with a tenure option - that means the chance of promotion to a permanent W3 professorship.
During the tenure track phase
From appointment to tenure evaluation
Assistant professors are expected to develop their academic profile during the tenure track phase. To give them guidance, they are accompanied by a mentoring team comprised of experienced professors.
The university follows the progress of its assistant professors through performance interviews and status assessments, and can thus provide targeted and individual support for their career development. The quality-based tenure evaluation following international best practice takes place at the end of the tenure track phase. A positive result is required for promotion to a tenured W3 professorship.
The tenure track phase usually lasts for six years. During this time, TUM evaluates its assistant professors on a regular basis using transparent criteria as part of a mentoring program. Evaluation & promotion.
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Beginning of 1st year: Appointment of the mentoring team
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End of 1st year: Annual performance interview
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End of 2nd year: Status assessment (incl. annual performance interview)
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End of 3rd year: Annual performance interview
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End of 4th year: Second status assessment (incl. annual performance interview)
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End of 5th year: Annual performance interview
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6th year (usually): Tenure evaluation
The tenure track phase can be completed in a shorter timeframe in exceptional cases justified by outstanding achievements (fast tenure track). Early tenure evaluation (fast tenure track) can be initiated at the earliest in the fourth year and only in exeptional cases (e.g. ERC grant, Heisenberg Professorship, Sofia Kovalevskaja Prize).
A mentoring team is assigned to each assistant professor during the tenure track phase. The team comprises a professor from the assistant professor’s school and a second professor from a different school or ideally from another university (national or international).
- The role of the mentoring team is to build trust and look after the assistant professors.
- They advise and support the assistant professors to help them build their own research work group, prepare research proposals, build and extend their network within the scientific community, develop their teaching program and assess their own performance.
- They take part in the annual performance interviews together with the dean of the department.
- It is recommended that, in addition to their annual meetings, assistant professors contact their mentors regularly and proactively and request their support
Annual performance interviews with the assistant professors are conducted by the deans of their respective schools and their mentoring team. The objective is to prevent off-track developments at an early stage and make a realistic assessment of the assistant professors’ performance and progress based on an analysis of strengths and weaknesses.
- Summary and assessment of performance in the categories Research and Development, Academic Teaching and Academic Engagement (see also Evaluation and Promotion and Evaluation Policies for the TUM Faculty Recruitment and Career System).
- Assessment of assistant professors’ academic development potential, recommendations and identification of the career prospects.
Status assessments consist of a presentation open to the entire university in which the assistant professors outline the progress of their work to date, as well as an annual performance interview.
The objective of the status assessments is to provide orientation and a success forecast for the tenure process. If necessary, the assistant professor’s personal development plan will be revised on the basis of the findings from these assessments.
The outcome of the tenure evaluation is central for the decision whether the assistant professor will be appointed to a tenured position as associate professor (W3) or whether their career at TUM should come to an end.
The tenure evaluation usually takes place in the sixth year following the initial appointment to assistant professor. An early tenure evaluation (fast tenure track) can be initiated at the beginning of the fourth year in the fourth year at the earliest, and only in exeptional cases (e.g. ERC grant, Heisenberg Professorship, Sofia Kovalevskaja Prize).
Performance evaluation criteria
Performance is evaluated in the following categories:
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Research & development
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Academic teaching
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Academic engagement
See also: Evaluation and Promotion and Evaluation Policies for the TUM Faculty Recruitment and Career System