Postdoctoral Qualification Regulations 2023

Once you have familiarized yourself with the admission requirements (§ 4 HabilO) and the legal framework, you must submit a written application for admission as a habilitation candidate to the dean.

In accordance with § 5 (2) HabilO, the following documents must be enclosed with the application:

1. Proof of a completed degree at a university or equivalent institution of higher education in Germany or abroad (certified copy);
2. Proof of eligibility to hold a doctoral degree or equivalent academic degree (doctoral certificate, certified copy);
3. a curriculum vitae in German or English detailing your educational background and academic career to date;
4. a report (or overview) of

• the courses you have taught to date
• the lectures you have given to date
• the research you have conducted to date;

1. a complete list of publications;
2. a written statement* indicating whether and, if so, with what success an application for habilitation has already been submitted to another university and whether an academic degree has been revoked.

(*The template on page 3 of the application if no application has yet been submitted, or the template on page 4 if an application has already been submitted).

After approval by the dean, the faculty council appoints an interdisciplinary specialist mentoring team. It consists of a chairperson and two other members.

The following conditions must be met:

• At least one member of the mentoring team must represent the desired field of the habilitation candidate.
• At least one member must belong to the faculty.

One member should belong to another faculty or university.

The status as a postdoctoral candidate, which begins upon acceptance, is generally limited to four years plus the duration of the review process. An extension by the subject mentor is possible upon request if there are special reasons.

In these cases, the target agreement must be amended accordingly. The dean's office will provide you with a template for the amendment to the target agreement upon request.

The subject mentor agrees with the habilitation candidate on the type and scope of the research and teaching activities required to acquire teaching qualifications and prescribed by the Habilitation Regulations (HabilO), and sets these out in writing in a target agreement.

The Dean's Office provides the subject mentor with a template for the target agreement.

The minimum requirements for the target agreement are:

• Duration of the habilitation [cf. § 8 HabilO];
• Date of the interim evaluation;
• Written habilitation achievement in accordance with § 9 (4) HabilO:
  • Topic
  • Form (monographic or publication-based) [if applicable, minimum number of essays to be published]
  • Language [if applicable, scope and essential content of the German summary]
• Habilitation performance in teaching according to § 9 (3) HabilO:
  • Teaching performance averaging 2 SWS or a total of 16 SWS (§ 9 (3) sentence 3) in the desired subject area
  • Participation in a quantitative and/or qualitative teaching evaluation (at least twice)
• Criteria for the interim evaluation.

The target agreement must be signed by all members of the mentoring group and the habilitation candidate and submitted to the dean by the subject mentor.

After two years at the latest, the subject mentor conducts an interim evaluation based on the previously defined targets agreed upon. This includes, among other things, any corrections to the targets agreed upon and a prognosis regarding the success of the habilitation project.

The results of the interim evaluation must be signed by all members of the mentoring team and the habilitation candidate and submitted to the dean by the subject mentor.

The dean's office will provide the subject mentor with a template for the interim evaluation.

The written habilitation thesis must be submitted to the Dean's Office in four or five copies, as well as in electronic form (USB stick or cloud or digital folder).

All copies submitted must be accompanied by a signed affidavit in accordance with § 11 (2) sentence 5 HabilO.

In addition, the habilitation candidate must enclose a written declaration of consent to verification by means of plagiarism software within the meaning of § 11 (2) sentence 6 HabilO.

The dean appoints reviewers to evaluate the habilitation thesis in consultation with the subject mentor.

After all reviews have been submitted, the subject mentor will prepare a summary statement on the acceptance or rejection of the written habilitation thesis and submit it to the dean together with all reviews. The dean's office will provide the subject mentor with a template for the statement.

The written habilitation thesis and the reviews are then made available for inspection. This period lasts at least two weeks during the lecture period.

If the written habilitation thesis is recommended for acceptance by the subject mentor, the habilitation candidate must give a public lecture at the university, followed by a scientific discussion in the form of a colloquium (oral habilitation thesis).

For the teaching report, the candidate must submit the course overviews, evaluations, and any qualification measures completed in academic teaching, etc., to the subject mentor.

The assessment of pedagogical aptitude by the subject mentor is based both on the oral habilitation performance and on the candidate's teaching performance, taking into account the teaching report and his or her academic teaching qualifications.

After review by the subject mentor, the chairperson submits the following documents to the dean:

• the teaching report (including evaluations);
• any available documents regarding qualifications in academic teaching;
• a statement on whether the applicant has fulfilled the agreed requirements within the meaning of § 9 (1) sentence 1.

If the applicant has fulfilled the agreed requirements, the subject mentor committee proposes that the faculty council grant the teaching qualification.

The dean's office provides the subject mentor committee with a template for the statement.

The faculty council decides on the recommendation of the subject mentor.

If the faculty council grants the teaching qualification, the habilitation candidate must submit an application for the teaching qualification to the president.

Obtaining the teaching qualification, “venia legendi,” confers the status of “Privatdozent” and requires the holder to teach.

The habilitation thesis should be published; in this case, two copies must be provided to the university library free of charge (cf. § 14 HabilO).