The Postdoc Experience in Germany

The Postdoc Experience in Germany

Dr. Max Voegler

Director, DFG North America Office

Washington, DC

Content

1. The Current Situation

2. Current Approaches

3. Open Questions

The Postdoc Experience in Germany / Max Voegler, DFG North America Office, Washington, DC

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German Research Foundation (DFG)Who We Are & What We Do

► Central publicly-financed funding organization for academic research in Germany (largest in Europe)

► Member organization (universities, learned societies) serving all fields of science and the humanities

► Promoting academic excellence on a competitive basis with independent multi-tiered peer review

► Advisory function for politics

► Special focus on supporting young academics

► Promoting international research cooperation

► Fostering links between science and industry

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► 6 international offices

(Beijing, North America, Moscow, New Delhi, Tokyo, Sao Paolo)

► Purpose of the DFG North America office

● to support and expand cooperation with partner organizations in the

USA and Canada

● to maintain and extend contacts with current and former DFG award

holders and alumni in the United States and Canada

● to inform US and Canadian universities and research institutions

about Germany as a location of science and research and about

opportunities for research collaboration

● to follow and assess science and research policy developments in

the United States and Canada in fields relevant to the DFG with

respect to basic research

German Research Foundation (DFG)Offices Abroad

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Content



3. Open Questions


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The Current Situation in Germany


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Higher Education and Research Landscape in Numbers

►110 universities (88 public, 22 private)

►55 art and music colleges (46 public, 9

private)

►213 universities of applied sciences (106

public, 107 private)

►No tuition fees at public universities

except in Bavaria and Lower Saxony (500

€ / semester). No tuition at doctoral level.

university

university of applied sciences

arts and music college

The Current Situation in GermanyNon-University Research Institutions

Non-University Research

•Max Planck Society (80 institutes)•Helmholtz Association (17 centers)•Leibniz Association (87 facilities)•Fraunhofer Gesellschaft (60 Institutes)


►High number of PhDs awarded each year

● 24,971 PhDs in 2009 = 2.3 % of population

(U.S. has 1.4 %, in line with OECD average)

● Below-average rates of BA/MA completion in Germany

compared to OECD average (dual educational system)

►Very high rates of PhD in some fields

(percentage of BA/MA Students who go on to complete a PhD):

● Chemistry = 91,9 %

● Physics, Astronomy = 78,6 %

● Biology = 59 %


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Some Statistics on PhDs in Germany


►Only research doctorates in Germany, no professional

degrees (MD, JD)

►Predominantly (about two-thirds) individual PhDs

following the traditional “apprentice – master” model

Among them many so-called “external” PhD students

►Most PhDs enter private sector where degree offers

(statistical) advantages for those who do not plan to

pursue an academic career path:

• Higher standing in society

• Higher salary

• Lower rates of unemployment


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The Role of the "Dr." in German Society


►Postdoctoral phase:

→ primary objective: recruitment of university staff

►The postdoc phase used to be spent completing a

habilitation, required since the 1800s to be eligible for a

professorship

► It takes an average of 8 years to complete and is still

pursued by roughly 10% of postdocs

►Often referred to as Königsweg to a professorship


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Academic Career Path

The Current Situation in GermanyThe Bottleneck in German Academia

Source: Anke Burkhardt, Presentation at GAIN Conference, Boston, 2010


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►Reforms begun in the mid-90s have focused on

● Fostering a more structured environment for graduate

studies (structured vs. individual PhD)

● Promoting alternatives to the habilitation on the path to

becoming a university professor

►New career paths are supposed to lead to earlier

research independence and remove the habilitation

hurdle

● Junior research group leader (in MPG since 1969, DFG

1999)

● Junior professor (introduced in 2002)


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Academic Career Path

The Current Situation in GermanyAcademic Career Path


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►Junior Professor:

● Pros: very content with their position; write disproportionate number of grant

proposals to DFG and have higher success rates than their peers

● Cons: are not necessarily younger when they „finish“ than those that write a

habilitation. Infrastructure available for research very dependent on university

►Junior Research Group Leader

● Pros: high degree of independence, financially and administratively. High

level of satisfaction with salary, position and career perspectives; much higher

percentage go on to become professors than any of the other groups

● Cons: Rights and privileges must be negotiated individually in each case with

university or host institution; status within larger academic system unclear /

heterogeneous

The Current Situation in GermanyAcademic Career Path

►Habilitation / Assistant at Professorial Chair:

● Pros: Mentoring, tradition within discipline

● Cons: low degree of independence in research and teaching; high degree

of personal dependency

►But there are also alternatives to being a professor…

● Mittelbau: (non)-Permanent scientific staff positions at universities,

research institutes

● Similar to "lecturer" in UK, focus on teaching or research, but without

professorial chair and at lower salary scale

● Very popular in 1970s and 80s, declining in importance in past twenty

years, currently discussed again


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The Current Situation in GermanyNational Differences in University Staff by Category

Source: Reinhardt Kreckel, Karrieremodelle an Universitäten im Internationalen Vergleich (2010), p. 38.

Professor

Scientific staff (w/tenure)

Scientific staff (w/out tenure)

Germany 2008 Netherlands 2009 UK 2009 USA 2008/2009

„Mittelbau“

„Oberbau“


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The Bottleneck

►Competition for permanent

„Mittelbau“ positions in academia

has worsened in recent years:

● No significant increase in number of

permanent positions (4.8% between

1995 and 2009)

● Number of researchers funded by third-

party money is increasing (120.5%

between 1995 and 2009)

►Move up or out: No clear career

perspectives for most researchers at

German universities

Ratio of permanent to temporary positions for the „Mittelbau“

Source: Kreckel

Tenure track not permitted in many states due to laws against “Hausberufung”

(appointment to professorial chair must come from outside own university) and

“Verzicht auf Ausschreibung” (all permanent positions must be advertised).

German labor law very strict on certain aspects of employment as they related to

research and higher education. Permanent positions (as professor, or in

“Mittelbau”) should be rule, not exception. This is, of course, not the case.

Thus temporary positions are only allowed in following situations:

•For up to 5 years without a reason (general labor law, starts w. 2 years, can be renewed)

•For 12 years during the academic “qualification phase” (6 years before and 6 years after

PhD) with “extra time” allowances for children and time spent abroad (HRG 2002)

•Project-based funding through third-party or industry (strict regulation, HRG 2007)



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Legal Aspects (Labor Law)

►Role of PhD in Germany different

● Many more PhDs per capita

● PhD necessary but not sufficient for professorship

(Habilitation)

● But: not just professors in academia, also “Mittelbau”

(scientific staff)

● Most PhDs (and postdocs) continue into industry

►Possible career paths to Professorship

● Junior Research Group Leader

● Habilitation

● Junior Professor

The Current Situation in GermanyRecap


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Content



3. Open Questions


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Current Approaches

Recommendations:

•Develop a more differentiated understanding of career

perspectives in science that take into account the new role

of universities and research institutions (interdisciplinary,

international, projects, industry)

•Create longer-term perspectives by introducing tenure-

track for junior professors alongside other options, add

more permanent positions for Mittelbau

•Need for clearly structured career perspectives by

aligning laws and regulations for tenure track et al.

across all states and universities


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Conference 2010 on Career Perspectives for Early Career Scientists

„Der lange Weg zur Professur – Berufliche Perspektiven für Nachwuchswissenschaftler/innen (Berlin, June 2010)

Current Approaches

• Support for measures to balance family life and

research career (work-life balance, dual career)

• Additional measures to support early research

independence (mentoring, support for networking

activities)

• All elements together should be seen as a „German

model“ that addresses the systemic challenges

currently facing postdocs within German system


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Conference 2010 on Career Perspectives for Early Career Scientists

„Der lange Weg zur Professur – Berufliche Perspektiven für Nachwuchswissenschaftler/innen (Berlin, June 2010)

Current Approaches

• Competetive Tenure Track after 4 ½ for Junior

Professors (tenure review with external competition)

• Dual Career Policy: university office helps spouses find

position at university or in community

• Senior Lecturer Position for Mittelbau

• Also being discussed at the moment: Senior Scientist

and Senior Researcher position


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University of Bremen

Current Approaches


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DFG Programs – Emmy Noether

Purpose and Eligibility► To allow researchers to achieve early independence and to

enable them to qualify for a university teaching career by

leading their own independent junior research group.

► Outstanding qualified postdoctoral researchers with significant

international experience who are within two to four years (six

years for medicine) after obtaining their doctorates

► Usually five years of funding, approx 1.5 - 2 Mio Euros

Since 2010, Emmy Noether Research Group Leaders have been

able to use part of their funding for science management

courses at the University of Applied Science in Speyer. Many

use this opportunity and we at DFG have received a lot of

positive feedback.

Current Approaches


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DFG Programs – other programs to support early career researchers

► Heisenberg Fellow/Professor: similar to Emmy

Noether but for those who have a habilitation.

► Temporary Positions for Principal Investigators:

PI can write full position for him/herself into grant

► Special treatment of “first proposal” in review

process

► Scientific Network Program to enable early career

researchers to form networks

► Workshops for Early Career Investigators: topic

and discipline-driven measures to promote more

researchers to get PhD in certain fields

Current Approaches

The model of „junior research group leader“ widely adopted

•Emmy Noether Program (DFG)

•Max Planck Research Group Leader (MPG)

•Fraunhofer Attract (FHG)

•Helmholtz Institutes also have Junior Research Groups


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Non-University Research Organization

Content



3. Open Questions


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Challenges

• 80 % of research and teaching at universities done by

Mittelbau, who are (for the most part) neither permanent

staff nor are independent in their research

• 74 % of academic personnel (employed doctoral

researchers, postdocs, scientific staff) at universities in

Germany do not have a permanent position.

• Should Germany strengthen the “Mittelbau” and

introduce measures to create additional career

perspectives outside the professorship in academia

(Lecturer, Staff Scientist, etc.)?


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The “Mittelbau” Question

Challenges

• Tenure track has a number of legal hurdles and does

not naturally fit into the current German academic

system.

• Arguments for:

• (More) reliable career perspectives

• Adoption of “international standard”

• Arguments against

• alternative career paths to a full professorship exist

• Quality assurance of candidates

• More reliable career perspectives? Where would researchers

go who don‘t get tenure?


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Do we really need "tenure track"?

Challenges

• Increasing pressure to perform independent research at

high level early on

• Desire to increase exchange and career transition

possibilities between basic research - industry -

government – (science) administration

• When / where should mentoring occur? PhD stage?

Postdoc? How structured? What sort of skills do recent

PhDs need for various career paths?


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Mentoring

Thank you – any questions?

Further information

►On the DFG: http://www.dfg.de►Funded projects: http://www.dfg.de/gepris►Research Explorer of Germany: http://www.dfg.de/rex


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Documents

The Postdoc Experience in Germany