Your application

The general hiring requirements for professors at universities in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) are regulated in Sections 36 and 37 of the North Rhine-Westphalia Higher Education Act (Gesetz über die Hochschulen des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, HG NRW). Below you will find excerpts of the regulation of Section 36 HG NRW.

(1) In addition to the general requirements under civil service law, the hiring requirements for university professors are:

1. completed university studies;

2. pedagogical aptitude, as evidenced by appropriate prior training or as determined by way of exception in the appointment procedure; Section 122 (4) of the State Civil Service Act (Landesbeamtengesetz, LBG) remains unaffected;

3. special aptitude for academic work, as a rule demonstrated by the quality of a doctorate;

4. for professors as well as for university lecturers at universities, beyond this, additional scientific achievements which are evaluated exclusively and comprehensively in the appointment procedure; these achievements are made in the context of a junior professorship, a postdoctoral qualification (Habilitation) or an activity as a scientific employee at a university or a non-university research institution or in the context of a scientific activity in business, administration or in another social field in Germany or abroad; sub-clause 2 shall apply only in the case of an appointment to a first professorship;

(...).

(2) In artistic subjects, deviating from subsection 1 no 3 to 5, as professors may be appointed who demonstrate a special aptitude for artistic work and additional artistic achievements. Proof of additional artistic achievements shall normally be furnished by special achievements during a five-year period of artistic activity, at least three years of which must have been spent outside the university sector.

(3) Insofar as it corresponds to the nature of the subject and the requirements of the position, in deviation from subsection 1, no 1, 3 to 5, those who demonstrate outstanding subject-related achievements in practice may also be hired.

In addition to these general aspects, further requirements for the respective position are stated in the advertisements.

The current job advertisements for professorships can be found on the page Professorships and Junior Professorships.

There you can also see how to submit the application.

Applications for advertised professorships are usually submitted via our application portal. Details are always given in the corresponding advertisement.

For an application for one of our professorships, the following documents must usually be submitted:

• curriculum vitae (CV, including details of your education, academic career, etc.)

• certificates (such as Diploma, Master's or doctoral certificate)

• list of publications (separated by type of publication [journals, edited volumes, ...] and indicating the quality control procedure [peer review, review by the editorial board, ...])

• list of presentations and conference contributions (separated into contributed talks, and invited talks such as keynotes, seminar talks, colloquia, etc.; for contributed talks and posters, please indicate the person who presented the work ["presenting author"])

• overview of third-party funds (separated into "third-party funds" and "grants/personal funding/other funds"; please always indicate funding source, project name, project period, own role in application, amount of funds in total/own subproject)

• list of courses held (including type, e.g. lecture/exercise, and name of course, semester/year, university, and scope of teaching activities)

• proof of an interim evaluation, if applicable

• evidence of prizes, awards, etc.

• if already required in the job advertisement: research concept/teaching concept

An initial selection of applicants is made after the application deadline. The appointment committee evaluates each individual application with regard to the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of the defined selection criteria. Applicants who appear to be suitable will be invited to a scientific lecture open to the public at the university, a teaching lecture if applicable, and a personal interview with the appointment committee. Applicants who are able to convince the appointment committee of their scientific excellence and their fulfillment of the other selection criteria will be given a comparative evaluation. After receiving the reviews, the appointment committee draws up a so-called appointment list, i.e. it decides in which order the applicants are to be appointed.

Detailed information on the whole procedure can be found on the page Process of the appointment procedure.