Auswahlverfahren für Junior- und Tenure‑Track‑Professuren

Over the last decades, the German legislator has expanded the possibilities for postdoctoral qualification. Next to the Habilitation, successful leadership of a junior research group or positive evaluation as Juniorprofessor:in (including tenure track options), constitute new pathways to professorship. Even though the appointment of professors is among a university's most important decisions – guaranteed by Article 5 Paragraph 3 Sentence 1 of the Basic Law – many legal questions arise in practice when it comes to the appointment of junior professors. This contribution addresses the most pressing legal questions, based on a recent court case concerning the appointment of a junior professor at Freiburg University. It calls, on the one hand, for leaving universities room for manoeuvre to consider their internal decision-making processes, while at the same time paying tribute to the applicants' legally protected interests.