Our HR Strategy

The University of Cologne supports the initiative of the European Commission to improve working conditions for researchers and to ensure attractive research careers within the European Research Area. A continuous enhancement of working conditions and career opportunities is one of the top priorities of our university.

Having endorsed the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers, the University of Cologne was awarded the HR Excellence in Research Award in May 2019. 

For more information on the Human Resources Strategy for Researchers, please find further details here.

The Guidelines for Career Prospects Beyond Professorships at the University of Cologne outline the university-wide framework for temporary and permanent employment opportunities beyond professorships. They provide transparent career pathways in research & leadership, teaching & education, and research and higher education management, while taking into account the diverse tasks, qualifications, and the increasing variety of career options in academia.

In addition to these thematic priorities, the guidelines set out key principles for the appointment, positioning, and design of positions. The focus is on transparency, reliability, and quality assurance in permanent employment. The filling and allocation of positions follow the principles of open, transparent, and performance-based recruitment, as described in our Guidelines for the Personnel Recruitment at the University of Cologne (OTM-R Guidelines).

The guidelines offer doctoral-level academic staff orientation for career planning and strengthen sustainable staffing structures at the university. Building on this, the faculties outline in their permanent position plans the processes for establishing, filling, and shaping these positions in line with their specific needs.
 

The use of tenure track positions for assistant and associate professors as well as independent group leaders and other postdoctoral researchers is a central element in the career development strategy for advanced researchers of the University of Cologne.

The Institutional Strategy of the Excellence Initiative formally established the tenure track procedure in 2013. It has since been continuously expanded. In 2021, our Regulations for Quality Assurance in Tenure Track Procedures were thoroughly revised and transferred into Regulations for Quality Assurance in Tenure Track Procedures and Other Evaluation Procedures of Temporary (Junior) Professorships at the University of Cologne (Tenure Track Regulations plus), Order amending the Tenure Track Regulations plus (2025). Since 2018 our revised Principles of the University of Cologne on Questions of Conflict of Interest have been in place. The Appointment Regulations of the University of Cologne were fundamentally revised in 2023. 

The University of Cologne was highly successful in the competitive funding through the Tenure Track Programme of the German Federal Government and the Federal States for new tenure track professorships. The additional funding of this programme leads to 27 new tenure track professorships in the course of 2018 to 2021. New calls for applications are posted in our Academic Job Portal.