Junior Research Group Leaders

Leading a junior research group is another option that can take Established Researchers closer to securing a professorship. Most independent junior research group leaders have undergone competitive external selection processes (ERC Starting Grant, Emmy Noether Program, etc.). They conduct their research largely independently and supervise doctoral researchers.

The University is responsible for integrating externally-funded junior research group leaders and fellows into existing structures and ensuring that they have an adequate infrastructure and sufficient resources for their research at their disposal. In addition, the University should give them the opportunity to teach courses, thereby amassing the experience they need to qualify for a professorship.

JMU has been launching its own junior research group programs, some of them co-funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, for more than 20 years now. Interdisciplinary research centres at JMU, including the Research Centre for Infectious Diseases and the Rudolf Virchow Centre for Experimental Biomedicine, regularly offer the position of independent junior research group leader, along with the necessary equipment and personnel, to outstanding national and international researchers who have successfully undergone highly competitive selection processes.