Specialist track

The university needs researchers with specific expertise and skills to support its activities in the areas of research, teaching, research and information infrastructures as well as transfer/translation. These researchers are employed on open-ended contracts in the specialist track, either in the position of research associate or in the position of teaching staff for special duties.

Despite the career path leading to professorship, a permanent position as a research associate, additionally, offers an attractive career within academia, which can also lead to a leadership position. The main difference between the management track and the specialist track is that, as opposed to professors, staff in the position of research associate or teaching staff for special duties have to follow instructions from superiors even if they are holding leadership positions. In addition, researchers on the specialist track usually focus on a relatively narrow set of tasks. At JMU, they help operate major research equipment and/or core facilities, focus on teaching and related tasks, help run clinical studies, etc.

Researchers on the specialist track usually follow the same career path as researchers on the academic management track until they reach the early postdoctoral stage (R2) or, in some cases, the Habilitation stage (R3). This is functional since researchers on the specialist track perform highly specialized tasks that require an adequate academic background in the discipline concerned as well as a deep understanding of, and proficiency in, the methods, processes, standards, and framework conditions of the discipline. Since the specialist track can take many shapes and forms, we cannot list and describe individual career stages. JMU’s organizational units create permanent positions for researchers on the specialist track as the need arises. Specific initiatives for their training and development are identified in personalized professional development plans.