Evaluation and promotion
Successful evaluations according to transparent criteria are the prerequisite for advancement in the career system and for successful completion of the tenure-track phase.
TUM Faculty Tenure Track is a performance-driven, step-up career system extending along the full academic career path. Candidates start with a temporary position (assistant professor, W2), can be made permanent with progression to pay scale W3 after six years (associate professor) and can finally attain the rank of a full professor (W3) with an individually defined salary and work package (needs/merit system).
TUM regularly evaluates the performance of its professors using transparent, binding criteria. These academic evaluations are carried out in line with best international practice. They are an central quality management element of the university's faculty recruitment and career system. The results of the evaluations determine whether promotion is merited in this university’s performance-based career system.
- The evaluation is carried out, in consultation with external reviewers, by evaluation committees at school level, the university-wide TUM Appointment and Tenure Board (Rules of Procedure, PDF 820 KB) and the TUM Board of Management, with the assistance of external experts.
- The policies defined in the document "Evaluation Policies for the TUM Faculty Recruitment and Career System (PDF 3,4 MB; English text starting on p. 9)" are binding for reviewing the performance of professors. They provide additional clarification of the rules contained in the Statute for Quality Management (PDF 10 MB) that applies to the TUM Faculty Recruitment and Career System.
Scope of these evaluation principles
The evaluation policies for the TUM Faculty Recruitment and Career System define the binding criteria used to assess the performance of professors. They are used to evaluate:
- the eligibility for tenure of assistant professors
- the promotion of associate professors to full professors.
- They also apply for direct appointments of associate and full professors.
Evaluation categories and criteria
The professor performance review is divided into three categories: Research & Development • Academic Teaching • Academic Engagement. Depending on the career grade, the performance expectations vary within each of these evaluation categories. Irrespective of career grade, professors are expected to proactively contribute to the development of their school and the university as a whole in addition to furthering their personal development as researchers and lecturers.
Criteria have been defined for each of the three categories (Research & Development • Academic Teaching • Academic Engagement) to evaluate the candidates in line with international benchmarks for each discipline. This ensures that binding assessment standards are established (transparency requirement) and that these form the basis of the personal evaluations (binding requirement).
Based on the international assessment benchmarks for the discipline in question, the following criteria shall be applied to all performance evaluations. Adequate consideration will be given to the career stage (“academic age”), the discipline, and the personal circumstances of the candidate (e.g., parental leave, commitments to family members requiring care, and other services to the community).
Research and development
For the evaluation of performance in the Research & Development category, the following criteria are weighted highly: the originality / creativity of the candidate’s work, the quality of their publications, the support they have given to young scientists, and the candidate’s academic development potential. In each case, the performance is benchmarked against international peers.
- New methodological and conceptual developments
- Originality and creativity of the scientific work produced and quality of clinical skills in international comparison
- Publications with substantial own contribution in peer-reviewed journals and conference contributions (peer-review)
- International reputation: Invitations to speak at international conferences (key note / plenary lectures), prizes / awards, research professorships, scholarships (e.g. AvH)
- Scientific development potential in international comparison
- Third-party funding acquired in competitive procedures (EU, DFG, BMBF, AiF, industry, foundations, etc.)
- Interdisciplinary collaborative research: spokespersonship or participation in coordinated research projects (e.g. SFBs, RTGs, EU, BMBF or AiF collaborative projects)
- Promotion of young scientists (e.g. successful supervision of doctoral and post-doctoral students, quality of follow-up positions and professional careers of graduates)
- Technical innovation capability: registration, granting and exploitation of patents, initiation of technology transfer projects and company spin-offs
Information and training resources to enhance your publication profile
Academic teaching
The main criteria taken into consideration in the Academic Teaching category are the quality of the teaching and the creativity shown in devising and conducting courses.
- Design and implementation of courses of different types (lectures, seminars, internships, etc.) and at different educational levels (BSc, MSc, PhD)
- Quality of teaching activities (semester evaluation reports by students, statements by deans of studies)
- Implementation of courses in English and international teaching
- Development or introduction of new teaching content, didactic teaching concepts or teaching formats
- (Inter)national prizes and awards for good teaching
- Supervision of semester, BSc and MSc theses
- Participation in didactic training measures and interdisciplinary events (e.g. ProLehre, Carl von Linde Academy)
- Writing textbooks / monographs (e.g. on new teaching methods and concepts)
- Organization of or participation in international conferences on teaching methods and educational research
Offers from ProLehre | Media and Didactics
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Seminars and workshops: Courses & Certification in Higher Education Pedagogy & Media Literacy
- Teaching counselling and peer observation
- Teaching Analysis Poll (English video)
Offers of the TUM Centre for Study and Teaching
Academic engagement
Proven activities in the Academic Engagement category and proven success in interdisciplinary research projects can have a positive impact on the evaluation of performance in this category.
- Management of or active participation in internal university commissions or committees
- Exercise of the office of Women's Representative or Ombudsperson, special commitment to foreign students, etc.
- Professional and scientific contribution to the development strategy of schools (e.g. as a member of the School Council), Integrative Research Centers (e.g. TUM-IAS, MCTS, MSE), central institutes and TUM as a whole (e.g. research building applications)
- Active support of TUM's internationalization policy (e.g. visiting professorships, scholarships (AvH, DAAD), support for the establishment of foreign offices and branches (e.g. TUM.Asia and TUM CREATE, Singapore))
- Active expansion of the TUM's network of regional business cooperations
- Promotion of gender & diversity measures (e.g. participation in the Gender & Diversity Board)
- Mentoring as part of the TUM Faculty Tenure Track (promotion of junior professors) (excluding Tenure Track Assistant Professors)
- Participation in the TUM Research Opportunities Week; host for TUM University Foundation Fellows or Humboldt Fellows (promotion of postdocs)
- Participation in training programs of the TUM Graduate School (support for doctoral candidates)
- Participation in the TUM:Junge Akademie, TUM Ferienakademie etc. (support for particularly talented students)
- Active participation in school partnerships, student research centers, summer schools, Girls Days, etc. (promotion of students for STEM subjects)
- Responsible collaboration in foundations for the promotion of science (e.g. AvH, DAAD) and in research funding institutions (e.g. DFG, Science Council, EU, EIT)
- Management of or participation in (inter)national commissions or committees
- Expert activities
- Editorship of peer-reviewed scientific journals (Editor-in-Chief)
- Membership of the Editorial / Advisory Board of peer-reviewed scientific journals (Associate Editor, Editorial Board Member)
- Membership of scientific academies and scientific advisory and funding bodies
- Responsible participation in important expert committees (e.g. standards committee) or in relevant professional associations and professional representations
- Contributions to policy advice or membership of political advisory bodies
Tenure evaluation and appointment as associate professor
Promotion and appointment to the position of associate professor requires that the candidate has established a substantial proven track record in Research & Development and Academic Teaching, shows strong future potential in these core areas as well as leadership potential, and has shown initial signs of Academic Engagement.
Prerequisites for a positive tenure evaluation or appointment to the position of associate professor are either
- excellent performance in Research & Development benchmarked against elite international researchers, and very good performance in Academic Teaching – clearly exceeding the norm, or
- excellent performance in Academic Teaching and very good performance in Research & Development – clearly exceeding the international norm.
Details of the procedure
As a rule, evaluation documents ("Candidate Dossier, PDF 71 KB") are submitted to the responsible tenure track officer of the faculty recruiting team and to the respective School Office in the sixth year. The candidates are then evaluated by an Evaluation Committee on the basis of these documents, an academic talk, an interview and reviews by external experts. The TUM Appointment and Tenure Board discusses the committee’s proposal and makes a recommendation to the TUM Board of Management in favour of or against awarding tenure. The tenure evaluation cannot be replaced by an external offer of appointment.
In the event of a negative tenure evaluation, the status as professor ends after six years. A one-year phase-out period ("connecting package") is offered for further professional orientation.
The TUM Appointment and Tenure Board (TUM-ATB) is a university-wide standing committee for appointment and tenure procedures at TUM management level. It oversees the Tenure Track recruitment procedure and the tenure evaluations, to ensure their quality across all disciplines and schools in alignment with TUM's overall strategy. Rules of Procedure for the TUM Appointment and Tenure Board (PDF, 0.82 MB).
Tasks of the TUM Appointment and Tenure Board
The TUM Appointment and Tenure Board checks the reports of the Evaluation Committees for completeness. For initial tenure track appointments, it discusses the proposal and submits a vote for acceptance, change or rejection of the proposal list for the Board of Management. For tenure evaluations, it discusses the tenure proposal and makes a recommendation to the TUM Board of Management in favour of or against awarding tenure.
Commencing a tenure evaluation procedure is not recommended if candidates (i) are not able to substantiate their support for young scientists (e.g., the qualification of at least one doctoral student) or (ii) are not able to produce evidence of three published articles in peer-reviewed journals to which they made a substantial contribution, or of acknowledged publications in their disciplines or (iii) have not raised external funds independently and in a competitive process or (iv) have not regularly updated the courses they teach to take account of scientific advances or (v) cannot demonstrate sufficient scientific development potential for a grade W3 professorship.
The results of the status assessments (at the end of the 2nd and 4th years following the appointment as assistant professor; see TUM Faculty Recruitment and Career System – Statute for Quality Management) do not establish a precedent for the tenure evaluation.
Direct appointment: Associate Professor (W3)
The same benchmarks apply for direct appointments to the position of associate professor. For appointments of individuals from a non-academic background whose profile does not include teaching, the performance evaluation is restricted to the Research & Development category. However, the candidates must also demonstrate potential in the Academic Teaching category, leadership potential, and signs of Academic Engagement.
Career advancement: From associate to full professor
For promotion or appointment to the position of full professor, the candidate must be a leading international figure in his or her discipline, must also have demonstrated very good academic teaching skills, and must have shown strong commitment to the university’s boards and committees and the academic community as a whole (Academic Engagement).
Prerequisites for appointment to the position of full professor:
- excellent performance in Research & Development benchmarked against elite international researchers, and very good performance in Academic Teaching – clearly exceeding the norm, or
- excellent performance in Academic Teaching and very good performance in Research & Development – clearly exceeding the international norm.
For the evaluation of performance in the Research & Development category, the following criteria are weighted highly in addition to those outlined above: international reputation and visibility of the professor (i.e., leadership in the scientific community) as well as proven Academic Engagement and leadership skills.
Commencing an evaluation procedure is not recommended if candidates, in addition to the criteria outlined above, (i) have not significantly contributed to the advancement of their disciplines due to a lack of new methodologies / concepts and originality / creativity in their work or have not contributed to the scientific reputation of TUM (ii) due to a lack of regular published articles in peer-reviewed journals or acknowledged publications in their disciplines or (iii) a lack of effective support for young scientists (e.g., supervising the qualification of doctoral students and postdocs) or (iv) a lack of success in raising external funds in competitive processes, or (v) have not demonstrably undertaken significant activities that show Academic Engagement at TUM, support for TUM’s young scientists or service to the academic community.
The procedure to evaluate whether an associate professor should be appointed to the position of full professor can be initiated by the President or at the suggestion of the Dean, in coordination with the school and in agreement with the candidate, as a rule no earlier than three years following the tenure evaluation.
Direct appointment: Full Professor (W3)
The same benchmarks apply for direct appointments to the position of full professor. For appointments of individuals from a non-academic background whose profiles do not include teaching, the performance evaluation is restricted to the Research & Development category. However, the candidates must also demonstrate potential in the Academic Teaching category, leadership skills, and signs of Academic Engagement.
Do you have any questions? Contact us
Technical University of Munich
Faculty Recruitment, Career Advancement and Dual Career
Arcisstr. 21
D-80333 Munich
facultyrecruiting@tum.de
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