“The less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it,” wrote Mark Twain. Wolfgang A. Herrmann, president of TUM (Technische Universität München) seeks to disprove Twain’s notion. Herrmann is creating the first-ever U.S.-style tenure system at a German university - effectively scrapping Germany’s 100+ year-old habilitation tradition. Habilitation requires would-be professors to complete the equivalent of a second PhD dissertation - and also find a faculty sponsor. Once aboard, that professor had little chance to advance within that university, and the department had no clear way to evaluate that professor. TUM is upending this tradition by creating 100 new positions by 2020 -all without the habilitation requirement, but with performance reviews after six years. Depending on the review’s outcome, those professors will be given permanent status and a promotion or will leave TUM for a different job; those who achieve tenure will have an opportunity to advance further, through another evaluation process, to full professor. Herrmann tells Nature how his changes will help recruit, develop and retain top international scientific talent.
Q: In your booklet introducing TUM’s tenure track system, you talk about a “paradigm shift.” Why the need for such a dramatic change?
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