Academic Careers
The goal of an academic career is usually a professorship. These days, various career paths have emerged in addition to the traditional one - doctorate, habilitation, professorship appointment. The Faculty of Arts and Humanities supports these diverse career paths by establishing junior professorships and tenure-track professorships, as well as by assisting the faculty's junior doctoral students in obtaining junior research groups.
Advanced Talents – for junior research group leaders as well as postdocs with special awards, a decision on an appointment to a W1 professorship can furthermore be made in a closed procedure on a case-by-case basis. This is the case for outstanding young scientists with grants, such as the DFG's Emmy Noether Junior Research Group, the Volkswagen Foundation's Freigeist Fellowship or, for example, an ERC Starting Grant.
Special Programs at RWTH
RWTH Doctoral Academy
The RWTH Doctoral Academy - formerly Center for Doctoral Studies, CDS - enables doctoral students at RWTH Aachen University to acquire interdisciplinary qualifications as part of the structured doctoral program of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. The teaching of skills - seminars for doctoral students - that are important for the doctorate and further professional career are a central theme. Doctoral students are also supported in their career development.
RWTH Center for Professional Leadership (CPL)
The Center for Professional Leadership offers coaching and training as well as career development support for postdocs, mid-level faculty, academic managers, and professors.
The CPL offers individual career counseling for academics who are pursuing a doctorate or who have completed their doctorate. The aim is to help academics as early as possible with individual questions about their own career and to point out possible career alternatives.
RWTH Aachen Center for Young Researchers (AixCYR)
The Aachen Center for Young Researchers is the self-governing network for young researchers at RWTH Aachen University. AixCYR is an organization of academic staff members of RWTH Aachen University who have already obtained their doctorate and who aspire to a career in science. It offers opportunities for them to get to know each other as well as for professional and interdisciplinary discussions.
Interested academics at RWTH Aachen University can register for the AixCYR mailing list. They will then be able to receive messages from the network and to send messages to the members of the network.
RWTH Graduate Scholarships
Students with a university degree with above-average results, which is a prerequisite for a doctorate, can receive a scholarship under certain conditions. Only students of RWTH Aachen University can apply for this graduate funding according to the guidelines for the promotion of young academics. The support is granted as a basic scholarship, i.e. the period between graduation and the start of the support may not exceed one year. The Registrar's Office is responsible for the application process. The awarding committee of RWTH Aachen University decides on the grant.
Exploratory Research Space (ERS)
With the Exploratory Research Space (ERS), RWTH offers funding opportunities for interdisciplinary research projects at the University that combine concepts or methods from different disciplines to explore a question. ERS sees itself as a platform for scientists who want to jointly develop unconventional or high-risk research ideas. ERS is aimed at established researchers as well as young scientists.
Gender and Diversity
The promotion of gender and diversity is both a strategic cross-cutting issue that is firmly anchored in the University structure and which is a declared management task. RWTH Aachen University offers a wide range of support and promotion services centrally.
The Brigitte Gilles Prize is awarded by RWTH Aachen University to projects and measures of an innovative nature that make a significant contribution to the advancement of women.