After completing your doctoral degree
Would you like to stay on at FAU to gain further qualifications as a postdoctoral researcher, possibly completing a habilitation? Are you already employed at FAU and would like to develop your core skills through professional development courses? Or are you wondering how to finance your research activities?
Postdoctoral phase and habilitation
Have you completed your doctoral degree and/or already started your first position as a postdoctoral researcher at FAU? Then you are in what is known as the “early postdoctoral phase”. We have gathered information on possible career paths in academia.
FAU head of junior research group (FAUngl)
Are you the head of a junior research group at FAU or are you conducting research at FAU funded by third-party funding you have acquired yourself? If so, you can apply for head of junior research group status at FAU (FAUngl).
W1 (assistant) professorship
FAU allows talented early career researchers to teach and research independently through appointment to a W1 (assistant) professorship. W1 professors cover the tasks of a full professorship and thereby gain the experience and qualifications they need for appointment to a full professorship.
Training courses and career planning
At FAU, early career researchers drive innovation, societal progress and academic excellence. In our opinion, helping talented early career researchers to gain further qualifications and accompanying them on their individual career path is our key task.
Seminars and events
The FAU Graduate Center offers interdisciplinary events and seminars on key qualifications. These are open to all doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers at FAU.

Kerstin Puls
Contact
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: +49 9131 85-20721
FAU PostDocDay
The purpose of the event is to provide you with ideas for planning your academic or non-academic career, to present you our supporting stuctrures for postdoctoral researchers at FAU and to offer a forum for exchanging ideas and information.
Gain some input and ideas for your path to success, get in touch with experts from FAU and talk to professors who have already been appointed.
Career program FAUnext
FAU considers the education and training of staff with high potential as one of its greatest obligations and most important opportunities. The career program FAUnext supports excellent postdoctoral researchers, FAU heads of junior research groups and W1 (assistant) professors in all the important areas of their current career phase.
In our lunch talk series FAUnext4all, we invite guest speakers to hold brief presentations on specific topics that are of interest to the target group of postdoctoral researchers and assistant professors (W1).

Dr. Silke Schnurbusch
Contact
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: +49 9131 85-20699

Athanasia Pliakogianni
Contact
- Email: [email protected]Email: [email protected]
- Phone: +49 9131 85-20720
Career coaching
The coaching is offered in-house by Dr. Silke Schnurbusch. She is certified by the German Association for Coaching and Training (dvct) and has a long experience in advising and coaching early career researchers.
If you are interested in coaching sessions, please make an appointment directly.

Dr. Silke Schnurbusch
Contact
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: +49 9131 85-20699
FAUprofund
The program FAUprofund prepares early career researchers for submitting successful applications for third-party funded projects.
The FAU provides you will all the support you need to develop your own third party funding applications. This program gives you the opportunity to participate in targeted professional development designed to advance your research career.

Kerstin Puls
Contact
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: +49 9131 85-20721
Funding and services for third-party funding applications
FAU provides early career researchers with a wide range of supporting services, from the search for suitable funding to the successful completion of the research project.
Our internal funding programs offer you additional options for financing your research projects.

With the Emerging Talents Initiative (FAUeti), FAU supports excellent early career researchers (postdoctoral researchers to W1 professors before their interim evaluation) in applying for external funding.
This should give early career researchers the possibility to promote an innovative project independently and extend their academic independence.
Emerging Talents Initiative (ETI)
FAUeti
E-Mail: [email protected]
The Faculty of Medicine offers researchers a wide range of support options. These range from their own programs for funding medical research, to advice on applying for external funding and support in conducting clinical studies.
For questions with regard to your research project, you can contact the research coordinators at your faculty.
Dr. Cordula Glass
Contact
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: +49 174 4825 592
Dr. Robert Fischer
Contact
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: +49 9131 85-23049
Dr. Dennis Kirchberg
Contact
- Email: [email protected]
Patrik Stör
Contact
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: +49 9131 85-71148
As a leading research university, FAU is keen to provide its scientists and scholars with the best possible support in initiating and carrying out research projects.
The FAU Service for Researchers supports early career researchers at FAU in all questions concerning research funding.
The research institutions connected to FAU also have their own job portals:
Equal opportunities at FAU
Within the context of measures aimed at encouraging equal opportunities, FAU offers a number of funding opportunities directed specifically at women.
Further offers for women at FAU are available on the website of the Office of Equality and Diversity.

The FFL scholarship program and other funding options
Outstanding female doctoral candidates in their final phase and other female early career researchers aiming to pursue an academic career can apply for a scholarship from the program for encouraging equal opportunities for women in research and teaching (FFL).
(International) mobility
Our tip: Financial support for international mobility
ERASMUS+ teaching mobility funds visiting lecturers at European partner universities. This offers participants the opportunity to gain initial experience abroad at the same time as conducting research on their own scientific work.
Postdoctoral researchers should also take a look at euraxess Germany.
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the DAAD offer fellowships for international postdoctoral researchers to come to Germany and researchers based in Germany who want to go abroad. The DAAD offers a return fellowship for postdoctoral researchers who would like to return to Germany after spending time in another country.
Further information and tips on the topic of international mobility.