TUM Faculty Tenure Track: Balancing Career & Family
The Technical University of Munich helps researchers to balance family life with their demands of a career.
The TUM Faculty Tenure Track career system also takes family commitments into account –offering, for instance, more flexible working hours and factoring a researcher’s family situation into their performance evaluations.
During the tenure phase, assistant professors can be granted parental leave or leave of absence to care for an underage child in line with the relevant legislation (parent tenure clock extension).
In such cases, the tenure phase will be extended at the researcher’s request to take account of the period of leave. For parental leave, an extension of up to four years may be granted, while for other leave the maximum period is three years. The dates for status assessments and tenure evaluations are correspondingly extended.
During the tenure phase, assistant professors can apply for a part-time work arrangement in line with the relevant legislation in order to care for an underage child (part time tenure clock extension).
Two different arrangements are possible: During parental leave, the assistant professor can work (part-time) for up to 30 hours per week. Alternatively, their working hours may be reduced for leave of absence to care for an underage child; in this case, part-time employment for at least 8 hours per week is possible. With both arrangements, the tenure phase will be extended at the researcher’s request to take account of the duration and scope of the part-time employment; however the maximum extension is four years. The dates for status assessments and tenure evaluations are correspondingly extended.
Assistant Professors who need to care for a family member may opt for part-time employment or leave in line with the relevant legislation (elder care).
In such cases, the tenure phase can be extended at the researcher’s request for the corresponding period of time. The dates for status assessments and tenure evaluations are correspondingly extended.
The candidate’s personal and family commitments (e.g. parent sabbaticals, care of a family member, other services to the general public) are factored into performance evaluations.