General conditions for the qualification and methodological explanations

A1 Expenditure on research and development and staff

More expenditure on research and development: In Germany, the state, industry and higher education sector combined spent 121.2 billion euros on research and development (R&D) in 2022. This marks the third consecutive year of growth in Germany, maintaining an R&D intensity of 3.1%. Table 1 breaks down the R&D expenditure by sectors. As in previous years, the business enterprise sector accounts for the largest share by far of expenditure in Germany, constituting 2.1% of the country’s GDP in 2022.

Universities and NURI are the main providers of training and support for early career re-searchers: A major part of research activities are carried out by early career researchers at universities and non-university research institutes. Universities and NURI are the main providers of training and support for early career researchers in Germany. However, early career researchers are not just trained to work at universities and NURI. The demand for qualified academic staff is still significantly higher in employment fields outside the higher education sector than at universities and NURI. Over the course of their career, most early career researchers leave universities and NURI permanently to take up employment in other sectors, particularly the private sector. Therefore, maintaining and strengthening the academic qualifications of early career researchers is crucial to Germany’s innovative capacity and competitiveness.

A2 Qualification and advancement

Granting universities of applied sciences (UAS) the right to award doctorates: In the 2022/23 winter semester there were 423 universities in Germany. These are categorised into 182 universities and equivalent higher education institutions (i.e. colleges of education, theology and art), and 241 UAS and colleges of public administration. Until 2015, the right to award doctorates was held exclusively by universities and equivalent institutions. In 2016, Fulda University of Applied Sciences in Hesse was the first UAS to obtain the right to award doctorates. As of 2023, eight of the 16 federal states had granted UAS a special right to confer doctorates.

NURI also play a major role in academic qualification: NURI are involved in academic qualification by means of cooperation agreements for doctoral programs. Four major scientific organisations are crucial in this regard: the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (MPG), the Fraunhofer Society for the Promotion of Applied Research (FhG), the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (HGF) and the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Society of Sciences (WGL).
Apart from these four scientific institutes, NURI also include – according to the definition of the term in this report – federal government and federal state research institutes, scientific libraries, science museums and academies (unless they are part of WGL) and other publicly funded, non-profit organisations dedicated to science, research and development.

The financial situation for training and promoting early career researchers is improving in nominal terms: Primary funding for state universities comes almost exclusively from the budgets of the federal states. These funds are the most important foundation for the qualification and advancement of early career researchers. They rose significantly in nominal terms from 19 billion euros to 35 billion euros between 2005 and 2022 (Fig. 1). NURI are financed through federal budgets or by joint research funding from the federal government and the federal states. In addition to basic funding, universities and NURI receive third-party funding, which supports various activities, including training early career researchers. For the most part, this involves initiatives and programmes offered by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the federal government, the private sector, the EU and various foundations. Furthermore, third-party funding, current basic funding (universities) and institutional funding (NURI) have all risen substantially in nominal terms since 2005.

The Tenure Track Programme of the federal government and the federal states: The career and qualification conditions for early career researchers have figured prominently in university reform initiatives in recent years. The Tenure Track Programme of the federal government and the federal states was adopted in 2016 with the aim of promoting early career scientists by establishing tenure track professorships throughout Germany as a separate career path. Of the 1,000 tenure track professorships granted, a total of 971 professorships had been awarded for the first time by the end of the appointment period of the second allocation round (31 May 2023).

Initiative for Excellence and Excellence Strategy: The Excellence Strategy, which was adopted indefinitely in 2016 by the federal government and the federal states as the successor to the Excellence Initiative, has two funding mechanisms: Clusters of Excellence and Universities of Excellence. Since 2019, a total of 533 million euros has been earmarked for these initiatives each year. From 2026, which will see the start of the second round of funding for the Clusters of Excellence, the annual budget for the overall programme will increase to 687 million euros. Integrating the advancement of early career researchers into the research structures of the Clusters of Excellence creates structured doctoral opportunities and development opportunities for doctoral holders. Moreover, financed by the Universities of Excellence programme, universities and consortia (composed of universities and/or NURI) can improve conditions and facilitate career progression for young academics as part of their structural profile.

Programme to promote the recruitment and development of professorial staff at universities of applied sciences (“FH-Personal”): Since 2021, the federal government and the federal states have supported UAS in developing and implementing university- and site-specific concepts to attract and train professors. This funding initiative was launched following recommendations made by the German Council of Science and Humanities in 2016, which identified difficulties in recruiting professors and advised that measures be taken in terms of staff structure, recruitment, qualification and personnel management. Overall, 98 UAS are funded by “FH-Personal”, selected from the 241 UAS through a competitive process. The federal government and the federal states have allocated a total budget of up to 431 million euros to finance the programme, subject to the approval of resources by the legislative bodies. The programme indirectly supports early career researchers by creating additional career opportunities for young academics at UAS.

Higher Education Pact 2020 and the Future Contract for Strengthening Studying and Teaching in Higher Education: In the context of the Higher Education Pact 2020 – to date the most extensive funding programme for the German higher education system – the federal and state governments provided 39 billion euros between 2007 and 2023 to increase university capacities. As a result, the federal-state agreement on the Future Contract for Strengthening Studying and Teaching in Higher Education aims to improve the quality of study programmes and teaching. The federal government and the federal states together allocated approximately 3.8 billion euros each year in 2021 and 2022 for this purpose. The extensive funding, which has been approved indefinitely, will create additional employment opportunities for early career researchers at universities.

Pact for Research and Innovation (PFI I- IV): The fourth funding phase of the PFI, adopted in 2019, is set to run from 2021 to 2030 and applies to the DFG, the FhG, the HGF, the MPG and the WGL. The initiatives are specifically intended for early career researchers, aiming to attract – and retain – the best and the brightest. In this regard, there is a general obligation to identify and offer early career researchers development paths both within and outside the world of academia.

Programme for Female Professors: Adopted in 2008 by the federal government and the federal states, the Programme for Female Professors intends to increase the number of women in professorial positions in order to achieve greater parity at German universities and to sustainably reinforce equal opportunities structures at universities through targeted measures. The fourth phase of the “Programme for Female Professors 2030” began in 2023 and will continue until 2030, endowed with a total funding volume of 320 million euros (split equally between the federal government and the federal states). The key objectives of the underlying federal- state agreement include the following: to further increase the percentage of women and establish parity in top academic positions and at executive levels, to facilitate career planning in science and art and, finally, to encourage the career advancement and development of early career female researchers as they transition from postdoc to professorship.

The German Law on Fixed-Term Employment Contracts in the Science and Research Sector (WissZeitVG): Approved in 2007, the WissZeitVG regulates the conditions for concluding fixed-term employment contracts with academic and artistic staff at universities and NURI in Germany. The law was amended in 2016 following an initial evaluation. In particular, the amendment was intended to offer early career researchers more stable and longer-term prospects by linking the duration of fixed-term employment contracts to the purpose of the temporary status. An evaluation of the 2016 amendment was published in 2022. Among other findings, the evaluation revealed that the practice of issuing fixed-term contracts at universities and NURI continues to be strongly influenced by lengthy periods with fixed-term contracts, late decisions on whether to remain in academia and a high proportion of short-term contracts for less than one year. Moreover, the percentage of temporary third-party funding in universities has also increased significantly. On 27 March 2024, the Federal Cabinet passed a further reform to the WissZeitVG aimed at facilitating advance planning and reliability for academics and researchers in the qualification phase.

A3 Current key topics

Career prospects and employment conditions in academia: Over the last four years, several trains of thought have dominated the discourse on career prospects and employment conditions. These include proposals to reform the WissZeitVG, addressing the fixed-term employment conditions of non-professorial staff (including doctoral students and doctorate holders), which are often described as “precarious”, improving personnel structures within the academic system and tackling the looming shortage of highly qualified professionals. The two central aspects of the discussion continue to be the high percentage of fixed-term employment contracts among early career researchers and the resulting lack of predictability in their academic career progression.

Equal opportunities and the compatibility of family life and an academic career: Issues related to equal opportunities for women and men, promoting diversity in general and the compatibility of family life and an academic career are still subject to intense debate. Calls to improve the compatibility of family life and an academic career stem from the recognition that the uncertain employment prospects and mobility expectations faced by early career researchers are difficult to reconcile with the decision to have children.

Ensuring the quality of academic qualifications: Since the National Report on Early Career Researchers 2021, discussions surrounding accusations of plagiarism in dissertations submitted by public figures, the practice of doctorates in medicine and ensuring the quality of industrial doctorates have declined significantly. Over the last four years, however, the debate has focused on the increasing diversity of doctoral studies in Germany, including granting UAS in various federal states the right to confer doctorates. Another topic that is increasingly gaining traction is science communication. The pandemic highlighted this form of dialogue between science and society, revealing associated quality standards and the requirements for developing expertise.

Internationalisation: The debate on international developments in academia and the internationalisation of universities mainly refers to academics and researchers as a whole, rather than specifically to early career researchers. The debate focuses on shifts in the global landscape of science policy and conflicts that challenge research security in Germany. In response, higher education policymakers want to expand international consortia with selected partners, while considering the advantages and disadvantages of international collaboration more carefully. The latter applies particularly to dealings with autocratic states such as the People’s Republic of China. Moreover, academics and politicians have condemned Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Scientific cooperation with Russian institutes has been suspended and research funding frozen. At the same time, measures have been implemented to support researchers from Ukraine.

Covid- 19 pandemic: The restrictions necessitated by the pandemic transformed how universities and NURI work, at least temporarily. Early career researchers were affected by delays in research projects, due to difficulties in accessing libraries and research facilities or laboratory closures. Juggling the demands of family and work – a formidable challenge experienced by society as a whole, especially families with dependent children – also hindered the productivity and publication activities of early career researchers.

A4 The definition of early career researchers

New terminology for early career researchers: The term “junior scholars” faced public criticism for some time. Therefore, the consortium has decided to stop using the term in favour of “early career researchers”.

No change in the basic concept of the old and new terminology: The core definition of the new term, early career researchers, does not differ from that of “junior scholars”. Early career researchers primarily include researchers who are undertaking doctoral studies or who, having obtained their doctorate, are pursuing an academic career at universities and NURI with the goal of securing a management position in academia (usually a tenured professorship). According to the parliamentary resolution of 18 June 2009, the current report, like its predecessors, focuses primarily on this group.

The National Report on Early Career Researchers 2025 takes doctoral students and doctorate holders as the starting point for the analyses: The early career phase refers to researchers in the doctoral phase (R1) or in an early postdoc phase (R2). The advanced postdoc phase or establishment phase (R3), which includes junior and tenure track professors, as well as junior research group leaders, is not considered part of the early career phase. However, the R3 phase remains an important part of an academic career and is thus also included in the analyses in this report (see Section C).

Varied career paths of doctorate holders both within and outside the science system: Figure 2 shows the phases in academic careers with reference to the EU Framework for Research Careers (2023) as well as the wide range of career options available to early career researchers within and outside the science system.

A5 Data and classifications

The National Report prioritises key topics, which are analysed on the basis of data from official statistics. These statistics undergo regular validity checks, are continuously updated and, owing to their wide thematic scope, provide a variety of key indicators to monitor early career researchers

Where certain issues cannot be addressed using data from official statistical sources, this report draws on the results of regular surveys and longitudinal data sets. These mainly include findings from the IAB- INCHER project of earned doctorates (IIPED), along with the National Academics Panel Study (Nacaps), the Scientists Survey and the Student Life Cycle Panel (SLC), which are prepared by the German Centre for Research on Higher Education and Science Studies (DZHW).

Furthermore, in cases where neither official data nor regular surveys or data sets were available on key topics, individual studies and other data sources were consulted.