Junior research group leaders lead a research group and usually have one or two doctoral students and possibly student assistants or technical staff in their team. Particularly in the field of mathematics and natural sciences, positions as junior research group leaders are highly sought-after, as they serve as a stepping stone to a future professorship.

As a rule, junior research group leaders have the opportunity to work independently on their research projects for a period of five years. This gives them a certain amount of freedom and flexibility to pursue their ideas. In addition, they often have generous budgets and a first-class research infrastructure at their disposal to help them carry out their projects.

The most important funding programs are

the Emmy Noether Program of the DFG and

the Walter Benjamin Program of the DFG.

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research also supports the junior research groups and regularly announces thematic research programs.

TU Ilmenau
Ian Schneider_unsplash
JuniorprofessurTU Ilmenau