Actively Shaping Qualification Phases

Forschungszentrum Jülich promotes its young researchers in all qualification phases. The aim is to actively support young researchers in deciding on a specific career goal and, at the same time, to prepare the most innovative, suitable minds for a career in science and science-related fields.

With a successful doctorate, young scientists in STEM subjects today have access to attractive positions in a broad professional spectrum. The vast majority of doctoral students pursue career goals outside of academia. The centre-wide, structured funding of the doctoral phase (R 1) at Jülich therefore sees itself as a "door opener" for young researchers across the board and at the same time aims to identify and support those who have the potential for a career in science.

In the post-doctoral phase, young researchers are specifically prepared for activities in scientific or science-related fields, including science management. While there is still a certain permeability between career paths at the beginning of the postdoc phase (R 2), which makes a later change to a non-academic professional field possible, the focus of the offers of Forschungszentrum Jülich shifts to the scientific field in the later postdoc phase.

In the subsequent qualification phase (R3), the focus is on support on the path to a leadership position at a non-university research institution or to a professorship. It is geared towards achieving scientific independence and outstanding visibility in the researchers’ respective subject community, as well as leadership skills and employability within or outside Forschungszentrum Jülich.