Academic Personnel Development

Personnel Development for Academic Staff at Leuphana University Lüneburg regards itself as a central service department for the support of its academic staff. By networking and cooperating with other central and decentralised departments of Leuphana in the field, personnel development measures are bundled for the various academic target groups. Thematically, personnel development for Leuphana's academic staff is located in the Vice President's Department for Personnel Development and is structurally anchored in the President's Office.

Current events:
The information event "Research in Europe" on 12 October, 2023, organised by the European Liaison Office of the German Research Organisations (KoWi) and the University of Göttingen, brings together everything early career researchers need to know about individual funding opportunities - whether they aspire to a national or international career in research. To find further information und to register please click here.

The programme of events for academics for winter semester 23/24 will be published in September 2023.

Programme of events winter semester 22/23 for the academic staff

The Academic Personnel Development Office supports academic staff in their professional orientation and development, and provides measures to develop their interdisciplinary skills. An essential element is the counselling and support of members of institutes, centres and university institutions. The range of measures extends from thematic offers for groups to specific measures and workshops to individual forms of counselling. 

The counselling provided by the responsible officer is specifically geared to questions about career options in science. If you would like advice on possible career paths in business and society, you will find the right contact person at the Graduate School.

The Office is an independent, confidential, gender- and diversity-sensitive organisational unit.

Dr. Hannah Jacobmeyer is the Academic Personnel Development Officer for academic staff at Leuphana University Lüneburg. She holds a doctorate in English and has more than 20 years of professional experience in education and research, both within and outside of academia.

Below you will find information, offers and tips for the various target groups of personnel development for academic staff. The contents are continuously adapted and expanded.

Increasingly, professors hold management positions and are responsible for the personal development of their staff. The Academic Personnel Development Office at Leuphana can serve as a contact point for professors for these challenges and, if necessary, develop areas for reflection and appropriate measures. In particular, they can provide support for the personal development of the academic staff assigned to them.

Newly appointed professors and junior professors are to be particularly supported in their start at Leuphana. The measures range from an onboarding process to personal initial consultations to specific offers for career planning and development, especially in the areas of research, teaching and scholarship. As new members of the university, newly appointed professors and junior professors bring with them ideas, skills and potential. At the same time, they are faced with the task of finding their way in a new and innovative academic environment, building networks, producing excellent academic performance, pursuing their individual career development and, depending on the job profile, actively shaping their own academic career path at an early stage.

Research Assistants (WiMis) work in research and teaching in a variety of roles. The different qualification levels, job profiles and tasks as well as the contractual framework must be taken into account. The heterogeneous needs and situations will be focused on in order to be able to provide constructive support for career development so that the target group can develop its potential to the full. The aim is to identify and reflect on career development perspectives within or outside academia and to support strategic planning. Transparency, participation and confidentiality are the cornerstones of the support provided.

In addition to the Graduate School's offerings, the Academic Personnel Development Office is the contact point for doctoral candidates who want to explore and reflect on their academic career options. A doctorate is the first step towards an academic career. The global knowledge society also requires highly qualified employees, so that a doctorate also prepares and qualifies for an outstanding position in business and society. The target group for personnel development is not only internal doctoral candidates, but also external doctoral students and those who decide to pursue a career outside of academia during their doctoral studies. For this group, it is particularly important to reflect on career perspectives and the many options for working within and outside of academia. The Graduate School offers support especially to those doctoral candidates who decide to pursue a career in business and society. The academic personal development programmes are aimed primarily at doctoral candidates who are considering an academic career and want to reflect on the opportunities and challenges of this option.