Medical progress relies on the intense synergies between basic and clinical research. To foster such interactions on a lasting basis, physicians with strong research skills need to be able to work towards attractive career goals that will allow them to combine leading roles in science and patient care. To this end, the Faculty of Medicine and the University Hospital Münster have established the concept of clinical-translational professorships that combine a fixed and protected proportion of research (typically 30-50%) with clinical responsibility for a defined area of patient care.

To recruit or retain highly talented clinician scientists at an earlier stage of their careers, the University of Münster and the Faculty of Medicine have created a tenure track for these clinical-translational professorships. Complementing the traditional appointment process, it enables ambitious candidates to better plan their academic careers. Initially, they are awarded a professorship for a defined period (W1 associate professor: six years; W2 professor: five years). This comes with the promise of tenure (W2 or W3) following a positive evaluation.

To strengthen established and emerging areas of research focus, clinics and institutes of the Faculty of Medicine can apply to set up new clinical-translational tenure-track professorships. This highly competitive process is overseen by the Faculty of Medicine’s Committee of Structure and Development, which recommends to the Faculty Council that a clinical-translational professorship be created.

• Information from the University of Münster about the tenure-track process
• Committee of Structure and Development at the Faculty of Medicine
• Appointment portal of the Faculty of Medicine