The position of junior professor was first created early in the first decade of the new millennium, with the aim of offering an alternative to the Habilitation process. Junior professorships give junior scholars and scientists the opportunity to conduct research and teach without being directly under a supervisor’s instructions and to amass experience in academic self-administration, thereby earning the skills and qualifications needed for lifetime professorship positions.

Each junior professorship is publicly advertised by the host institution, and positions are filled in course of an appointment process. The candidate is initially hired for a three-year limited-term position and may be rehired for another three years following a positive interim evaluation. Junior professors are paid at salary grade W1.