Agreement

The Postdoctoral Agreement must be concluded by no later than six months after the start of a postdoctorate. This agreement serves, inter alia, as a job description and clarifies the framework and basic conditions. Specifically, the Postdoctoral Agreement sets forth the tasks, objectives and supervision.

• Tasks — a brief description is given of the research project and the topic of the postdoc. In addition, further tasks are listed and it is indicated whether these tasks are part of the workload reserved for scientific qualification. Participation in teaching is also stated.
• Objectives — the Postdoctoral Agreement provides a definition of the overarching objectives in relation to research and educational performance, and of the milestones required to achieve the objectives. The objectives are reviewed periodically and adjusted if necessary.
• Supervision — at least two persons are named in the Postdoctoral Agreement who are responsible for supervising the respective postdoctoral researcher. One of the persons listed is the postdoc’s main supervisor.

Based on a large survey of all postdocs and supervisors, the Postdoctoral Agreement was revised in fall 2025.

New features

• The Postdoctoral Agreement is separate from the employee appraisal (MAG) and is completed once at the beginning of the employment.
• The Postdoctoral Agreement now also addresses aspects such as PRT and work-life balance.
• The annual evaluation of research performance now takes place as part of the MAG, for which there is also a new form (internal link).

The new documents can be used immediately. For the 2025 MAG round, the old documents are still available as a temporary solution. The new documents must be used from the fall semester of 2026 at the latest.