Prof@THGA – talent factory for the professors of tomorrowProfessors for the Future - Recruitment and development of professorial staff at the THGA
The project “Prof@THGA”
With our “Prof@THGA” project, we are opening doors to new perspectives and exciting career opportunities at the THGA. With a clear focus on innovation and diversity, we are committed to attracting and promoting the best talent.
Our mission? We want to develop new ways of qualifying and recruiting professorial staff and strengthen the next generation of academics in-house. We want to actively shape careers towards University of Applied Sciences (UAS)-professorships and further establish the THGA as an attractive place to work. This also includes improving the compatibility of family and career and increasing diversity among our professors.
Discover how we are actively shaping the future of science and teaching. Become part of a project that not only shapes careers, but also sets new standards - for a university that inspires with diversity and innovation!
Equal opportunities and diversity
The ProF@THGA project specifically promotes equal opportunities and diversity in teaching and research with the aim of increasing the proportion of women in engineering and in the professorial staff. Women are to contribute to an inclusive engineering culture at the THGA through visibility and role modeling.
Teaching assignments give qualified women insight into university teaching and the career path to becoming a university professor.
In addition, the THGA has endorsed the HRK resolution on gender equality in appointments in order to reduce structural inequalities. Key measures include active recruitment, fair appointment procedures, and systematic monitoring.
A particular highlight was the “SheEngage” engineering conference, which provided targeted support for women in their professional development through networking, workshops, and lectures.
Postdoc Tandems – Your Path to a Professorship at HAW!
The first postdoc tandem at THGA, in cooperation with the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum (Leibniz Research Museum for Georesources), has been successfully completed. We congratulate Dr. Annika Lüttmann on successfully completing the three-year postdoc tandem.
Focus professorships
With the introduction of focus professorships, THGA is increasing the attractiveness of a university of applied sciences professorship and creating time for teaching innovations, research, and cooperation with industry. At the same time, transfer relationships are being intensified and the university's profile areas strengthened.
After an initial successful phase, the second phase began in the 2024/25 winter semester, with three professors selected for four semesters.
They are pursuing goals in the areas of teaching innovation, research priorities, cooperation with industry, and increasing the proportion of female teaching staff. The focus is on collaborative robots in manufacturing, the preservation of industrial cultural heritage, and geodata and remote sensing.
In the coming semesters, the results will be integrated into teaching and practical projects. By reducing teaching loads, doctoral students and postdocs will also have the opportunity to gain teaching experience for a future professorship.
New Promotional Video: Showcasing the Diverse Work Environment at THGA in Bochum
THGA has set itself the goal of increasing the appeal of professorships at Universities of Applied Sciences. Various strategies are being implemented to achieve this, such as the production of promotional videos. A first video was produced in collaboration with the Regionalverband Ruhr, based in Essen. Another promotional video and short interviews can be found here. The nationwide HAW Professorship campaign also provides information on the general requirements, opportunities, and pathways to a HAW professorship.
Onboarding and Professional Development for Newly Appointed Faculty
To enhance the appeal of the professorship, THGA has developed an onboarding and professional development program for newly appointed faculty. This program enables newly appointed professors to successfully fulfill their duties in all necessary areas after a period of orientation and to take on the responsibility of shaping the future of THGA.
To provide targeted support, seminars on securing external funding and writing successful project proposals are currently being held in collaboration with our partner BO-I-T. These have been very well received by early-career researchers.
Our offers and funding for early career researchers
The PhD seminar provides additional support for early career researchers. It provides structured support for PhD students at the THGA during and after their doctorate. As part of this structure, networking events, doctoral-related training and interdisciplinary qualification programs are offered.
To ensure the visibility of the group, two spokespersons are elected to represent the interests of the PhD candidates as an official mouthpiece. The newly elected PhD student spokespersons are Larissa Schoppohl and Myo Thiri Kyaw.
UAS-professorship versus university professorship, what's the difference? What makes working at a UAS and especially at the THGA different? What research and teaching opportunities are there for those considering a professorial career? - Vice President Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Michael Prange provided answers to these and many other questions on the 27th of September 2024.
In a relaxed atmosphere, he provided information about the special features of working, researching and teaching at the THGA. When asked why he likes working at the THGA, he replied: “Because I can see how our university has steadily developed in recent years and it gives me great pleasure to help shape this development.”
The first fireside evening in this series met with great interest and led to lively discussions.
More fireside evenings will follow!
In a world where technological and scientific innovation is becoming increasingly complex, a diverse perspective is crucial. The ProF@THGA project specifically promotes equal opportunities and diversity in teaching and research in order to create a fair and diverse university environment. Our work package “Promoting equal opportunities and diversity” aims to increase the proportion of women in engineering and among professors. Through their visibility and their position as role models, women help to promote an inclusive and future-oriented engineering culture at the THGA.
1. Women in teaching and career advancement
By awarding teaching assignments, we would like to offer qualified women the opportunity to try their hand at teaching, get to know the THGA and gain insights into the career path “UAS-professorship”. In this way, we create a platform that:
- gives women access to teaching,
- introduces them to work at universities of applied sciences,
- shows perspectives on how a professorship can be achieved as a career goal.
Further information can be found in the flyer “Women into lecture halls”.
2. Voluntary commitment to more gender equality in appointments: THGA follows HRK resolution
The THGA has agreed to the resolution of the “German Rectors’ Conference” to promote gender equality in appointments and has signed the corresponding voluntary commitment. The aim is to reduce structural gender inequalities and ensure fair gender representation in professorships. Five key areas of action have been identified: active recruitment, gender-equitable appointment procedures, fair remuneration structures, institutional anchoring of gender sensitivity and systematic monitoring. In the long term, these measures should contribute to a cultural change and more equality at universities.
A detailed description of the objectives on the path to greater gender equality can be found here.
3. Planned women engineers conference “SheEngage” (08. - 09.04.2025)
A central highlight of our project will be the women engineers' conference “SheEngage: Networking and Career Strategies”, which will take place on April 08 and 09, 2025. This conference is aimed at women in technical and scientific disciplines and aims to:
- offer networking opportunities,
- demonstrate strategic career approaches,
- make women aware of the THGA and an academic career.
This initiative is intended to establish a new format that encourages women to aspire to a professorship at a UAS.
A total of four postdoc positions are available as part of the project, which offer doctoral candidates the opportunity to gain the necessary professional experience outside of academia in cooperation with a company. With the recent filling of these postdoc tandem positions, we have taken another important step towards promoting young academics.
It is particularly pleasing that we were able to achieve gender parity in this context: Of the four positions to be filled, two have been filled by female engineers.
The THGA has set itself the goal of increasing the attractiveness of the UAS-professorship. Various concepts are to be used, e.g. the creation of image videos. A first video has been realized in cooperation with the “Regionalverband Ruhr”, based in Essen. Further image films were produced in 2024. The nationwide UAS professorship campaign also provides information on the general requirements, opportunities and paths to a UAS-professorship.
In order to increase the attractiveness of the professorship, the THGA has developed an onboarding and qualification program for newly appointed professors. This enables newly appointed professors to successfully fulfil their tasks in all required areas after a certain training period and to take responsibility for shaping the future of the THGA.
In order to provide targeted support, a concept is currently being developed in collaboration with the partner BO-I-T for the procurement of third-party funding and the preparation of successful project applications.
The introduction of specialised professorships is also intended to increase the attractiveness of a UAS-professorship. Further objectives are the development of teaching innovations, the initiation of collaborations, the intensification of transfer relationships and the implementation of research projects. At the same time, the university's profile areas, which are linked to the THGA's development goals, will be strengthened.
In the first phase, four specialised professorships have already helped to support the project, including with regard to increasing the proportion of women in research and teaching. The second phase began in the winter semester 2024/25. A total of three professors were selected from the group of applicants, who will now pursue different objectives for a period of four semesters in the areas of teaching innovations, promoting research priorities, increasing the proportion of female teaching staff and intensifying cooperation with industry.
Let us introduce - the three new professors for four semesters:
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Frank
Focus: Collaborative robots (cobots) in manufacturing
Topic content:
- Benchmark and needs analysis for SMEs and universities
- Establishing collaborations (including with the FH Soest)
- Identification of practical use cases and integration of cobots in teaching and internships
“The aim of my professorship is to develop practical applications and teaching modules that teach the use of cobots in final production, taking into account the needs of regional SMEs.”
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Nicole Lefort
Focus: Industrial Heritage Conservation
Topic content:
- Development and validation of investigation methods for analyzing the condition of historical industrial facilities
- Research into corrosion mechanisms and coating systems (e.g. Zollverein, Henrichshütte)
- Application for EFRE and DBU-funded projects
“The professorship gives me the freedom to advance current research topics in a targeted manner and to network them in an international context.”
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Sebastian Janßen
Focus: Geodata and remote sensing
Topic content:
- Use of photogrammetry, laser scanning and remote sensing to record environmental data
- Methods for analyzing urban climate, infrastructure and climate change
- Establishing interdisciplinary research networks for sustainable development
“We live in the age of geodata! Whether for economic and administrative decisions or combating climate change: geodata is the basis for sound decision-making almost everywhere. And thanks to innovative methods of remote sensing, photogrammetry and laser scanning, we can collect more and more precise information about environmental changes, the urban climate or our infrastructure and thus make a contribution to sustainable development.”
Outlook:
Over the next four semesters, the three professors will implement their projects and continuously incorporate the results into teaching formats and practical projects. At the same time, the reduction in their teaching loads means that young academics can take over courses - allowing doctoral students and postdocs to gain initial practical experience for possible future professorships.
On the pricture: Prof. Peter Frank | Prof. Nicole Lefort | Prof. Sebastian Janßen
Co-operation partner
The project “ProF@THGA: Professors for the Future. Recruitment and development of professorial staff at the THGA” is funded by the FMRTS under the funding code 03FHP110 in the federal-state program ‘FH-Personal’. The project will run from 01.04.2021 to 31.03.2027. The main aim is to fill all professorships in good time and with the best possible staff in the future. Together with seven cooperation partners, this overarching goal, as well as many others, is to be achieved.
Contact Person
Judith Heimeier Project coordination Prof@THGA
- Judith.Heimeier@thga.de
- Telephone
- +49 234 968-8112
- Office
- G8 R112a
