Margarete von Wrangell Program for Recently Appointed W1 Professors

In 1923, Margarete von Wrangell was the first woman to become full professor at a German university. Since then, her story has encouraged many female scientists to pursue an academic career. With the Margarete von Wrangell Program, the Ministry of Science, Research and Arts in Baden-Württemberg together with the European Union supports talented young woman in the precarious qualification phase between postdoc and tenured professor. Starting off as a habilitation program, the Margarete von Wrangell Program has adapted its focus in 2023 to suit more modern career paths. Now, any female junior or tenure-track professor within the first 18 months after her appointment can apply for an additional postdoc position funded for three years. Tenure-Track Professor Franziska Meinherz is one of the recipients and has answered a few questions about the program.

Can you choose any postdoc for the position?
No, it is personalized funding for a specific female candidate. She must have finished her doctoral theses with at least a “magna cum laude“ – with great honor – not more than two years ago. Moreover, her research focus needs to complement and enrich my research profile. You have to make clear that it is a win-win situation: like that the postdoc really makes your junior professorship more productive, but also that the postdoc is kind of ready for a junior professorship herself at the end of the project.

How do you show that it is a mutually benefitable arrangement?
My postdoc Anke Kläver and I, we basically developed a joint research project in rough sketches. We talked a lot about the contents of the research, how it will it be structured, how it builds on her expertise and how it will fit into the research priorities of the group. But still on a very, very abstract level. We didn’t put in any Gantt charts or deliverables. I also talked to people from other universities that got the funding and they had been much more vague, basically only mentioning how the competences and expertises were complimentary and the broad kind of topic or discipline that they would be working in. I found writing the application easier with a project in mind, with a specific teaching involvement in mind and so on – it just made the whole argumentation smoother.

So, besides the research, teaching is also relevant?
Yes. Teaching is an essential part of qualifying for a professorship in German. Hence, I’d like to give Anke the opportunity to teach her own course as part of the existing bachelor or master programs at KIT. So far, she has started teaching a methods seminar. As  we are currently developing a new master program at our institute, I hope we will be able to include a course on her subject specifically. The goal is that after her postdoc with me,, Anke will have a comprehensive teaching portfolio for when she starts applying for a professorship herself.

Isn’t it challenging to promote the independence of a postdoc, when you are just about to establish yourself as a junior professor?
This is why the choice of the candidate is so important. When there is a good match or good synergies between your disciplines, methods and research interests, the Margarete von Wrangell program is a great opportunity for both. It’s also a great benefit to have a postdoc in the group next to the doctoral students and student assistants. The postdoc brings in expert knowledge as well as experiences from different universities and research groups. This is very valuable when you are building up your own group and processes. And at the same time, the fact that much is still to be developed when you are establishing your own group also gives the postdoc the opportunity to take on new responsibilities, and thus, to develop her own competences and research profile.

What else is important to show that the candidate will be appointable for professorship after the postdoc stay with your group?
For Anke, we scheduled a stay abroad as part of the project because she has only worked in Germany so far and international experience is very valuable. Moreover, we described how the planned project will help her consolidate her expertise so that she will really have a clear and strong academic profile to apply for junior research group or junior professorship. The project we sketched also has synergies with my other projects. Hence, I wrote down explicitly that Anke will co-mentor some of my doctoral researchers and, thus, gain some experience supervising. This has already worked out great so far: both projects benefit immensely from them working closely together.

What kind of application documents do you have to prepare?
The motivation letter from the postdoc – a two-pager – and the application letter from me extending to a maximum of three pages are most important, I think. Both need to convince the judges that there really is added personal and scientific value in research and teaching for both parties of the tandem. In addition, I needed to hand in a qualification concept for Anke. For this, I could draw from the various offers for postdocs that exist at KIT including further qualification and networking opportunities.

Are there other points, that you think were important for your application?
Yeah, what I underestimated, but got the feedback from the Research Office and the Human Resources Development at KIT that it was really important is to let the funders know how you manage the work and interaction in your group. For example, what kind of different exchange formats do we have and how often do we meet as a team or have team seminars. I wrote this down to show that my postdoc won't be on her own, but that there's a whole group she will be part of and interact with.

What feedback did you get from the ministry?
The funding approval came really fast. Two and a half to three months after handing in the application, we got the confirmation. Though, they didn’t give us any reviews or decisive reasons, I think most important is the mutual benefit. You need to show how your expertises complement and contribute to each other. Research-wise, our tandem is already working out great. Our approaches and interests really match well and we are excited about what the project will become and are also already developing side-projects.