Procedure of the habilitation process

Notification and interim evaluation

The applicant has to announce the habilitation project in writing to the KIT Dean at an early stage (notification - announcement of the habilitation intention). Together with the announcement, a time schedule and an outline of the content of the habilitation project are to be submitted.

The habilitation should then be completed within a period of usually five years, taking into account subject-specific features.

If the KIT faculty is responsible for the subject, an interim evaluation according to § 7 of the habilitation regulations is usually initiated two years after the notification.

Guideline of the interim evaluation

Admission procedure

Admission to habilitation requires

1. the doctorate,
2. as a rule, several years of academic activity in research and teaching in the subject or subject area for which the person wishes to habilitate,
3. proof of special pedagogical-didactic aptitude
   as well as
4. an interim evaluation

are required.

Application for admission

The application for admission to habilitation should be submitted in writing to the KIT dean of the KIT faculty within six months after completion of the interim evaluation. The subject or subject area for which the authorization to teach is sought must be stated.

1. a curriculum vitae with a description of the scientific and professional career;
2. a doctoral certificate in the original or in officially certified form;
3. proof of special pedagogical-didactic aptitude according to § 9;
4. a written declaration of commitment to observe the Statutes for Ensuring Good Scientific Practice at KIT as amended from time to time;
5. a written statement on other pending or unsuccessfully completed habilitation procedures as well as a statement on whether the habilitation thesis has already been submitted in full or in part in such procedures, if this is the case;
6. a written statement on criminal and disciplinary proceedings and unrelieved criminal convictions, as well as on whether academic degrees have been withdrawn or revoked, if this is the case;
7. a written statement on proceedings initiated or underway in the past regarding scientific misconduct, if this is the case.

Habilitation application

The application for habilitation must be submitted in writing to the KIT Dean of the KIT Department. The subject or field for which the habilitation is sought as well as the subject or field for which the authorization to teach is applied for must be stated.

1. a curriculum vitae with a description of the scientific and professional career;
2. the original or officially certified doctoral certificate;
3. the written habilitation thesis
   If the habilitation is applied for on the basis of scientific publications or scientific papers ready for printing, these are to be submitted in each case summarized in a cumulative habilitation thesis including a summary on the research focus covered by the publications.
   The written habilitation thesis is to be submitted as a printed copy and in electronic version with confirmation of the habilitation candidate about the agreement;
4. A complete list of scientific publications and a list of relevant courses;
5. in the case of a cumulative habilitation thesis, a separate listing of the papers summarized in the habilitation thesis with the relevant information as to whether and where they were published;
6. an assurance that the habilitation thesis or the submitted scientific papers, if written by the habilitation candidate alone, have been prepared by him/her independently and without any aids other than those indicated therein; in the case of scientific papers jointly written by the habilitation candidate and other authors, a statement of the significant portions of the scientific work contributed by the habilitation candidate, as well as an assurance that these portions have been prepared independently and without any aids other than those indicated therein;
7. three proposals for topics for the scientific presentation. The proposals do not constitute a claim to consideration. The topic proposals must be available at the latest by the time the reports are issued;
8. if admission was subject to a condition, proof that this condition has been fulfilled;
9. written declarations according to § 8 paragraph 6 sentence 1 numbers 5. to 7. if the facts mentioned there have occurred in the meantime.

Opening of the habilitation procedure

As a rule, the habilitation committee decides on the opening of the habilitation procedure within two months after receipt of the habilitation application.

The habilitation committee appoints the reviewers.

On the basis of the expert opinions submitted and any comments received, the habilitation committee decides whether to accept the written habilitation thesis and continue the habilitation procedure or whether to reject the thesis.

Colloquium

After acceptance of the written habilitation performance, the habilitation committee selects the topic for the scientific lecture from the three proposals of the habilitation candidate and sets a date for lecture and colloquium.

The KIT dean invites the professors, habilitated members of the KIT department, the reviewers, and the members of the habilitation committee not belonging to the KIT department to the habilitation colloquium.

The scientific lecture should last about half an hour. As a rule, it will be held in German or English.

Afterwards, a discussion with the habilitation candidate will take place under the direction of the KIT dean.

The lecture and the discussion shall prove that the scientific basics of the subject or subject area are mastered and that subject-related contexts can be presented in a didactically satisfactory manner.

Following the lecture and the colloquium, the habilitation committee decides in private on the acceptance of the scientific lecture as an oral habilitation achievement.

Decision-making and execution of the habilitation

If the written habilitation performance is accepted and the oral habilitation performance meets the requirements from a subject-related and pedagogical-didactic point of view, the habilitation committee determines the successful completion of the habilitation procedure.

Authorization to teach

In the semester following the habilitation, the Privatdozent is to hold a KIT-public inaugural lecture, the topic and date of which are to be determined with the Dean's Office of the KIT Department and to which the KIT Department invites.

The Privatdozent*in is obligated to perform teaching activities of at least two semester hours per week within the scope of the teaching authorization.

The performance of these courses may not be made dependent on teaching remuneration.

Upon request, the KIT Department Council may exempt the associate professor from the title teaching for up to two semesters in particularly justified cases.