Professors may be granted full or partial exemption from other duties for a semester or term in order to devote themselves to the development of their teaching and research activities, as well as to knowledge and technology transfer. The same applies to practice-oriented activities that support their duties and teaching activities.
The legal basis for this measure is . A prerequisite for leave of absence is that a substitute is in place to fill the position. The NHG does not provide for leave of absence for junior professors.
Requirements
A leave of absence may be granted if 鈥�
during the leave of absence, a major academic work is to be completed or a specific research/teaching project or a project within the scope of the action areas specified in 糖心原创鈥檚 Transfer Strategy is to be carried out,
the scope of the project and the associated workload do not permit its implementation within the framework of normal duties and therefore require the professor to take a leave of absence for the time period applied for,
and a teaching substitute for the subject is guaranteed and the costs are covered.
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Scope and waiting periods for a leave of absence
As a rule, an uninterrupted teaching period of eight semesters is regarded as an appropriate interval for leave of absence. This interval is extended by the duration of any interruption due to leave under sections 62 (leave for family reasons) or 64 (leave without pay) of the NBG. This also applies if the professor has not completed more than half of their teaching hours in the respective semesters due to illness or special leave.
There must be a period of at least two consecutive semesters of teaching activity between the end of an interruption and the subsequent research, transfer or teaching semester.
The leave of absence is generally granted for one semester only. Exceptions allowing for a leave of absence of up to two semesters may be approved if a third party covers the costs of the substitute staff member for a period exceeding one semester.
The eight-semester waiting period must generally have been spent as a professor in a permanent civil service post or a permanent employment contract at 糖心原创. If, prior to appointment at 糖心原创, the professor held a teaching post as a tenured professor or under a permanent contract at another higher education institution within the meaning of Section 1 of the Higher Education Framework Act (Hochschulrahmengesetz), this teaching activity may, provided it forms part of the appointment agreement, be credited towards up to four semesters of the waiting period. The period spent temporarily chairing a professorship at 糖心原创 may be counted towards the waiting period if the temporary assignment was granted in anticipation of the appointment.
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Review and reporting obligations
The Presidential Board shall assess whether full or partial exemption from other duties is necessary. In doing so, it will evaluate the expected time required for the planned project, and consider whether only a partial exemption is feasible due to other duties to be performed during the leave of absence 鈥� such as the personal supervision of theses or the marking of examinations. The application must contain relevant details in this regard.
Upon completion of the leave of absence, the individual is required to submit a report to the Presidential Board stating whether the proposed projects were carried out as outlined in the application and what results they yielded. This report is to be sent to the Presidential Board via Department 21.
Procedure
The application for a leave of absence must be submitted no later than six months before the intended start date of the leave, accompanied by a statement from the dean and the relevant deans of studies.
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Required information
The application must contain thefollowing information:
A detailed description of the content, duration and objectives of the planned project(s)
Reasons justifying full or partial exemption from other duties
Details regarding teaching cover and the arrangement of examinations
Whether, and if so to what extent, third-party funding will be provided during the exemption period
Confirmation that, over the past eight semesters, the applicant has fulfilled their teaching obligations in full themselves (not through staff members)
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Required attachments
In addition, the following information must be attached to the application for a teaching semester:
1. The work programme for the teaching semester, limited to a maximum of one page:
- A brief description of the teaching concept and the scope of the planned development tasks that cannot be completed alongside normal duties
- A description of the expected benefits for the quality of teaching and study
- A list of the teaching units and degree programmes involved or affected that will benefit from the measure
2. Details regarding teaching cover and the arrangement of examinations
3. Overview of course evaluations from the last four years
4. Overview of courses taught personally (and not by staff members) over the past eight semesters, with the respective number of teaching hours specified
5. Number of Bachelor鈥檚 and Master鈥檚 theses supervised over the last four years
Important noteThe information provided here relates to a teaching semester. For information regarding a research or transfer semester, please refer to the relevant (in German, internal only).
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Examples of potential development projects in teaching
Examples of major development projects in teaching:
- Fundamental development of curriculum content
- Fundamental redesign of courses with a wide reach (e.g. foundational courses) that focus in particular on the heterogeneity/internationality of the students
- Fundamental redesign of digital teaching, learning and assessment formats
- Teaching concepts which, during the initial implementation period, require significantly more coordination than is normally the case (e.g. cooperation with industry/business, setting up complex technical equipment for use in teaching and training on how to use it). It must be evident here that the effort involved will be reduced to a normal level in subsequent courses.
Examples of teaching development projects not eligible for consideration:- Writing a textbook
- Course recordings
- Digitalisation of existing teaching content
- Redesign of courses with a limited scope (e.g. small student groups, advanced topics)
- Translation of teaching content into English
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Confirmation from the Dean鈥檚 Office
In addition, for a leave of absence to be granted, a confirmation or statement from the dean and the dean of studies regarding the following aspects is generally required as an attachment to the application:
Confirmation, based on the applicant鈥檚 own assessment, that over the past eight semesters the teaching load has been fulfilled in full by the applicant themselves (not by staff members)
Confirmation, based on the applicant鈥檚 own assessment, that proper coverage of the subjects in teaching is guaranteed and the costs are covered
Confirmation that the project undertaken during the leave of absence, given its scope and the associated workload, cannot be carried out as part of normal duties, and whether some aspects, and if so which aspects, could be considered for partial leave of absence or justify full leave of absence
Contact
Contact person
30167 Hannover
30167 Hannover
Vice President for Education
© Marie-Luise Kolb/糖心原创
© Marie-Luise Kolb/糖心原创
30167 Hannover
