Academy and Studying in Germany

“Not without my partner,” this is a statement heard more and more among academic couples. It is the reason why some universities and research institutes are now offering their applicants academic posts in the form of a twin-pack . An example of one of these programs is the “Dual Career” option available from the Volkswagen Foundation.

Due to demographic shifts and the often lacklustre facilities to be found in German universities it is becoming more and more difficult these days to find highly qualified people and keep them on a long-term basis. Many of the centres of higher education have now reacted and are trying to make the posts they have to offer more attractive. It is not just a matter of salary and facilities. What is more important is the question of what they can do for the applicant’s partner – especially, if he or she is also working on an ambitious, academic career.

This is why universities are offering targeted support to these “double-career couples”. Take, for example, the “Munich Dual Career Office” at the TU München (Munich University of Technology). In collaboration with the Max-Planck Society, the Helmholtz Centre in Munich and the German Aerospace Centre the office supports researchers’ partners with a wide range of offers and services to help them plan their careers, too.

Careers for men – and for women

Instead of the usual professional scenario – the husband climbs up the career ladder, while the wife does something else – more and more professional couples are managing to make it on the academic scene. “If you want to prevent half of our intellectual potential from falling by the wayside, then you have to do something for the partners,” said the then President of the German Research Foundation (DFG), Prof. Dr. Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker, back in 2003. And Dr. Arend Oetker, President of the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft (innovation agency for the German science system) endorsed this by saying, “The couples are not just interested in the research facilities and the salary alone, it is above all the general working environment that will help improve their lifestyle and help them to combine job and family.”

Although a survey carried out by the Junge Akademie (Young Academy) among university managements and equal opportunities officers found that one university in two now offers academic married couples support. In practiced however things are different – a partner who is also employed in research more often than not turns out to be an impediment. A further problem is the possible suspicion of cronyism –any success is not ascribed to their qualifications, but their relationship.

The “Eigene Stelle” Program

evertheless some schemes that have proved advantageous for researcher couples – benefiting both partners– really do work quite well. Since 2001 the DFG has been helping applicants with its “Eigene Stelle” Program (a research grant scheme); when a researcher couple is working abroad and suddenly one of the partners is lured back to Germany by a phone call, the other partner can then apply for a job via the DFG – provided he or she has the necessary qualifications. Research couples can also avail themselves of the DFG’s Emmy Noether Program that came into being back in 1999 – a scheme to sponsor excellence among young, academic talent.

For ten years the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) in Zurich has been running a “Dual Career Advice” office. “We have to try and find jobs for the partners in non-university fields – jobs that are nevertheless very high level,” says Madeleine Lüthy, a consultant at the institute. The Swiss model seems to be exemplary. “German universities and research institutes have been knocking at our door because they want to know more about the concept,” says Lüthy.

Program extended by the Volkswagen Foundation

The Volkswagen Foundation has already prepared a range of offers for academic couples. The non-profit making organisation with its head office in Hanover has been sponsoring research work in all disciplines since 1962 and has now extended its program by adding two “Dual Career” options: the promotion of new talent in the field of evolutionary biology and the computer science fellowships program − “New conceptional approaches to modelling and simulation of complex systems”. The foundation’s aim is to provide young researchers and scientists with the possibility of leading a normal family life with their children despite both of them having an academic career – for academic couples not always a given.