NATURE|Vol 450|15 November 2007 REGIONS
NAESER
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History of success: Munich promoting the careers of promising young scientists,
is home to the LMU’s Gene has persuaded universities to rethink antiquated career
Centre (above) and many structures and introduce tenure track more widely.
strong biotech start-ups. At the LMU, some 350 assistant and associate
professors are now employed on a tenure-track model,
and many other universities are following suit. In Kiel,
for example, all 14 independent group leaders being
recruited for the ‘future ocean’ project will be offered
tenure track, alongside an €800,000 starting grant.
Scientific salaries in Germany have increased and
become more flexible, but are still lower than in other
top science nations. The basic salary for a 35-year-old
associate professor in Germany is around €4,000 per
month. Including bonuses, they can expect 20% or so
more, but on average academic scientists in Germany
are paid almost 50% less than in the United States.
Never have opportunities for young scientists in On the pro side, the success rate for grant applications
Germany been better, representatives of Germany’s at the DFG is substantially higher than at US grant
science organizations told a meeting of about 100 agencies. As pressure grows on scientists everywhere to
US-based German scientists in San Francisco last attract grant money early in their careers, this could
month. Attracting foreign talent, and luring German make academic life in Germany easier than in the
scientists back from abroad, is becoming vital for hyper-competitive US research system. Additional
research institutes, they emphasized. funding opportunities are now also becoming available
Lukas Schmidt-Mende, a materials scientist who left from the new European Research Council.
his native Germany for the University of Cambridge,
UK, in 1999, is one expatriate who has jumped at Commercial moves
the opportunity to return. This month he began his It is too early to tell whether the success of the
new job as an associate professor in the LMU’s nano excellence initiative will help to commercialize
initiative, where he will develop hybrid solar cells made research ideas, says Horst Domdey, managing director
of polymers and metal oxides. “It’s good to be back of BioM, which supports biotechnology start-ups in
again, but I would not have applied just anywhere in the Munich region. In the past 10 years, some 100
Germany,” he says. “Munich has a strong nanoscience biotech firms have spun off from research at
base, and they have offered me excellent conditions and universities and Max Planck institutes around the area,
career prospects.” The 35-year-old is now in a tenure- making the Bavarian capital the largest biotech region
track position that will probably lead to permanent in Germany and one of the largest in Europe.
employment. Companies such as MorphoSys, MediGene and
BIOM
Bavarian Nordic are some of the success stories.
Cash incentives But Domdey is concerned about the low number of
But for many other young scientists, the absence of new start-ups in the past couple of years, and the
long-term career prospects is still a big concern. increasing difficulties young German biotechs face in
“There’s currently a lot of grant money available for getting adequate funding. “The upswing in academic
young scientists, but the needle-eye to permanent research is important, in that we’re very much a
employment is as narrow as before,” says König. “Let’s science-driven cluster,” he says. “But you really need to
face it — the majority of PhD students and postdocs sensitize scientists to commercial opportunities.”
now on fixed-term contracts will never find a Otherwise, he says, technology transfer is unlikely.
permanent job in academic science.” The excellence initiative has put fresh money and a
Tenure track was non-existent in Germany until a new drive into German science. The challenge now will
few years ago when the Habilitation, a qualification be keeping up the momentum. “If the show is over in five
beyond the doctorate that requires a second dissertation, Matthias König (top) years, then it was but a flash in the pan,” says Huber. ■
ceased to be mandatory for promotion to faculty and Horst Domdey have Quirin Schiermeier is Nature’s German
member. The excellence initiative, aiming not least at concerns about the future. correspondent.
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