New offer supports on the way to an HAW professorship

If you want to become a professor at a university of applied sciences (HAW), you don't just have to have a doctorate and teaching experience. Unlike at universities, relevant professional experience in the private sector is also required. This makes it difficult to recruit young professors. Especially in the STEM fields, there are often too few applications for vacant professorships. The project "BeProf@BHV" aims to attract qualified specialists to Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences. Recently, the first tandem position was filled in cooperation with a business enterprise. Here, university teachers can gain the necessary professional experience for a professorship.

The first university teacher to be prepared for a professorship in the Tandem Programme is Peter Seedorf. He studied marine engineering at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences and worked as the technical manager of machinery systems on ships. Later, his Master's degree in mechanical engineering took him to the TU Braunschweig. As part of the Tandem Programme, he has now found his way back to Bremerhaven. "I have always enjoyed my job. Now I would like to pass on my own enthusiasm for the subject to young people," says Seedorf. He has already been able to gain his first teaching experience in the ship operation technology course: "The good thing about the tandem programme is that I can try out whether the work as a teacher suits me. My course was attended by very interested students who asked a lot of questions. So it is really a lot of fun."

Peter Seedorf is supported by university professor Dr Uwe Werner. He acts as a mentor for him and has supported him, especially in the early days, in getting to know the university's internal processes and infrastructure. The university also offers further training for university teachers, for example on the subject of didactics. "Finding young professors for the ship operation technology course is a great challenge. Here, in addition to the usual prerequisites, subject-specific qualifications must also be brought along, such as the nautical patent. We are very pleased that we were able to recruit Peter Seedorf to work with us," says Prof. Werner.

In addition to teaching, Peter Seedorf works at Carl Baguhn GmbH in Hamburg. There he focuses on developing conversion concepts for alternative fuels and increasing the efficiency of ship systems. In doing so, he is gaining the practical experience he needs for the HAW professorship. He spends 50% of his weekly working time at the company and the rest at the university. He is also working on his doctorate at the same time. Thus, at the end of the three-year tandem programme, he will fulfil all the requirements to be able to apply for a vacant professorship. "A professorship at a university of applied sciences is very interesting for me. This possibility was the main reason why I applied for the tandem position," says Seedorf.

Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences has a number of vacant professorships to fill in the future - most of them in the STEM sector. In the BMBF-funded project "BeProf@BHV", measures are being developed that address various career stages and provide support on the path to an HAW professorship. "Finding suitable applicants is currently a great challenge for us," says project manager Anne Magritz, who also works in appointment management. For this reason, not only the tandem programme is being pursued, but also, among other things, the goal of further qualifying interested lecturers for a professorship. In addition, the doctoral advisory service provides support with questions about one's own doctoral thesis, from finding a topic to financing and time planning. This offer is open to all those interested in doctoral studies and doctoral candidates at any time.

Anyone interested in a professorship at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences can find more information at www.hs-bremerhaven.de/career. Companies interested in cooperation within the framework of the Tandem Programme are welcome to contact beprof@hs-bremerhaven.de.