Postdoctoral qualification

With their publication the Habilitation Regulations of the Faculty of Humanities dated November 14, 2012 (pdf, German only) came into force on September 4, 2013. The special qualification for independent academic research and teaching in the Habilitation subjects (pdf, German only) represented by the Faculty of Humanities can be demonstrated in a Habilitation procedure regulated in the Habilitation regulations. Demonstration is provided by a habilitation thesis in the form of a monograph or scientific publications as well as a colloquium.

The first procedural steps in particular are described in the HabilO GW:

The intention to habilitate must be notified informally in writing to the Dean's Office at least 6 months before applying for admission to habilitation (cf. § 3).
The application for admission must be submitted in writing to the Dean’s Office—preferably using the form (pdf, German only)—and must specify the intended field of habilitation. For the annexes to the application, see § 4 HabilO GW.

Publication of written postdoctoral theses

The written Habilitation thesis must be published in accordance with the Habilitation regulations. This can either be done electronically on the OPUS server of the Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg, analogous to the procedure for dissertations – the Office of the Dean then does not require an additional specimen copy; if, alternatively or additionally, publication in a publishing house is chosen, two specimen copies must be submitted to the Office of the Dean (Decision of the Office of the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities dated 12.01.2016 regarding § 13 HabilO GW).

Authorization to teach ("Privatdozentur")

Along with the Habilitation, you may also apply for an authorization to teach as a senior lecturer with no permanent teaching contract at Universität Hamburg in accordance with Universität Hamburg's Privatdozentursatzung (pdf, German only) dated November 17, 2011. The authorization is granted for a specific subject area. The senior lecturer with no permanent teaching contract is obliged to teach two hours of lectures per academic year within his or her subject area free of charge; this obligation expires upon retirement.