The Leibniz Association maintains and promotes intensive cooperation with universities. Joint professorial appointments are the most obvious manifestation of this, along with the institutionalised collaborations such as the Leibniz ScienceCampi. Due to the independence of Leibniz Institutes, their spread of themes and methods, their strong regional and almost Germany-wide presence, such close interaction is of great benefit to both sides.
Joint appointments

Joint appointments by Leibniz institutions and universities are standard practice: we have always appointed leading scientists in conjunction with a university. However, this is not restricted to leadership level, but increasingly practised at departmental level, as well.

Both parties benefit: immediate contact with students and post-graduates means non-university research has constant access to innovation, intellectual mobility and new ideas. Junior researchers, on the other hand, are given perspectives beyond university; at professorial level, joint appointments ensure a close connection between research and teaching. This means that students benefit from the most recent research results on the one hand, and can also get actively involved in research on the other. Often, joint appointments are the first step on the road to intensive cooperation between non-university research institutions and universities.

Currently, 502 professorships are based on joint appointments.

  1. Standards for the appointments to academic management positions within the Leibniz Association

    In 2016, for the first time, the Leibniz Association approved standards for appointments to its scientific management positions. They define a shared culture for managerial appointments within the Leibniz Association, and refine and specify the format and procedure for joint appointments.

    To the publication

Leibniz ScienceCampi

Leibniz ScienceCampi promote institutionalised cooperation between university and non-university research in the form of thematically-focused, complementary regional partnerships between Leibniz Institutes and universities.

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Leibniz Graduate Schools

Since 2006, the Leibniz Association has successfully promoted junior researchers at Leibniz Graduate Schools. In this context, Leibniz Institutes cooperate closely with universities. Young researchers are given the opportunity to take their doctorates in an excellent collaborative and transdisciplinary research environment.

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Leibniz Competition funding for joint research projects
Leibniz Collaborative Excellence

This programme supports particularly innovative projects for which networking is required – between scientific disciplines or in collaboration with partners inside and outside the Leibniz Association.

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Leibniz Programme for Women Professors

The Leibniz Programme for Women Professors aims at rewarding the successful recruitment of outstandingly talented women.

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