Talent for the future

The Helmholtz Association attaches great importance to excellent talent management. It has developed a strategy to promote talent at all levels.

Young scientists and researchers are the future leaders of science. Even now they contribute significantly to the research findings of the Helmholtz Centres. The Helmholtz Association has developed a strategy for talent management which it is now putting into practice, partly financed by the Initiative and Networking Fund. The programme supports the Centres in setting new impulses and high standards in initial and continuing training.

Helmholtz Young Investigators Groups

One of the core elements is the establishment of young investigators groups. These are targeted at junior researchers two to six years after they have been conferred their doctorate. Successful candidates lead their own research group and can at the same time acquire the qualifications for a higher academic career. The Helmholtz Association offers them working conditions that are unique in Germany: early scientific independence and a tenure track option following positive evaluation. At present, 114 Helmholtz Young Investigators Groups have been funded with a total of more than 68m euros. We plan to increase this number by further calls for proposals in the coming years.

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To the latest Helmholtz Calls for Applications - Young Investigators Groups

Graduate Schools and Helmholtz Research Schools 

Graduate Schools and Helmholtz Research Schools give doctoral students the opportunity to work on their theses in an outstanding research-oriented environment and qualify for a career in science or industry. The Graduate Schools are open to all the doctoral students of a centre and provide all the requisite training under one roof. They provide a structured, interdisciplinary doctoral training that extends beyond the individual doctoral field and also enables students to acquire essential key competencies. Helmholtz Research Schools are smaller joint ventures with universities and are aimed at highly-talented doctoral students. At the Research Schools they work on a collaborative Helmholtz-university project in groups with a specific scientific focus. The competitive procedure in which the Research Schools are selected guarantees that a particularly high standard is up

Helmholtz Management Academy

Talent management at the Helmholtz Association goes beyond the usual target group of undergraduates and postdocs. In spring 2007, the Association launched its Helmholtz Management Academy to give its managers an even better grounding in the tasks and challenges of research management. The programme not only offers courses for young researchers and junior managers from the administrative field. It also includes options for the Helmholtz Association executive: board members, managing directors, programme spokespersons and directors of institutes. The Malik Management Zentrum St. Gallen, a leading provider of management consulting and education, is responsible for the content and methodology of the training courses.

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Promotion of Women and the Compatibility of Career and Family

Talent management must keep in mind that the number of women in senior positions is on the increase and ensure that a career in research is compatible with family life. The Helmholtz Association has established the Network Mentoring Programme for young women in research and administration. Since 2005, up to 20 participants per year are supported in their career development by senior managers from other Helmholtz Centres. To facilitate re-entry into science and research careers after a family break, the Helmholtz Association has committed itself to systematically creating career re-entry positions and to adopting measures for flexible working hours for all of its staff members.

To Equal Opportunity

Vocational Training

In addition to various qualification levels for young scientists, the Helmholtz Association also offers a broad range of vocational training. In all, 1,680 young people worked as trainees and apprentices at the Helmholtz Centres in 2008. This corresponds to a training quota of 7.1 per cent, related to all staff, excluding doctoral students.

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