Scientific career at GESIS
Scientific personnel
At GESIS, researchers work in various phases of their scientific careers: as student assistants, doctoral candidates, postdocs, senior researchers, team leaders, and department heads. The institute's goal is to provide its scientific staff with the best possible support in their various career phases and to offer appropriate working environments in each case.
Department heads
The scientific departments of GESIS are headed by professors appointed jointly with various universities. Vacant positions are advertised internationally. We are looking for individuals with excellent technical and communication skills. The initial appointment is limited to five years.
Team leaders and senior researchers
The Institute's success is based on the work of its scientific team leaders and senior researchers. As managers or experienced scientists, they are responsible for the Institute's research-based infrastructure services and their continuous development in the scientific departments.
The prerequisites for recruitment as a team leader are a doctorate or equivalent, scientific excellence and communication skills that suggest that the management task can be successfully mastered.
The appointment is initially made as a fixed-term employment contract for a period of four years, usually with full collectively agreed working hours. 15 months before the contract expires, it is possible to apply for it to be made permanent.
Postdocs
Postdocs, whose doctorate is usually a few years old and who still have to achieve qualification goals, provide research-based services at GESIS. Through their work, they gain valuable professional experience that will benefit them in their future careers.
As a rule, they are employed for a period of four years with full working hours in accordance with the collective agreement. 15 months before the contract expires, it is possible to apply for it to be made permanent.
PhD students
As an infrastructure institution for the social sciences, GESIS offers very good opportunities for doctoral studies. We therefore employ doctoral students in all scientific departments.
Doctoral students are employed for a fixed term of four years and provide research-based services. As a rule, they are employed for 75 percent of the collectively agreed working hours. One third of the working hours should be used for doctoral research. In conjunction with the free time available through part-time employment, this should provide sufficient time for the doctorate.
GESIS supports and promotes its doctoral students in accordance with the provisions set out in the document "GESIS Doctoral Program (252 kB)".
Third-party funded scientists
Public third-party funding, in particular from the DFG, the BMBF and the EU, is an essential component of GESIS funding.
GESIS therefore regularly advertises externally funded positions for scientists with and without a doctorate. These positions offer the opportunity to gain experience in research and development projects. The extent to which doctoral funding is possible depends on the nature of the position. Wherever possible, GESIS tries to combine the project work of employees without a doctorate with a doctoral project.