Pursuant to Art. 24, para. 3 of the Lower Saxony Higher Education Act (NHG), the Presidential Board may, upon application by professors and after hearing the faculty and the responsible Dean of Studies, release professors from other official duties at appropriate intervals for the duration of usually one semester or trimester, in whole or in part, for research or artistic development projects, for tasks in knowledge and technology transfer and for development tasks in teaching. The same applies to the performance of practice-related activities which are official duties and which are conducive to teaching tasks. The release from duties requires the proper representation of the subject.
University professors
Research semesters are granted according to a guideline which, since 01.04.2004, has provided for a procedure that includes a performance component in addition to the time component (No. 3 of the guideline). The prerequisite for the granting of research semesters is the attainment of 12 points. For the time component, each semester in which the teaching activity was not interrupted is assessed with one point. Deviating from this, each semester to be credited prior to 01.04.2004 shall be assessed with 1.5 points. If a research semester is applied for exclusively according to the time component, 12 (time) points must therefore be achieved between the last research semester and the research semester applied for herewith. If the applicant wishes to make use of the possibility to shorten the appropriate interval between two research semesters due to special achievements in the field of research, he/she should have these achievements evaluated in advance. The evaluation criteria result from No. 4 of the guideline. The application for evaluation is to be submitted to the Research Service. Once the evaluation has been carried out, the result is to be attached to the application for granting the research semester.
Professorinnen und Professoren der ehem. FH NON
Professors of the former FH NON
University professors
Research semesters are granted on the basis of the university's own guidelines, which provide for a procedure that includes a performance component in addition to the time component (No. 3 of the guidelines). The prerequisite for the award is the achievement of 12 points. For the time component, each semester in which the teaching activity was not interrupted is assessed with one point. Deviating from this, each semester to be credited prior to 01.04.2004 is assessed with 1.5 points. If a research semester is applied for solely on the basis of the time component, 12 (time) points must therefore be achieved between the last research semester and the research semester hereby applied for.
The requirements for the granting of research semesters for professors of the former University of Applied Sciences North-East Lower Saxony are based on the University of Applied Sciences' guideline of 07.07.2004. According to this, the formal requirement is the achievement of 8 points, whereby each semester in which the teaching activity was not interrupted is assessed with one point. There is no provision for shortening the interval due to special achievements in the field of research.
Process description
Professors apply for the intended research semester using the form linked below. Please ask Mr. Kinkel in advance about the number of time points achieved in the area of professors/officials.
If the appropriate interval between two research semesters is to be shortened due to special achievements in the field of research, these achievements must be evaluated in advance. The assessment criteria are set out in No. 4 of the guidelines for the allocation of research semesters at the University of Lüneburg. The evaluation is carried out by the Research Service. The professors approach the Research Service, Ms. Vollmer, directly to evaluate their performance. Once the assessment has been completed, the result must be attached to the application for the research semester.
The application is submitted to the Dean's Office of the Faculty. The dean's office involves the faculty council and forwards the application to the professors/officials department, Mr. Kinkel, for further processing.
If all requirements are met and all necessary approvals have been obtained, Mr. Kinkel asks the Research Service to coordinate a performance commitment with the professors. This becomes part of the letter of approval. The approval is then submitted to the President for signature. The letter of approval is then sent by Mr. Kinkel to the applicant by internal mail. At the same time, the Dean's Office, Research Service and Team Q staff unit are informed that the research semester has been granted.