Full professors carry the main responsibility for teaching and research within their subject areas. They are employed on a permanent basis, although their teaching and research performance are evaluated again after eight years, after which they are accordingly re-elected by the Senate and the Board of Governors. Besides their teaching and research, they also make a substantial contribution to the training, development and encouragement of young academics and emerging research talents (Ph.D. students and postdoctoral researchers), as well as to the processes of academic self-governance.

Full professors belong to their school and to the Senate, and amongst other roles they can also take on the functions of a dean, of a vice-president or indeed of the president.

Their teaching load comprises eight contact hours per week per semester or roughly 144 hours per academic year, including complete responsibility for the examinations (eight sessions of 45 minutes each per week during 24 weeks of the academic year; 1 semester = 14 weeks, including two weeks’ semester break).

Requirements

Selection criteria for a full professorship include an excellent PhD thesis, a second monograph (habilitation) or equivalent, demonstrating a high standard of scholarship.

Resources

The University places the following resources for research and teaching activities at your disposal:

- two research associates or teaching assistants (Ph.D. students, each with a maximum 70 per cent contract)
- one personal administrative assistant (50 per cent contract)
- an annual travel costs subsidy, for participation in conferences, of up to CHF 5,000
- a research semester within every seven years of employment
- lump sum towards personal reference library (one-off payment, after taking office, of CHF 5,000)

Associate professors are responsible for a stand-alone subject area and as a rule their position constitutes a stage in an academic career that enables a promotion to the rank of full professor, if their performance in teaching and research meets the requirements. Holders of an associate professorship are employed on a permanent basis. Their teaching and research performance are evaluated regularly. Besides teaching and research, they also take care of supervising Ph.D. students and their doctorates.

Associate professors belong to a school and can occupy a position on various committees and other bodies in the name of academic self-governance.

Their teaching load comprises eight contact hours per week per semester or roughly 144 hours per academic year, including complete responsibility for the examinations(eight sessions of 45 minutes each per week during 24 weeks of the academic year; 1 semester = 14 weeks, including two weeks’ semester break).

Requirements

Selection criteria for an associate professorship include an excellent PhD thesis, a second monograph (habilitation) or equivalent demonstrating a high standard of scholarship. Based on experience, our associate professors start their position at HSG between ten and twelve years after they completed their PhD (with an extension of one year due to parental leave or experiences in industry or else outside academia.)

Resources

The University places the following resources for research and teaching activities at your disposal:

- one research associate or teaching assistant (Ph.D. student with a maximum 70 per cent contract)
- annual travel costs subsidy, for participation in conferences, of up to CHF 5,000
- one research semester within every seven years of employment
- a lump sum towards a personal reference library (a one-off payment, after taking office, of CHF 5,000) 

An assistant professorship is considered to be a position for training purposes and for establishing an academic profile. Assistant professors also take part in research and teaching but are elected, as a rule, for a maximum of six years (three plus a further three years). Before the completion of the first three years, an intermediate evaluation of the professor’s academic achievements takes place at the school, based on the criteria of the job profile specific to that school. An extension of the length of employment, of two years at the most, may be approved by the President on the basis of demonstrated family or social commitments. After a successful Habilitation (acquiring a recognised postdoctoral qualification), it is possible for assistant professors to supervise Ph.D. students.

Their teaching load comprises four contact hours per week per semester with a 100 per cent contract or roughly 72 hours per academic year, including complete responsibility for the examinations (four sessions of 45 minutes each per week during 24 weeks of the academic year; 1 semester = 14 weeks, including two weeks’ semester break)

Holders of an assistant professorship have at their disposal a guaranteed individual research time of two days per week, for research that is relevant to their career; and this research time is recognized as valid regardless of the percentage of their employment contract.

Requirements

Selection criteria for an assistant professorship include an excellent PhD thesis. Our assistant professors usually start their positions at HSG between six and eight years after the doctorate (with an extension of one year due to parental leave or experience in the non-academic sector, e.g. industry.)

Resources

In principle, the University places at your disposal an annual travel costs subsidy, for participation in conferences, of up to CHF 2,500.

In the case of a promotion or appointment to an associate or full professorship at the University of St. Gallen, the previous and the new appointment are calculated together with regard to the entitlement to a research semester.

Tenure-track and non-tenure-track Assistant Professorship

We differentiate between two types of assistant professorships:

An appointment as assistant professor with tenure track is associated with the promise of subsequent promotion to a permanent (tenured) Associate Professor, provided that the candidate successfully completes the promotion procedure.

An appointment as non-tenure-track assistant professor is associated with the possibility of promotion to Associate Professor, provided that the position is included in the staffing plan of the relevant School, that the School decides to initiate a promotion procedure, and that the Assistant Professor in question successfully completes the promotion procedure.

Senior lecturers also take part in teaching and research, and they are employed on a permanent basis. They train both Bachelor and Master students and, presuming that they have a Habilitation, they supervise Ph.D. theses.

To be elected as a senior lecturer, it is necessary to have completed an academic training with a doctorate and to demonstrate commitment to teaching as one’s principle activity. Senior lecturers each become qualified for their position either by means of a competitive appointments process or by means of a non-competitive appointment.

Their teaching load comprises eight to twelve contact hours per week per semester per academic year, including complete responsibility for the examinations.