Good news regarding support for early career researchers in the Ruhr area: Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB), TU Dortmund University and the University of Duisburg-Essen are to continue their cooperation in the Research Academy Ruhr on a permanent basis. To this end, the president of TU Dortmund University and the rectors of the other two universities have now signed a corresponding cooperation agreement. In future, a joint administrative office will coordinate the Research Academy Ruhr’s work. The graduate institutions at the universities are responsible for designing the program.

The Research Academy Ruhr, a unique project Germany-wide, was set up in 2017 as a platform for the joint support of early career researchers within the University Alliance Ruhr (UA Ruhr). Under the common umbrella of the UA Ruhr, the three universities bundle their offers in an interdisciplinary qualification and networking program to give academics targeted support along their career paths. The Mercator Research Center Ruhr (MERCUR) and the Ministry of Culture and Science of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia funded the setting up of the Research Academy Ruhr up until 2021.

Since it was first established, over 2,500 doctoral and habilitation candidates, postdoctoral researchers, junior research group leaders and junior professors have participated in the Research Academy Ruhr’s program. The various formats prepare them for a career in academia and non-university professions. The offer ranges from workshops and career events to a mentoring program. “Together, we can offer formats and topics for specific target groups which one institution alone would not be able to cover without further ado,” say Professor Wilhelm Löwenstein, spokesperson of the Research Academy Ruhr. “In addition, with our offers we’re strengthening cross-university networking among around 10,000 researchers along their career paths and in so doing contributing to an active exchange of knowledge within the UA Ruhr.”

Positive evaluation by external experts

Last year, a panel of experts attested to the Research Academy Ruhr’s excellence, saying it was “an example for the structural development of interconnected and needs-oriented offers for early career researchers that is currently unique in Germany and presumably even beyond.” The panel highlighted the breadth of offers as well as the development of common quality standards.

On the basis of this external evaluation, the three universities have decided to continue their successful cooperation on a permanent basis under the umbrella of the UA Ruhr. The president of TU Dortmund University and the rectors of RUB and the University of Duisburg-Essen agree: “With the Research Academy Ruhr, we’re establishing permanent structures within cross-university graduate support that make a substantial contribution to further strengthening the Ruhr area as a location for science and research.” The aim is to further enhance networking among early career researchers and to develop new offers to support them.

The Research Academy Ruhr

The Research Academy Ruhr is the cross-university platform for the support of early career researchers along their career paths within the University Alliance Ruhr. Under the umbrella of the Research Academy Ruhr, RUB’s Research School, TU Dortmund University’s Graduate Center and the Graduate Center Plus of the University of Duisburg-Essen offer a joint, diversified and interdisciplinary qualification and networking program.