Career Talk: The Relevance of a Habilitation – Still essential or becoming obsolete?

A habilitation has long been a crucial requirement for those pursuing an academic career, as it served as the formal qualification for a professorship at  German universities. Successfully completing a habilitation meant proving one’s ability to teach (facultas docendi - Lehrbefähigung) and thus obtaining the entitlement to teach (venia legendi – Lehrbefugnis) as well. However, with the introduction of Junior and Tenure Track – Professorships, a habilitation is now often no longer required, at least formally, in many cases. This raises the question of whether it is still relevant at all and which benefits as well as disadvantages it brings.