TEACHING SEMESTER ACCORDING TO §24 (3) NHG
"(3) 1Upon request, the Presidential Board may, after consulting the faculty and the relevant dean of studies, grant professors full or partial exemption from other duties for a period of usually one semester or trimester at appropriate intervals for research or artistic development projects, for tasks in knowledge and technology transfer, and for development tasks in teaching. 2The same applies to the performance of practice-related activities that are official duties and that are conducive to teaching tasks. 3The exemption requires that the subject be properly represented."
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Under what conditions can I apply for a teaching semester?
A teaching semester may be granted if
- a major development project in teaching¹ is to be carried out during the leave of absence and
- the scope of the project and the associated workload do not allow it to be carried out within the scope of normal duties and therefore require the professor to take leave of absence for the duration of the requested leave period, and
- has been preceded by at least eight semesters of uninterrupted teaching activity and
- the costs of the leave of absence are covered,
- the proper representation of the subject in teaching is guaranteed. Applicants are requested to provide proof that teaching will be covered (including by the institute) and to indicate how the 9 SWS will be covered.
¹Examples of larger development projects in teaching include extensive curriculum development; fundamental redesign of courses with a wide reach (e.g., fundamentals) that focus in particular on the heterogeneity/internationality of the student body; extensive redesign of digital teaching/learning and examination formats. Teaching concepts that require considerably more coordination than usual in their initial implementation.
Examples of development projects in teaching that are not considered include writing a textbook; recording courses; digitizing existing teaching content; redesigning courses with a small reach (e.g., small student groups, advanced topics); translating teaching content into English.
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What documents do I need to submit?
- Informal letter of application to the dean stating whether full or partial exemption is to be granted.
- The work program for the teaching semester on a maximum of one page. The work program includes
- a brief description of the teaching concept and the scope of the planned development tasks that cannot be fulfilled within the scope of normal duties.
- a description of the expected benefits for improving the quality of teaching and studies.
- a list of the teaching units and degree programs involved or affected that will benefit from the measure.
- Information on teaching substitutes and exam supervision, confirmed by the institute's executive board.
- An overview of course evaluations for the last four years.
- An overview of the courses taught by the applicant themselves (and not by staff members) in the last eight semesters, specifying the number of teaching hours for each course.
- Number of bachelor's and master's theses supervised in the last four years.
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To whom should I send the documents?
Please send the application through official channels as a PDF file and by post to:
Dean of Studies of the Faculty of Humanities
Wilhelm-Busch-Str. 4
30167 Hanover -
What deadlines do I need to be aware of?
Please note that
- the application must be submitted to the Presidential Board at least six months before the intended start of the leave of absence;
- the application requires the approval of the Study Commission and the Faculty Council, and therefore the necessary committee decisions must be obtained in advance. It is best to coordinate the application date with the responsible program coordinator at an early stage.
Accordingly, it must be submitted to the faculty well in advance.