Part of FH-Personal, a federal-state program, the HAWKarriere career mentoring program is an inter-university program for young academic employees and new professors at universities of applied sciences (Hochschulen für angewandte Wissenschaften – HAW).
Mentees on the program receive individual support to help them develop both personally and in their careers. The HAWKarriere career mentoring program offers you the opportunity to clarify your next career step or deal with current challenges, to set individual goals and to tackle these independently, with support from appropriate mentors (generally university of applied sciences professors). The program is based upon a cooperation between multiple universities to offer participants a broad spectrum of experiences and perspectives. It is primarily oriented towards the universities participating in the HAWKarriere career mentoring program, and can also open up perspectives for other universities of applied sciences in Baden-Württemberg.
Approached individually, the mentor acts as an advisor, a source of knowledge, an example, and door opener – helping the mentee plan their long-term career, with the ultimate goal of the mentee becoming a university of applied sciences professor or helping them structure their professorship. As experts in their field, mentors can give valuable and up-to-date insights into the work life of a university of applied sciences professor, and offer their mentees a wide range of advice and support in this context.
Potential topics within a mentoring relationship
- Career planning
- Application coaching
- Insights into the everyday life of a professor
- Subject-specific / scientific exchange
- Build and extend a network of contacts in your subject field
- Challenges on the way to becoming a university of applied sciences professor / international careers / periods abroad
- Cooperation with practicing partners
- Development of management and interpersonal skills
- Knowledge transfer: transfer research content into practice
- Support with, for example, applications for third-party funding
- Combining a family and a career / work-life balance
The mentoring content and the topics focused on are based upon the mentee’s individually defined objectives. These are specified in agreement with the relevant mentor and structured according to the wishes and needs of those concerned.
Participation
Who can be a mentee?
You have a relationship with one of the 9 participating universities of applied sciences in Baden-Württemberg, e.g. as:
- someone who is currently doing or has completed their doctoral studies
- a post-doc
- an associate lecturer
- a new professor
Who can be a mentor?
- You are prepared to commit to mentoring for a minimum of 1 year
- You enjoy passing on your knowledge and experience to mentees and are motivated to do so
- You are a professor at a university of applied sciences, or a suitable person with appropriate experience from your background in science, business, administration, or culture
The Mentoring Program Process
- Registration from June 27, 2024 – November 15, 2024
- Introductory workshop: January 16, 2025 | in-person event | Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences | The mentoring starts with an introductory workshop for mentees. Here the mentees get to know each other and, with the help of a mentoring expert, define their individual program objectives and the characteristics of a mentor who would match their needs.
- Kick-off event: April 3, 2025 | in-person event | Nürtingen-Geislingen University for Business and the Environment (HfWU) | The in-person kick-off event will be held at the Protestant University of Applied Sciences Ludwigsburg, with all the mentees and mentors. We will start the 12-month HAWKarriere Mentoring Program together.
- Mentoring phase: The mentor and mentee have an (online) meeting every 6 to 8 weeks.
- Program of supporting events: there are a series of workshops and networking events throughout the year.
- Closing event: March 19, 2026 | in-person event | After 12 months, we come together again to end the program with a celebration.
More information to download
Participating universities and contacts
- Protestant University of Applied Sciences Ludwigsburg: Lätitia Allgöwer | l.allgoewer@eh-ludwigsburg.de
- Biberach University of Applied Sciences: Katharina Moser | katharina.moser@hochschule-bc.de
- Furtwangen University: Natalie Schramm | natalie.schramm@hs-furtwangen.de
- Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences (HFT Stuttgart) Theresa Krinke | theresa.krinke@hft-stuttgart.de
- Nürtingen-Geislingen University (HfWU): Kinga Janisch | kinga.janisch@hfwu.de
- Hochschule Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences: Silvia Brunner | silvia.brunner@h-ka.de
- Offenburg University of Applied Sciences: Charlotte Brenn | charlotte.brenn@hs-offenburg.de
- Ravensburg-Weingarten University of Applied Sciences (RWU): Lisann Kaiser | lisann.kaiser@rwu.de
- Ulm University of Applied Sciences (THU): Theresa Denzel | theresa.denzel@thu.de
Do you have questions about the program? Please contact haw.karriere@thu.de.
