Improving data quality, streamlining appointment procedures, and saving time: this is the goal of the new application portal at Leibniz Universität Hannover, which went online on 12th April 2018. The principle is simple. All candidates to a professorship enter their profile into a structured online input mask. After the deadline for applications, the system creates a synopsis to be used as a working basis by the appointment committee.
Information such as the amount of external funding secured or the number of published papers are recorded individually and in detail in the system, so that a direct comparison can be made in important areas. Until now, responsibility for compiling data from the paper applications lay with the faculties. With up to 150 applications to a professorship, the work involved was not only exceptionally high but also prone to error, says Dr Jonas Buche from the Appointments Office. The new system could in future help to lighten the burden on the faculties, increase the validity of the data and at the same time shorten the duration of the procedure. What is more, the portal fully complies with the requirements of the new EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The faculties can decide for themselves if and from when they wish to use the application portal for processing appointment procedures. Interest is great; most faculties have already indicated that they wish to transfer their appointment procedures in future to the new portal.
