professur in der schweiz

You are a postdoc, senior researcher or already a professor and you are looking for a professorship in Switzerland. Below is some basic information about how to proceed.

Where?

The 12 official universities have professorships with research and teaching responsibilities. Universities of applied sciences also have professor positions, although with emphasis on teaching activities.

Who?

Universities:

To apply for a professorship at a Swiss university, you need a PhD and several years of recognized research experience.
In German speaking Switzerland and in Germany, it is usual to have a post-doctoral qualification ("Habilitation") as a "Privatdozent" (PD). However, unlike in Germany, the Habilitation is not required in Switzerland, even if it is sometimes considered an advantage for the application procedure. A qualification as a "Maitre de Conférence" like in France is not needed in Switzerland.
In addition to research and management tasks, a professor has teaching duties. Having teaching experience is therefore a big advantage.
As a lot of researchers in Switzerland are foreigners, the common speech at university or at least in the research group is often English. Lectures can often be given in English as well. However, it is still an advantage to speak the local language.
The exact tasks and requirements will be described in the job advertisement.

Universities of applied sciences:

At universities of applied sciences, a PhD is not necessarily required and you do not need to have a habilitation. Instead, experience in industry and/or in applied sciences is required, depending on the field. The exact tasks and requirements will be described in the job advertisement.

What?

Universities:

Ordinary or extraordinary professor: Permanent position. They are the head of a research group, i.e. their budget contains normally PhD and/or postdoc positions.
Assistant professor, tenure track professor: Fixed-term position. After approximately five years, it will be decided through an evaluation procedure whether he or she should become an ordinary professor and a permanent position.
SNSF professorship: The SNSF awards funding for the establishment of an independent team to implement a research project. Each year, 30-40 such positions are granted. The duration of the funding is four years and can be extended by a maximum of two years. To apply, a PhD and several years of recognised research experience are required.

Universities of applied sciences:

Professor: Permanent position with emphasis on teaching.

How long?

Ordinary or extraordinary professorships as well as professorships at universities of applied sciences are usually permanent positions. However, fixed-term university positions have been created recently, e.g., assistant professors, tenure-track positions and SNSF professorships (see above). Depending on the university, the duration of the contract and the conditions may vary.

How much?

The salary varies from place to place: from CHF 8,000 for an Assistant Professor to more than CHF 15,000 per month for a Full Professor (see salary section). The salary must be indicated in the contract of employment and can be negotiated.

How to proceed?

Open professor positions are announced in national and international newspapers, journals and on job portals (e.g., job portal of myScience.ch). For positions in Germany, please go to the German job portal (jobs.myScience.de).
For the SNSF professorship, there is one call per year.
The job advertisement indicates how to apply and which documents (CV, publication list, etc.) to include.