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[monklein]

Hello Everyone,

I've just spend the past year as a Gastforscher at two different universities in German-speaking Europe.  Although at one point I was supposed to work under the guidance of a Betreuungsprofessor, I actually never meet that professor because he had taken a job at another university sometime after signing on as my supervisor for the organization that provided my research stipend and prior to my arrival at his former university.  This was fine, as I was able to complete the project, extend my visa and secure additional funding to continue my research at another university with better research facilities on my own.  At the second university I was also a Gastforscher with access to the university libraries and permission to visit an Oberseminar.  These privileges were arranged by a colleague whom I had meet at a conference and befriended prior to arriving in Europe last year.  My time here has been so productive that it looks like I may be finished with the last chapter of my dissertation by Christmas.  Now that I'm revising my CV for the job market, I don't know how to account for the past year as an independent Gastforscher . Would I simply write that I was a "guest researcher" even though I was never formally hosted?  At the second university, my friends have been amazingly helpful but they are all wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter working on their Habils, hence from an SC's perspective I'm not sure if it would make sense to list one of them as a supervising professor on my CV.  Of course, my own wonderful advisor has been supervising me via email while I've been in Europe, but would American SCs expect me to list a European professor to legitimize my status as a Gastforscher? Is guest researcher the proper term I should use on my CV, or does it imply far more involvement in a university than I actually had?  I really don't want to mislead anyone by putting something on my CV that evokes something completely different than what I actually did.  I would really appreciate any suggestions.  I'm in an MLA field, if that makes a difference.  Thanks in advance for your help!

[sandgrounder]

 I was told the correct English translation for Gastforscher was visiting fellow but I can see how you might feel slightly wary of using that if your connection with the professor / Institutsleitung was minimal.
How about getting round it by using the title of your funder e.g. if DAAD: DAAD sponsored visiting fellow at Institut fuer bla bla Universitaet bla and the dates? I would have thought naming a professor you didn't actually work with might backfire, and that the benefits would be slight, and it would seem odd to name one of his/her assistants to anyone who knows the German system (I'm assuming if you've spent a year in Germany that this might be a risk in your field).  If it wouldn't make your c.v. look odd, you could perhaps add a sentence like 'collaborated intensively with x,y and z while carrying out research on...At the second university I suppose you could give the name of whoever led the Oberseminar as a supervisor if you got feedback from them on anything.

[zharkov]

The term "visiting scholar" may be more descriptive in your case, OP.

[monklein]

Thanks Sandgrounder and Zharkov for your replies.  I guess my question is more complicated than I had hoped it would be, since over 100 people have at least clicked on my post and only two have replied.  Or maybe the replies were so good that everyone else felt no additional reply was necessary?

Sandgrounder, I like your idea of listing my experience by the funder, ie "DAAD: DAAD sponsored visiting fellow at Institut fuer bla bla Universitaet bla and the dates."  It allows me to be clear about what I did there without pointing the finger at my absentee professor-supervisor whom I really hold no grudge against and am actually indebted to for signing the original paperwork that allowed me to be awarded my stipend.  I have met the head professor at the second university and he was kind enough to ask me to give his regards to my dissertation adviser (I'm in a small subfield), but it seems false and misleading to put his name on my CV since he hasn't read any of my work.  I also feel a bit uncomfortable calling the dinners and cafe-conversations I had with friends in my subfield a formal collaboration.  Yes, we often discuss our research with each other, which has been one of the most fun and rewarding aspects of being here, but I haven't coauthored any articles with anyone here or anything like that.  I think I will use the same format for the second university as for the first, but with the designation of visiting scholar, as Zharkov suggested. 

Thanks again for your suggestions.  I've been kind of stumped by the situation and feel much better now that I can at least finish the draft of my CV and start asking some of my professors for feedback on it!   

[bashir001]

The term "visiting scholar" may be more descriptive in your case, OP.

I agree, as long as these terms are not reserved for postdocs. As I understood, the OP is working on PhD thesis.

The "Habilitanden" that you met in your host's group might be considered "Ass. Professors", with respect to their factual independence.

[normative_]

If you've been funded by an association like the DAAD, then it's something more like a research scholarship that belongs in the Awards category of your CV. You can, of course, have a separate section for research visits (many CVs do).

Visiting scholar sounds fine under those circumstances.

[newhere]

I am not sure what your field is. I am in biological science, and a lot of us who had our own funding for a postdoc were called 'guest researchers'. That generally implied we had money from somewhere else (EU, Marie Curie, whatever international funding agency), rather being paid directly from the Dept that formally hosted us during our stay in not quite German-speaking Europe. 'visting scholar' also sounds appropriate to me.

[monklein]

Thanks for the recent comments.  I have decided against categorizing my experience as an occupation on my cv, so the original problem of how to translate my status without exaggerating my position is no longer an issue.  One of my advisers suggested, as Normative has, that I list it under the awards and scholarships section of my cv.  That way the source for my funding is emphasized instead of whatever lowly status I may rank in the hierarchy of academia.  I also included a line beneath the scholarships stating what the funding was for. Ex: "for archival research in such and such a library."  It seems to be the clearest way to document my trip abroad.

Bashir001, I agree with you that Habilitanden might be considered Assistant Professors, but given the vast differences between the hiring processes for an Associate Professor and a Wissenschlaftlicher Mitarbeiter , not to mention the extreme differences between the American university system and the four universities I have been in contact with in German-speaking Europe,  it seems like a shaky assertion to refer to Habilitanden as Assistant Professors.  Just last week some friends of mine at a large research university, where they are conducting a search for a professor and a Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, were explaining the differences in the application process for the two positions. The path to attaining a professorship is a long arduous process like ours and they estimated it might take a year or more before the new hire was in place.  As for the WM position, they had over 300 Habilitanden apply and they expected to fill it within a month after posting the opening.  Also, most of my friends who are working as WM and writing their Habils, only have short term teaching contracts and are often forced to frequently scramble to positions like many adjuncts and visiting professors do in the US.  So, while I agree that their factual independence may equate them with Assistant Professors, their factual instability makes it risky for me to use them as professional references.

I'd be interested in hearing any other opinions on this.  Is it customary to refer to Habilitanden who are employed as Wissenschlaftlicher Mitarbeiter as Assistant Professors?
 

[normative_]

I'd be interested in hearing any other opinions on this.  Is it customary to refer to Habilitanden who are employed as Wissenschlaftlicher Mitarbeiter as Assistant Professors?
 

It's common practice for Wissenschaftliche Assistenten to be referred to as Assistant Profs when presenting in English. The fact that they're not entirely the same can't be helped.

Internally, you'd be distinguished as a Wiss. Assistent, which sets you apart from the other Wiss. Mitarbeiter (most of these are doing doctorates). But you would still count as part of the Mittelbau (in professional associations known as Nachwuchs) with no equivalent rights to those of a professor.

[monklein]

Normative, the distinction between WA and WM certainly pertains to an Austrian university I am familiar with, but at least in my literary field, it is not the case for the German universities where friends of mine are teaching.  My friends have already published their dissertations and are now working on their Habils while teaching, yet they are listed on their university websites and have also been introduced to me as Wissenschlaftlicher Mitarbeiter.

I think part of my confusion may seem from the conference convention of introducing both WM and WA as "Assistants to Professor Blah at such and such a university."  I've never heard them refer to themselves or be referred to as Assistant Professors, but it is good to know that it is customary outside of my limited experience.  Thanks.

[bashir001]

monklein: These roughly equivalent degrees and titles are often found in CVs of German scholars (e.g. on websites):
degrees in German Academia

• B.Sc. - Vordiplom (after 2 years, thus not quite correct), now also B.Sc.  (but after 3 years)
• M.Sc.- Diplom (after 5 years), now also M.Sc. (also after 5 years)
• Ph.D.- Dr. rer. nat. or Dr. phil. or ....
• D.Sc., higher doctorate (UK)- Dr. habil., Habilitation

titles at German Universities

• research assistant - Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter
• Assistant Professor - Wissenschaftlicher Assistent, now Akademischer Rat or Juniorprofessor, mostly non-tenure-track
• Adjunct Associate Professor - Privatdozent (PD or Priv.-Doz.), holding Dr. habil., no salary
• Adjunct Professor - Außerplanmäßiger Professor (apl. Prof.), after ca. 4 years of being PD, no salary
• Associate Professor - Universitätsprofessor, Univ.-Prof., W2 salary
• Full Professor - Universitätsprofessor, Univ.-Prof., W3 salary
• Distinguished Professor - "Max-Planck-Direktor", Prof., W3 salary, almost no teaching, big budget

[sandgrounder]

Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter covers such a wide range of people in the social sciences from PhD students to people with the habilitation, that it's really not a helpful title to judge seniority and so is an absolute minefield for foreigners! Like Monklein I've also yet to meet a social science wissenschaftliche Assistent - maybe the wissenschaftliche Assistent role is mainly used in the sciences where there's responsibility for a lab involved? FWIW I've never heard anyone refer to themselves as assistant professor either at a conference, although I've seen it used on c.v.s (usually inaccurately by PhD students). I've always taken the view that it's safest not to translate and just to use whatever the official German title is.

[larryc]

over 100 people have at least clicked on my post and only two have replied

We were hoping that Gastforscher was something dirty.

[prytania3]

over 100 people have at least clicked on my post and only two have replied

We were hoping that Gastforscher was something dirty.

Minimally.

Why not put "visitng scholar" and then in parenthesis put Gastforscher?

[bashir001]

.... I've always taken the view that it's safest not to translate and just to use whatever the official German title is.

Since many American academics will probably not know about the German terms, I would recommend to provide both the original term and that what is commonly considered as a "good translation". I would refer a good translation of a title or degree to the stage of "scientific carrier and accomplishment".