Planning policy

The planning policy for academic staff is defined at the level of the institution concerned.

The University of Luxembourg defines a wage bill within its four-year plans. This budget is taken into account when the four-year contracts (contrat d’établissement pluriannuel) with the ministry of Higher Education and Research (MESR; ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche) are established. However, the categories of staff to be engaged are defined autonomously by the University of Luxembourg, which considers the teacher/student ratio, the number of teachers expected to retire and other criteria fixed according to the University’s priorities.

Teaching staff in BTS programmes is made up of secondary school teachers (see article 9.1 Initial Education for Teachers Working in Early Childhood and School Education) and professionals of the economic sector concerned.

Entry to the profession

The categories of academic and intermediary staff are defined by the University’s founding law, which also covers the terms of recruitment for these categories.

Academic staff

The academic staff of the University is made up of professors (professeurs), assistant professors (assistants professeurs), lecturers (chargés de cours) and teaching assistants (chargés d’enseignement):

• Professors have to hold a doctorate. Furthermore, they need to have research experience and must have written relevant publications
• Assistant professors have to hold a doctorate
• Lecturers and teaching assistants have to hold a master or a master craftsman’s diploma.

The nomination procedure for professors and assistant professors foresees the following steps:

• Public announcement of post vacancies
• Establishing a nomination commission (commission de nomination): the rectorate (rectorat) installs a nomination commission which is proposed by the dean of the faculty concerned. The commission consists of five professors, two of whom are external to the University and is presided by the dean
• Examination and ranking: the commission examines the applications and proposes a ranking of candidates
• Possibility of further measures: before appointing, the Rectorate may invite the faculty to carry out further measures.
• Appointment: professors are appointed by the Board of Governors (Conseil de gouvernance), whereas assistant professors are appointed by the rectorate.

If the University intends to hire a particularly eminent personality, or if the nomination procedure via public call should fail, it may deviate from this standard procedure.

The posts of lecturer and teaching assistant are proposed by the faculty, who carries out the recruitment procedure. The lecturers and teaching assistants are appointed by the rectorate as proposed by the dean.

Supply teachers

The University may take on services of supply teachers (enseignants vacataires) who hold specialised courses. They are employed on a full-time basis by another employer and may not be appointed for more than three hours of classes per week.

Supply teachers are recruited by the faculty and appointed by the rectorate as proposed by the dean for a three-year, renewable term. The supply teachers are given the title of associate teaching assistant (chargé d’enseignement associé), associate lecturer (chargé de cours associé), associate assistant-professor (assistant-professeur associé) or associate professor (professeur associé) by a commission of specialists made up of five members, two of which being external to the University.

All staff members who do not yet hold a foreign university’s authorisation to conduct research, have to obtain such an authorisation from the University of Luxembourg. The authorisation is granted by the faculty board (conseil facultataire) on the basis of the opinion of a commission of experts in the given domain.

Professional status

Members of academic staff hold private working contracts with the University of Luxembourg. They enjoy academic freedom (liberté académique), which includes freedom of thought and expression, freedom of education as well as freedom of research and studies. Academic freedom is limited by the objectives of the University, its study and research programmes as well as its resources. The University has set up a code of conduct which is appended to its internal rules.

Staff members have to perform their function as a  main professional activity.

Salaries

The norms for academic staff's salaries (i.e. minima, maxima, progression according to staff members' age) are defined by the University’s salary scales, which are determined by the board of governors (conseil de gouvernance), together with the rectorate and the staff delegation.

While the salary scales are subject to the minister of Higher Education's approval, the staff members’ individual remunerations within these scales are defined case-by-case by the university and the person concerned.

Working time and holidays

Staff members have to ensure 30 academic weeks of teaching in addition to their scientific research activities. Holiday allocation is adapted to the provisions of civil servants, although in practice teachers often conduct research activities during holidays.

Promotion, advancement

In general, the University’s academic staff's promotion and possibilities of career advancement are subject to the same conditions as new staff members' entry into the profession: each job vacancy has to be publicly announced.

Candidates are selected by a recruitment commission (commission de recrutement) according to the quality of their scientific publications.

However, a 10 % of posts may be awarded through internal promotion. Again, scientific quality is the main criterion in this procedure.

Retirement and pensions

Complementary pensions are provided for certain staff categories.