Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) has adopted the tenure-track system to attract and retain talent. The tenure-track professor contract involves starting an academic career to attain a permanent position. It implies the evaluation of the performance in the year prior to the end of the contract, accordingly to previously defined evaluation criteria, but it does not guarantee the permanence of the professor at the University. In this academic career model, stabilization is only possible after the successful completion of a tenure-track period.

1. Advertising the tenure-track professor position. The offer will be published at least on the department and the University website, and international dissemination will be carried out through specialized websites www.euraxess.ec.europa.eu and those specific to the field of the position. This will include relevant information about the desired profile.

2. Selection process. The Selection Committee will be composed of at least five members, two of those proposed by the department. They must be experts in the research area of the open position, and it will contain external researchers (ideally including a member from outside the country). If the department/UCA has a Scientific Advisory Board, some of the members related to the area may be part of the Selection Committee.
   • First phase: the Selection Committee will establish a shortlist of candidates based on the assessment of merits, letters of recommendation and other important aspects for evaluation.
   • Second phase: candidates who have passed the first phase will be invited to give a lecture and for interviews. The Selection Committee will  decide the best candidate based on the quality of the candidate according to the selection criteria established by the department and as announced in the call.

3. Offer to the selected candidate. The department will agree with the candidate the terms and conditions of his/her employment in the UPF. 

4. Contract signature. The candidate will be employed at the UPF as a “tenure-track professor”. The contract will indicate the length of the contract (five to seven years), stipend and criteria for evaluation during the penultimate year of the contract.

5. End of the tenure-track period. In the penultimate year of the contract, the initial Selection Committee or another one established by the department, will evaluate the performance of the candidate during this period. If the evaluation is positive, UPF will begin the procedure for the tenure-track professor to be able to obtain a permanent position. If negative, the contract will finish on the established date.