What we offer

How we help staff balance the demands of their professional and private lives

    • Flexible working hours and the opportunity to work remotely

As an employee at Saarland University, you can usually arrange your weekly working hours to suit your individual needs. By offering flexible working hours as well as near-full-time and part-time employment models, we're helping our staff to plan their working days so that they can better balance the demands of their professional and private lives. Saarland University operates an electronic time-tracking system and a trust-based approach to time management that (following consultation and agreement with their line manager or group leader) give staff greater autonomy in organizing their working hours and workloads.  

The university has also put in place an arrangement for hybrid working. If the type of work you do is compatible with home working and you have been employed at the university for more than six months, you have the option of spending part of your week working from home or working remotely. 

    • Clearly defined working conditions based on public sector and civil service employment law

No matter whether you are a public sector employee or you have civil servant status (Beamter/Beamtin), at Saarland University you will be working under a clearly defined employment framework that, for example, sets out clearly defined salary progression rates. At Saarland University, you will be entitled to up to 30 days of paid leave per year depending on the number of hours worked and you'll be working for a stable employer with an exciting future. 

 

    • Balancing work and personal life

To help you find the right balance between your work and personal commitments, Saarland University offers you access to a range of services tailored to meet the needs of your individual circumstances. Working parents can make use of the child day-care facility on the Saarbrücken campus or the FlexiMedKids programme that provides short-term or short-notice childcare at the Homburg campus. The university also offers childcare services during the school holidays. And we can help if you have caring responsibilities. You might like to talk to our team at the university's Family Office or explore the options available through our cooperation with AWO, an unaffiliated non-profit welfare organization. 

    • A rich programme of professional development and training opportunities

Are you interested in learning a new language, developing your core competencies or perhaps enhancing your management and leadership skills? Saarland University offers its employees a rich programme of professional development opportunities, most of which are available free of charge. In addition to the large programme of professional development courses offered in-house, you can also take part in events and courses provided by our numerous cooperation partners, such as the Saarland Higher Education and Training College of Public Administration (Fachhochschule für Verwaltung) or the Saarland School of Public Administration (Saarländische Verwaltungsschule). 

 

    • Promoting the physical and mental well-being of our staff

We take the physical and mental well-being of our staff very seriously. That’s why the university offers a large range of courses and activities designed to foster the health and well-being of our staff. Services offered include various advisory and counselling services, attractive options within the university’s occupational health management model and a broad range of sporting activities. And if you join one of the many courses in the university sports programme, the university allows you to use up to one working hour a week for sport and fitness activities. 

 

    • A unique location and a thriving campus community

We are a campus university in the heart of Saarland and our two main university sites in Saarbrücken and Homburg are surrounded by lush woodland. If you were born in Saarland or you moved here later in life you'll probably know its unofficial motto 'Hauptsach gudd gess', which can be roughly translated as 'All's well if you eat well' – something the university takes seriously by offering a broad range of culinary options that satisfy all tastes. Saarland University's location close to Germany’s borders with France, Luxembourg and Belgium gives us our distinctly European identity and underscores the importance we attach to multilingual communication. Through our Trilingual Campus initiative, we are actively engaged in removing existing language barriers making it easier for international students, researchers, scholars and staff to participate in university life. 

 

    • Promoting environmental protection and sustainability

Sustainability and the protection of the Earth’s climate are the major topics of our time. At Saarland University, we have numerous groups, such as our Digitalization and Sustainability Unit, that are actively working towards achieving core environmental protection and sustainability goals. Other measures that have been implemented include: the bus discount scheme Job-Ticket Plus, the introduction of returnable deposit cups and reusable tableware, charging stations for electric vehicles, a charging point for e-bikes, a bike repair station and a self-help bicycle repair shop – all designed to drive sustainability and make our university a better place for us all. 

 

Key service points for university employees

We offer advice, guidance and support covering a broad range of needs. Members of staff at Saarland University can access a large number of dedicated service points that provide information and assistance on a wide range of topics: