The Habilitation is the traditional qualification for a full professorship at a German university and remains the legal benchmark for all first-time hires. It is awarded in recognition of an exceptional ability for independent research and teaching in a particular field of study.

The Habilitation is an academic degree that is normally awarded together with the Venia Legendi (authorization to teach, including supervision of Doctoral Theses) in a particular field of study. The Venia Legendi, and the accompanying academic title Privatdozent ("PD") depends on continuous contributions to the teaching at the Faculty, but not on the employment status. Along the same line, the Habilitation is personal, while the transfer of the Venia Legendi to a different institution (or the extension to an additional field) requires a separate process.

At Heidelberg University, like many other institutions, the Habilitation is a three-tiered process:

A habilitation thesis, or equivalent scientific publications, as evidence of original research at the level expected of a professor at a university,
evidence of successful teaching experience, typically a one-semester lecture course at the Bachelor or Master level,
a lecture to the Faculty on a topic outside the candidate's main area of expertise.

The Habilitation process is controlled by the Habilitationskonferenz, that includes Emeriti and all Professors and Privatdozents of the Faculty with full-time employment at the university.

Scientists interested in acquiring the Habilitation at the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science need to first apply for the candidate status Habilitand/Habilitandin with the support of a faculty member as mentor. At this time, they also register the course intended as evidence of teaching ability with the Dean of Studies.

The Habilitation process itself is initiated after completion of the Habilitation Thesis, and lasts for about one semester, depending on the dates of the faculty meetings.

In the first step, the Faculty (Habilitationskonferenz) decides on the initiation of the process and appoints a Habilitation committee and external referees.
In a second step, the Habilitation committee reviews the thesis with the help of external reviews, and submits a report to the Faculty which then votes on the thesis, the teaching ability, and the topic of the Habilitation lecture.
The process concludes with the lecture to the Faculty that is followed by a discussion, vote, and, in case of a successful audit, the award of the Venia Legendi.

The formal basis of the Habilitation is the Habilitationsordnung that calls for a number of documents, but there are few to no ready-made forms. All correspondence regarding the Habilitation should be addressed to the Dean's Office.

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