Heidelberg University Opens W3 Chair in Pediatric Gastroenterology in Mannheim
The Medical Faculty Mannheim of Heidelberg University is recruiting for a Full Professorship (W3) in Pediatric Gastroenterology, a permanent appointment that combines clinical leadership, academic teaching, and research across the full spectrum of child and adolescent gastrointestinal medicine. The position is based in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, and calls for a physician-scientist who can cover endoscopy, patient care, and research integration at the university hospital level.
The post is not framed as a narrowly defined subspecialty role. It is a mandate to represent pediatric gastroenterology across the entire academic mission of the faculty. The appointee is expected to lead care for diseases specific to pediatric gastroenterology, including endoscopy, while also contributing to the teaching structure for pediatrics and adolescent medicine through the MaReCuM model degree program.
A chair of this kind sits at the intersection of bedside medicine and institutional strategy. In practice, that means the successful candidate will need to move between clinical service, student instruction, and collaborative science without treating any one of those domains as secondary.
Clinical Scope Extends From Endoscopy to Comprehensive Pediatric Care
Clinical responsibility for the position spans the full field of pediatric gastroenterology. The selected professor is expected to function as a consultant for the diagnosis and management of gastrointestinal disease in children and adolescents, with explicit inclusion of endoscopic care. The job description places emphasis on breadth rather than a single disease entity, which signals a service role that must remain responsive to complex referral patterns, chronic inflammatory conditions, nutritional disorders, and age-specific gastrointestinal problems seen in a tertiary academic center.
For a pediatric subspecialist, this type of role demands fluency in procedural medicine as well as longitudinal outpatient and inpatient care. Endoscopy in children carries technical and developmental considerations that differ from adult gastroenterology, and the faculty is seeking someone who can manage those demands within a university hospital environment.
The appointment also carries responsibility for integrating patient care into the broader academic structure of the institution. In that setting, clinical credibility is not separate from educational and investigative work; it is the foundation for both.
Research Expectations Are Built Around Inflammation and Translational Collaboration
Research duties are tightly aligned with the faculty’s focus on Inflammation Medicine, Immunology, and Immunotherapy through the Mannheim Comprehensive Inflammation Campus. The position is also linked to established departmental strengths in immunology, rheumatology, cellular therapy, infectious diseases, hematology and oncology, and prevention and newborn screening. Pediatric gastroenterology is therefore being positioned as part of a wider translational ecosystem rather than as an isolated service line.
The faculty wants the incoming professor to deepen collaboration with the Mannheim Institute for Innate Immunoscience, known as MI3, and with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, or EMBL. Those partnerships suggest a research agenda that could span immune signaling, mucosal biology, host-defense mechanisms, and other molecular approaches relevant to gastrointestinal disease in children.
The post also requires active participation in existing scientific consortia, a track record of securing additional extramural funding, and a commitment to building new collaborative projects. In academic medicine, those requirements are not decorative. They define how the chair is expected to expand the department’s scientific footprint and sustain it over time.
One sentence in the posting stands out for its practical implication: the professor is expected not only to join collaborations, but to help create them.
Teaching Duties Are Embedded in the Medical Curriculum
Education is a core component of the role. The professorship will be integrated into all teaching formats related to pediatrics and adolescent medicine within the MaReCuM model degree program. That places the appointee inside the medical school’s central instructional framework, with responsibility for shaping how students encounter pediatric gastrointestinal disease across lectures, seminars, bedside teaching, and other training formats.
For a university-based subspecialty chair, this is more than a scheduling issue. It means the holder of the post will influence how future physicians understand chronic gastrointestinal illness in childhood, how they approach endoscopic procedures, and how they think about multidisciplinary care in pediatrics.
The teaching requirement is paired with an explicit expectation of pedagogical aptitude, usually demonstrated through prior teaching experience. A proven ability to communicate complex material to trainees is treated here as a core qualification, not an optional extra.
Qualifications Required for Appointment
Applicants must hold a completed university degree in human medicine and a qualified doctorate. Board certification in pediatrics and adolescent medicine is required, along with additional training in pediatric and adolescent gastroenterology. The faculty also requires evidence of further scientific achievement, such as a habilitation, a successfully evaluated junior professorship, or an equivalent qualification under article 47(2) of the Higher Education Act of Baden-Württemberg.
Internationally recognized achievements in research, teaching, and patient care are expected, alongside management experience, success in obtaining extramural funding, didactic competence, cooperation skills, leadership ability, and commitment to academic self-administration. The list is extensive because the role is extensive. It is designed for a candidate who can operate at the level of senior clinical leadership while also carrying the scholarly obligations of a tenured professor.
The post is tenured. For professors responsible for patient care at a university hospital, employment is generally under private law for an indefinite period in accordance with article 49(2a) of the same state higher-education law.
Application Timeline and Institutional Priorities
Applications must be submitted electronically and must follow the “Applicant Guideline Template” and “Applicant Form” used by the Medical Faculty Mannheim for W3 professorships. Materials are to be sent to Prof. Dr. med. Sergij Goerdt, Dean of the Medical Faculty Mannheim of Heidelberg University, at University Medical Center Mannheim. The closing date is 3 December 2026, while the position is to be filled at the earliest possible date.
Heidelberg University states that it supports equal opportunity and diversity, invites qualified female candidates to apply, and gives preference to persons with severe disabilities if qualifications are equal.
The appointment reflects a broader institutional aim: to anchor pediatric gastroenterology within a research-intensive, clinically active, and teaching-focused environment. In practical terms, the future chair will be expected to manage children with gastrointestinal disease, train the next generation of physicians, and build the kind of collaborative research program that can stand beside the faculty’s established immunology and inflammation priorities. The challenge is wide-ranging, and the faculty has made clear that it wants a leader capable of meeting all three demands at once.