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The selection procedure to which applicants for psychoanalytic training are subjected is still rather unsatisfactory. There is no unanimity concerning the criteria which might guide training boards. Psychoanalysis is simultaneously research and therapy. Yet the requirements placed on applicants from the therapeutic and scientific standpoints are, in a sense, at odds with one another. The scientific status accorded to psychoanalysis must influence the selection criteria for the new generation. The exclusion of analysts prevents many creative talents from gaining entry to psychoanalysis. None of the lists of positive traits has withstood criticism. There is agreement only on the view that no particular traits as such (e.g. intuitive talent) are decisive, but only their being embedded in a specific context in the applicant's personality. The analytic capacity for ego-splitting furthermore presupposes an intact ego. A particular risk is seen in pseudo-normal applicants. It would be desirable to create a permanent committee of the German Psychoanalytic Association concerned with the standardization and control of selection procedures.