Academic ranks in Denmark

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Academic ranks in Denmark are the positions and titles of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in academia at Danish institutions, and the relations between them.

Contents

The titles (MA, ph.d., dr.) are different from any position that a person may have, but some positions will require certain qualifications corresponding to a title. [1] The positions are a result of agreement between the Ministry of Higher Education and Science and the relevant union organizations.

Overview

Academic positions at the level of Professor: [2]

Academic positions at the level of Associate Professor: [3]

Academic positions at the level of Assistant Professor: [4]

Academic positions below the level of Assistant Professor: [5]

Special positions: [6]

Administrative positions:

Professorship

In Denmark the word professor is only used for full professors. An associate professor is in Danish called a lektor and an assistant professor is called an adjunkt.

As an alternative to full professorship, it used to be possible to get a time limited (usually 5 years) position as professor MSO (professor med særlige opgaver), English: "professor with special responsibilities." The post of professor with special responsibilities involves fixed-term specific functions as well as duties that are otherwise associated with professorships. The qualification requirements correspond to those of ordinary professorships. This position gives time for the school to raise funds for the permanent professorship, and it was made as the rules do not as such allow promotions from associate to full professor. The professor MSO position was abolished in 2019 as part of an attempt to limit temporary positions. [7]

Assistant professorships are temporary, but often the institution will open an associate professorship toward the end of the temporary position or the assistant professorship will be part of a tenure-track path to permanent employment. The use of the term tenure in Denmark has been criticized in the grounds that permanent positions are less secure compared to tenure in other countries, since the flexibility of the Danish job markets still makes it easy to fire people in tenured positions. [8]

An additional step between lektor and full professor is docent . A docent has the same responsibilities as a professor but they do not actively take part in senior administrative duties, such as heading a department.[ citation needed ] The Danish PhD does not come with the title dr. or doktor, only ph.d.; only the (higher) doctorate, after a similar extended thesis to the German docent, brings the right to be addressed as doktor. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Ebdrup, Niels (7 August 2014). "Ph.d., adjunkt, lektor... Hvad betyder de fornemme forskertitler?". videnskab.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  2. "Stillingsstruktur for videnskabeligt personale ved universiteterne — Uddannelses- og Forskningsministeriet".
  3. "Stillingsstruktur for videnskabeligt personale ved universiteterne — Uddannelses- og Forskningsministeriet".
  4. "Stillingsstruktur for videnskabeligt personale ved universiteterne — Uddannelses- og Forskningsministeriet".
  5. "Stillingsstruktur for videnskabeligt personale ved universiteterne — Uddannelses- og Forskningsministeriet".
  6. "Stillingsstruktur for videnskabeligt personale ved universiteterne — Uddannelses- og Forskningsministeriet".
  7. Dalsgaard, Ana (15 January 2020). "Bedre muligheder for fastansættelse på universiteterne". DM (in Danish). Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  8. Friis, Rasmus (27 February 2020). "Professor: 'Tenure track' is not what Danish universities say it is". uniavisen.dk (in Danish). University Post. Retrieved 13 April 2022.