Assistant professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States, Canada, Japan and South Korea.
This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree and sometimes after several years of holding one or more postdoctoral researcher positions. [1] [2] [3] [4] It is below the position of associate professor at most universities and is equivalent to the rank of lecturer at most Commonwealth universities. In the United States, assistant professor is often the first position held in a tenure track, although it can also be a non-tenure track position. A typical professorship sequence is assistant professor, associate professor, and full professor in order. After seven years, if successful, assistant professors can get tenure and also get promotion to associate professor. [5]
There is high demand for vacant tenure-track assistant professor positions, often with hundreds of applicants. Less than 20% of doctoral graduates move onto a tenure-track assistant professor position after graduation.[ citation needed ]
Educational Qualifications for Assistant Professor in India
The candidate should have completed a post-graduate degree (Master’s degree) with 55% marks in aggregate in the relevant field or discipline from a recognized university.
UGC NET qualified
OR Ph.D. degree Holder with or without NET
The eligibility criteria, age limit, and educational qualifications may vary depending on the specific requirements of the university or institute where the position is available. It is advisable to check the official notification of the concerned university/institute for detailed information.
The table presents a broad overview of the traditional main systems, but there are universities that use a combination of those systems or other titles. Some universities in Commonwealth countries have also entirely adopted the North American system in place of the Commonwealth system.
North American system | Commonwealth system |
---|---|
Professor (higher tier, including distinguished professor or equivalent) (available only in some positions) | Professor |
Professor | Reader (mainly UK) or associate professor (mainly Australia, NZ, South Africa, Southeast Asia, Ireland) |
Associate professor | Senior lecturer |
Assistant professor | Lecturer |
Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching, and further education, which usually includes a dissertation. The degree, sometimes abbreviated Dr. habil., Dr hab., or D.Sc., is often a qualification for full professorship in those countries. In German-speaking countries it allows the degree holder to bear the title PD. In a number of countries there exists an academic post of docent, appointment to which often requires such a qualification. The degree conferral is usually accompanied by a public oral defence event with one or more opponents. Habilitation is usually awarded 5–15 years after a PhD degree or its equivalent. Achieving this academic degree does not automatically give the scientist a paid position, though many people who apply for the degree already have steady university employment.
Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct research.
A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies. Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academic appointment, sometimes in preparation for an academic faculty position. According to data from the US National Science Foundation, the number of holders of PhD in biological sciences who end up in tenure track has consistently dropped from over 50% in 1973 to less than 20% in 2006. They continue their studies or carry out research and further increase expertise in a specialist subject, including integrating a team and acquiring novel skills and research methods. Postdoctoral research is often considered essential while advancing the scholarly mission of the host institution; it is expected to produce relevant publications in peer-reviewed academic journals or conferences. In some countries, postdoctoral research may lead to further formal qualifications or certification, while in other countries, it does not.
The term is derived from the Latin word docēns, which is the present active participle of docēre. Becoming a docent is often referred to as habilitation or doctor of science and is an academic qualification that shows that the holder is qualified to be employed at the level of associate or full professor. The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French maître de conférences (MCF), and equal to or above the title of assistant professor.
Ira Mellman is an American cell biologist who discovered endosomes. He served as Vice President of Research Oncology at Genentech in South San Francisco, California.
Ian Andrew Wilson is the Hansen Professor of Structural Biology and chair of the Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, California, United States.
Professors in the United States commonly occupy any of several positions of teaching and research within a college or university. In the U.S., the word "professor" is often used to refer to anyone who teaches at a college of university level at any academic rank. This usage differs from the predominant usage of the word professor in other countries, where the unqualified word "professor" only refers to "full professors", nor is it generally used in the United States for secondary education teachers. Other tenure-track faculty positions include assistant professor and associate professor (mid-level). Other teaching-focused positions that use the term "professor" include Clinical Professor, Professor of Practice, and Teaching Professor. Most faculty with titles of "Lecturer" and "Instructor" in the U.S. are not eligible for tenure, though they are still often referred to as "professors" in a general sense and as a courtesy form of address. Non-tenure-track positions may be full or part time, although the qualifier "adjunct" always denotes part-time.
David G. Rand is the Erwin H. Schell Professor and Professor of Management Science and Brain and Cognitive Sciences at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Academic ranks in the United States are the titles, relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in academia.
The following are academic ranks in the Finnish higher education system. There are a specific number of posts, which can be applied to when they are vacated or established.
Daniel Herschlag is an American biochemist and Professor of Biochemistry at the Stanford University School of Medicine. His research uses an interdisciplinary approach to advance our understanding of the fundamental behavior of RNA and proteins. He is well known for his application of rigorous kinetic and mechanistic approaches to RNA and protein systems.
Academic ranks in Canada are the titles, relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in academia.
Academic ranks in China are the titles, relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in academia.
Academic ranks in Norway are the system of merit-based ranks used by academic employees in academia. Similar to the British rank system, the Norwegian rank system is broadly divided into three pathways, a combined research and teaching career pathway, a research career pathway and a teaching career pathway.
Postdoctoral researcher unionization is the formation of labor unions by postdoctoral researchers (postdocs). It has been driven by increasing competition for scarce tenure-track faculty positions, leading to more people residing in postdoctoral positions for a longer time. Unions often challenge the low pay, minimal benefits, and lack of job security that are typical of postdoctoral positions. Unionizing is however sometimes seen as creating a culture clash of tension between postdocs and their academic advisors, and some question the suitability of a union for a temporary position. Some universities seek to avoid pushes for unionization by proactively addressing the concerns of postdoctoral researchers.
An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, but the term is generally agreed to mean a bona-fide part-time faculty member in an adjunct position at an institution of higher education.
Rebecca W. Heald is an American professor of cell and developmental biology. She is currently a Professor in the Department of Molecular & Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. In May 2019, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. She has published over 120 research articles in peer reviewed journals.
R. Scott Hawley is an American geneticist and investigator at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, Missouri, a member of the US National Academy of sciences and fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has been President of the Genetics Society of America, and leads a research team focused on the molecular mechanisms that regulate chromosome behavior during meiosis.
Allen Lein was an endocrinologist and medical school professor. He was a Guggenheim Fellow for the academic year 1958–1959.