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.
In general the combined pathway is the norm at teaching-focused institutions such as universities and colleges, the research pathway is the norm at elite research institutes which only or primarily engage in research—such as the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI)—while the more recent teaching pathway is a much less used alternative to the combined pathway primarily at colleges and former colleges that have recently become "new universities" and that are less research-intensive than older universities.
The main ordinary combined ranks in Norway are assistant professor, associate professor and professor, which directly correspond to researcher, senior researcher and research professor with identical formal promotion criteria. The junior, temporary ranks of research assistant, research fellow and postdoctoral fellow are shared between the combined and research pathways. Research professors at elite research institutes (e.g. NUPI) concentrate on research and research leadership roles, and often serve in governmental committees; ordinary professorships at colleges and universities on the other hand concentrate on teaching and only have about 30% research time on average. Due to the more meritorious nature of research in academia, a research professorship is considered more prestigious by some, but formally research professors and other professors are of equal rank.
Overview of main ranks
The research ranks and the combined research and teaching ranks have exactly the same promotion criteria and the ranks are equivalent, both administratively and academically. The teaching career pathway ranks have their own promotion criteria, and while they administratively rank alongside the research and combined ranks, they do not directly correspond to ranks in the European Framework for Research Careers. Temporary ranks are in green.
Formal level(European Frameworkfor Research Careers) Research ranks Research andteaching ranks Teaching ranks Full professor (chair) levelR4 Leading Researcher Research professor(forsker I/ forskningsprofessor) Professor(professor) Docent(dosent)Specific requirements:Docent competence Identical requirements:(Full) professor competence Associate professor/senior researcher levelR3 Established Researcher Senior researcher(forsker II / seniorforsker) Associate professor(førsteamanuensis) Senior lecturer(førstelektor)Specific requirements:Senior lecturer competence Identical requirements:Associate professor competence Post-doctoral levelR2 Recognised Researcher Postdoctoral fellow(postdoktor) Assistant professor/researcher level Researcher(forsker III / forsker) Assistant professor(amanuensis, universitetslektor, høgskolelektor) Identical requirements:Assistant professor competenceFirst stage levelR1 First Stage Researcher Research fellow(stipendiat) Research assistant(vitenskapelig assistent)
Career pathways Norway has three academic career pathways, which are roughly similar to those of the United Kingdom: The combined research and teaching career pathway is the normal academic career pathway at universities and colleges. It encompasses both research and teaching with the emphasis on research and research-based teaching, traditionally equally divided in the two highest ranks at the country's only ancient university (the University of Oslo), although colleges and new universities tend to be less research-intensive. On average across the country full professors devote 31% of their time to research, associate professors 28% and assistant professors only 15%.Gunnes, Hebe (2018). Tidsbruksundersøkelse for universiteter og høgskoler. Oslo: NIFU. Promotion is based on research merits. The research career pathway is focused on research, and is primarily and traditionally the normal academic career pathway at elite research institutions such as the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) and other research-only or research-focused institutes. The research ranks were introduced by the Government in 1959 for use in elite research institutions in connection with parliament's establishment of NUPI that year, and as directly equivalent to the combined ranks. More recently the research ranks have been introduced at universities for academics with few or no teaching obligations who devote most of their time to research; however in most cases the choice of this pathway over the combined pathway is only related to the type of institution. Researchers in this pathway, especially in the higher grades, tend to be nationally or internationally recognised experts who frequently serve on government expert committees. The research ranks researcher, senior researcher and research professor are directly equivalent to the combined ranks assistant professor, associate professor and professor, and the promotion criteria are identical. While seldom obliged to teach, research academics often supervise PhD students and sometimes take on more limited teaching activities at the advanced level. Research management, supervision and guidance of younger researchers is also commonly part of their work. Promotion is based on research merits. Due to the higher prestige of research and the typically higher prestige of the elite research institutes compared to most Norwegian universities and colleges, this pathway is considered more prestigious by some, and on average, research academics tend to be more recognised researchers than academics in the combined pathway. The teaching career pathway is focused on essential teaching (mainly at the lower level), educational needs and for senior ranks also pedagogic development and/or research, and is mainly used at professional colleges or new universities as an alternative to the research and teaching career pathway. Promotion criteria are focused on teaching merits, including pedagogic development and for senior ranks also pedagogic research. However, both the government and the professional colleges are placing increased emphasis on research qualifications, leading to debate over the future of the teaching career pathway. The universities and colleges tend to promote the combined pathway, and there are more than twenty times as many academics in the combined pathway, while the teaching pathway is fading into de facto obscurity.
Research and teaching ranks and research-only ranks Norway currently has two professorial ranks, the normal rank of (full) professor, and the more rare rank of research professor, which requires similar competence as a professor. Additionally, Norway has a part-time full professor rank which is designated as Professor II, but which is otherwise identical to the normal full professor rank. All these ranks are equal to professor (chair) in the United Kingdom.
All people who are appointed as (or promoted to) professors, research professors or professors II must have formal professor competence according to Norwegian law, that is, they must be awarded such competence through an evaluation by a scientific, independent committee following a specific procedure. Such evaluations are carried out in two circumstances; in connection with an application for a position as professor (even applicants who don't get the specific position may be awarded professor competence), or, since the 1990s, in connection with an individual application for promotion from associate professor to professor. Before the 1990s, professor competence was only awarded by direct application for an advertised position as professor, as there was no promotion procedure.
The title of "visiting professor" does not exist legally in Norway, but is sometimes used informally by full professors at foreign universities who stay as guests at Norwegian universities without being formally employed there. The title "professor" can legally only be used in Norway by (full) professors formally employed as such in salaried positions at Norwegian universities. In practice the use of the title by full professors deemed to be of comparable standing to Norwegian full professors and at foreign universities deemed to be of sufficient quality is generally accepted, but in no circumstances may foreign assistant or associate professors call themselves "professors" or "visiting professors" in Norway.
Full professors in Norway with secondary, part-time positions (20% or less) are called professor II. They usually have a different main position (typically as a senior consultant at a university hospital, as a professor at a different university in Norway or abroad or as a research professor at a research-only institute). While they only hold a part-time position as professor at the institution in question, they otherwise hold the same status as other professors, need to have the same competence as other professors, are styled as simply professor (not professor II) and are sometimes (especially at medical faculties) eligible to be elected deans of their faculty. The numeral "II" merely indicates that it is a secondary position, not that it ranks below other professors. As the title professor is used very restrictively in Norway only for the most senior academics, professor II positions carry the same high prestige as full-time and permanent professorships. Within the field of medicine, most professorships are professor II positions combined with a main position as a senior consultant at a university hospital (full-time professorships in clinical medicine are very rare). Professors II may engage in teaching, supervision (typically of PhD candidates) or research. The position is often used to strengthen cooperation between academic institutions, as well as attracting prominent academics from more prestigious universities in Norway or from abroad.
Professor In Norway, the word "professor" is only used for full professors, i.e. the most senior academics who hold chairs at universities or other academic institutions at a similar level. The title is protected by law, and may only be used by a select number of accredited institutions under certain conditions.Universitets- og høyskoleloven (Universities and colleges statute of 2005), accessed online March 14, 2014. Professors belong to the R4 (Leading Researcher) group in the European Framework for Research Careers.International and Sector Mobility in Norway, NIFU
Prior to 1990, all professors were appointed for life by the King upon the advice of the cabinet, that is, by the King-in-Council; they thus held the elevated status of embedsmann (a higher civil servant appointed directly by the King who could not be terminated unless convicted by the Supreme Court). In the 19th and parts of the 20th century, the appointment of a professor was a clearly political decision that often involved cabinet-level proceedings; from the 20th century, with the increasing number of appointments and the establishment of more universities, the cabinet-level proceedings became routine in most cases, and nearly always followed the recommendations of the universities' own committees. From 1990 the institutions received the right to formally appoint professors themselves. Historically there were a given number of professors and each professor was appointed to a specific chair. Currently each institution can establish professorships at will and promote associate professors to full professors if they meet the statutory requirements.Forskrift om ansettelse og opprykk i undervisnings- og forskerstillinger (Promotion statute), accessed March 14, 2014.