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Academic ranks Academic rank (also scientific rank) is the rank of a scientist or teacher in a college, high school, university or research establishment. The academic ranks indicate relative importance and power of individuals in academia. The academic ran ...
in the United Kingdom are the titles, relative seniority and responsibility of employees in universities. In general the country has three academic career pathways: one focused on research, one on teaching, and one that combines the two.


Professors

In the United Kingdom, like most
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
countries (excluding Australia and Canada), as well as in Ireland, traditionally a professor held either an established chair or a personal chair. An established chair is established by the university to meet its needs for academic leadership and standing in a particular area or discipline and the post is filled from a shortlist of applicants; only a suitably qualified person will be appointed. A personal chair is awarded specifically to an individual in recognition of their high levels of achievements and standing in their particular area or discipline. In most universities, professorships are reserved for only the most senior academic staff, and other academics are generally known as ' lecturers', '
senior lecturer Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Israel senior lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. The position is tenured (in systems with this conce ...
s' and ' readers' (in some Commonwealth countries such as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the title 'associate professor' can be used instead of 'reader'). In some countries, senior lecturers are generally paid the same as readers, but the latter title is awarded primarily for research excellence, and traditionally carries higher prestige. Traditionally, heads of departments and other senior academic leadership roles within a university were undertaken by professors. During the 1990s, however, the University of Oxford introduced Titles of Distinction, enabling their holders to be termed professors or readers while holding academic posts at the level of lecturer. This results in a two-tier professoriate, with statutory professors – or named chairs – having higher status than the relatively recently created category of titular professors. Similar hierarchies among the professoriate exist in a small number of other UK universities. The
University of Exeter , mottoeng = "We Follow the Light" , established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter) , type = Public , ...
, University of Reading,
University of Warwick , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020� ...
, Staffordshire University, Swansea University, University of Birmingham and Kingston University have adopted the style of 'associate professor' in lieu of 'reader'. The varied practices these changes have brought about have meant that academic ranks in the United Kingdom and in Australia are no longer quite as consistent as they once were. In 2021, the University of Cambridge introduced a new structure. The academic rank structure is superseded by the new structure. In the UK the title 'Professor' has historically been reserved for full professors, with lecturers, senior lecturers, and readers generally addressed by their academic qualification (Dr for the holder of a doctorate, Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms/Mx otherwise). However, the current University of Oxford ''Style Guide'' now notes that Associate Professors "''may, if they wish, use the title of ‘Professor’, or they may keep their previous title of ‘Dr''’. As in the USA, the title of 'professor emeritus' may be awarded to a retired or former professor, who may well retain formal or informal links with the institution where the chair was formerly held.


Named professorships

Many professorships are named in honour of a distinguished person or after the person who endowed the chair. Some chairs have a long history and considerable prestige attached, such as the Gresham professorships, which date back to the 16th century,
Regius professorships A Regius Professor is a university professor who has, or originally had, royal patronage or appointment. They are a unique feature of academia in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The first Regius Professorship was in the field of medicine, ...
, and the
Lucasian Professor of Mathematics The Lucasian Chair of Mathematics () is a mathematics professorship in the University of Cambridge, England; its holder is known as the Lucasian Professor. The post was founded in 1663 by Henry Lucas, who was Cambridge University's Member of P ...
. Some academic societies and professional institutions also award or designate certain post holders or members as 'professor'; these are usually personal awards. The
College of Teachers The Chartered College of Teaching is a learned society for the teaching profession in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1846, the college was incorporated by Queen Victoria into a royal charter as the College of Preceptors in 1849. A supplemental cha ...
, formerly the College of Preceptors, is a long-standing example of this, as are the amalgamated bodies included in the Society of Teachers in Business Education.


Professors of music

Somewhat confusingly, instructors at many music conservatoires in the UK are known as professors; for example 'professor of violin'. In the United Kingdom and Ireland the term 'professor' is properly and in formal situations given to singing and instrumental tutors in the music colleges / conservatories of music, usually the older and more august ones: The
Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performance ...
,
Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke ...
,
Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...
. The expression has become almost obsolete for singing and instrumental tuition in the universities. The same convention applies throughout Europe in the National Colleges of Music.


Pathways


Research and teaching career pathway

Academic staff whose responsibilities encompass both research and teaching: *
Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
*
Reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...
(or Principal Lecturer in some post-1992 institutions) * Senior lecturer (not all universities have this title) * Lecturer or clinical lecturer: this is largely equivalent to an 'Assistant Professor' rank at a US university * Assistant lecturer, demonstrator, seminar leader, associate lecturer, graduate teaching assistant However, it is becoming increasingly common for
Russell Group The Russell Group is a self-selected association of twenty-four public research universities in the United Kingdom. The group is headquartered in Cambridge and was established in 1994 to represent its members' interests, principally to governm ...
universities to use some form of hybrid terminology:
LSE LSE may refer to: Computing * LSE (programming language), a computer programming language * LSE, Latent sector error, a media assessment measure related to the hard disk drive storage technology * Language-Sensitive Editor, a text editor used ...
ha
adopted the American terminology
entirely, while UCL ha
retained the role of Lecturer, but replaced Senior lecturer and Reader with Associate Professor


Research and teaching career pathway at the University of Oxford

Specific to the University of Oxford: *
Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
(Professors and other title holders (university lecturers, senior research fellows, etc.) with a titular professorship) * (
Reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...
) (Oxford has abolished this grade with no new appointments to this title) *
Associate Professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. Overview In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a ...
(University Lecturers and other title holders with a titular associate professorship) * Departmental Lecturer (Non-ladder faculty position employed or paid by the University)


Research career pathway

Academic staff whose main focus is research , * Professorial Research Fellow / Director of Research * Principal Research Fellow / Principal Research Associate * Senior Research Fellow / Senior Research Associate * Research Fellow * Research Associate * Research Assistant * Research Support


Teaching career pathway

Academic staff whose main focus is essential teaching, educational needs, and for senior grades, often pedagogic research: *Professorial teaching fellow / Professor *Principal Teaching Fellow *Senior Teaching Fellow / Senior University Teacher / Senior Lecturer *Teaching Fellow / University Teacher / Lecturer *Teaching Associate Note that some universities (for example, the University of Glasgow) give the same titles as Research & Teaching track academics to give parity to the roles.


Emeritus ranks

* Emeritus professor * Emeritus reader * Senior fellow * Fellow


Honorary/visiting ranks

Common titles for honorary, visiting and honorary visiting academics: * Honorary/visiting professor ''or'' honorary/visiting professorial fellow * Honorary/visiting reader ''or'' honorary/visiting associate professor or honorary/visiting principal lecturer * Honorary/visiting senior lecturer ''or'' honorary/visiting senior fellow * Honorary/visiting lecturer ''or'' honorary/visiting fellow


Administrative ranks: England, Wales, and Northern Ireland

* Chancellor (titular) * Pro-chancellor (titular) * Vice-chancellor (sometimes provost; increasingly 'vice-chancellor and chief executive officer' ) * Deputy vice-chancellor * Pro-vice-chancellor * Deans of faculties * Heads of departments/schools * Department/school directors of studies


Administrative ranks: Scotland

* Chancellor (titular) * Rector (
ancient universities The ancient universities are British and Irish medieval universities and early modern universities founded before the year 1600. Four of these are located in Scotland, two in England, and one in Ireland. The ancient universities in Britain and I ...
only) * Principal (who is also vice-chancellor) * Deputy principal * Vice-principals * Deans of faculties * Heads of departments/schools * Department/school directors of studies, or personal tutors


Comparison


See also

* Lecturer § Tenure * Fellow


References

{{Academic ranks overview Academic ranks Education in the United Kingdom
Ranks Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * H ...