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 rank ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

are the positions and titles of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

at Danish institutions, and the relations between them. 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. 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: * ''Professor'' (

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

) * ''Forskningsprofessor'' (research professor) * ''Professor MSO'' (professor with special responsibilities; temporary rank) * ''Forskningsprofessor MSO'' (research professor with special responsibilities; temporary rank) Academic positions at the level of Associate Professor: * ''Lektor'' (Associate Professor), time traditionally divided as 50-40-10 between teaching, research, and administration * ''Seniorforsker'' (Senior Researcher) Academic positions at the level of Assistant Professor: * ''Post doc'' (

Post-doc A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...

), generally a research position without the possibility of teaching * '' Adjunkt'' (Assistant Professor), usually almost the same teaching/research/administration division as ''lektor'', although sometimes a little more time for research * ''Forsker'' (Researcher) Academic positions below the level of Assistant Professor: * ''Ph.d.-studerende'' (PhD Student or PhD Fellow) * ''Videnskabelig assistent'' (Research Assistant) * ''Undervisningsassistent'' (Assistant Lecturer) * ''Ekstern lektor'' (Part-time Lecturer), requires a master's degree in the subject taught, but not a research degree (PhD or equivalent) Special positions: * Seniorrådgiver (Senior Adviser), the main tasks being research-based consulting to authorities and the dissemination of research results to authorities, business and society in general. * Studielektor (Teaching Associate Professor), full time teachers without research requirement. * Clinical Professor (for a leading attending/consultant) and Associate Clinical Professor (for an attending/consultant) are also in use. The latter two will typically require a certain amount of time with patients. Used by both doctors, dentists and chiropractors at Danish universities. Administrative positions: * ''Rektor'' (rector) * ''Prorektor'', second-ranked official of governance, deputy rector. * ''Dekan'' (dean), head of a faculty (humanities, natural sciences, etc.) * ''Institutleder'' (head of department), head of department (computer science, mathematics, etc.) * ''Studieleder'' (programme director), head of a study programme (business administration, civil engineering, etc.)

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. Assistant professorships are temporary, but often the instution will open an associate professorship toward the end of the temporary position or the assistant professorship will be part of a

tenure-track Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...

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. An additional step between lektor and full professor is ''

docent 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 conf ...

''. 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. 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''.

References

{{Academic ranks overview Academic ranks Education in Denmark

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 ...