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. Professors belong to the R4 (Leading Researcher) group in the European Framework for Research Careers. 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. At the
University of Oslo, professors are in theory expected to dedicate 50% of their time to research and the other 50% to teaching and related duties. At the newer universities, the research percentage may be less than 50%. Appointments are usually for life, although time-limited appointments are possible (especially if the position is externally funded). The mandatory age of retirement in Norway is 70, however. Professors who have turned 70 are required to leave their positions, but by law retain the right to use the professor title. They may also use the title "professor emeritus/emerita." In some cases retired professors may keep their office, and they usually have access to university infrastructure as long as they are still active as researchers. In the official hierarchy of civil servants, professors traditionally formed part of the chief executive group (
sjefsregulativet) alongside e.g. directors-general in government ministries and supreme court justices, with a salary in the top one percentage of all government employees. The annual salary of full professors varies between around 75,000 and in excess of 100,000 euro, often depending on the institution and discipline, with the highest salaries found at the law faculty of the country's preeminent university, the University of Oslo. On average as of 2018, a salary in the range 80,000 to 90,000 euro is normal at most institutions.
Research professor Research professor (Norwegian:
forsker I,
forskningsprofessor or
forsker med professorkompetanse) is a rank at the full professor level and is formally equivalent to the ordinary full professor (chair) rank; in practice research professors rank higher than normal full professors, as they are usually more prominent as researchers. For example in fields such as political science/international relations, a position as research professor at an Oslo-based elite research institution such as the
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs is considered more prestigious than a normal professorship. Both professors and research professors belong to the R4 (Leading Researcher) group in the European Framework for Research Careers, the highest group. as the Norwegian title system with numerals is not used in any other countries or understood outside Norway. It is the most senior rank for a researcher without teaching obligations, is equivalent to the ordinary full professor rank at universities, and ranks above senior researcher and associate professor. The rank was introduced by the government in 1959, and formed part of the chief executive group (
sjefsregulativet) in the government hierarchy alongside e.g. professors, directors-general in government ministries and supreme court justices. Research professors originally received exactly the same salary as ordinary full professors in the top one percentage of all public employees in Norway; the salaries of both groups are no longer centrally regulated, but are still roughly comparable. Research professors are required to have the same qualifications as full professors at universities, that is formal
professor competence awarded by an independent committee. They sometimes hold part-time professorial chairs at universities or colleges, so-called professor II positions, in order to be able to devote a smaller amount of their time to teaching and maintain contact with a teaching environment. The position is the equivalent of the British and Commonwealth rank
Professorial Research Fellow/Research Professor and broadly corresponds to the Danish, Swedish and Finnish rank
forskningsprofessor (research professor). A research professor frequently heads research groups, and supervision and guidance of junior and mid-level researchers is commonly part of the job. Research professors are typically also strongly involved in the management of their institutes, and institute directors and research directors are often recruited from their ranks. While not normally obliged to teach, research professors often supervise PhD candidates and may sometimes choose to take on more limited teaching activities, usually at the advanced level.
Reader The traditional position of
docent, which existed until 1985, ranked below professor and above associate professor. It applied to people of the same competence as a professor who did not hold a professorial
chair and who formally ranked below professors. The position was abolished in 1985, when all docents received the title of professor. The rank was directly comparable to the British rank
reader and frequently translated as such. Like the British reader rank it lacked a direct equivalent in the American system, and was regarded as equal to the American full professor rank.
Associate professor Today, the position below full professor is called
førsteamanuensis ("first
amanuensis"), which is officially translated as
associate professor in English. By law the position requires as a minimum a Norwegian doctoral degree, or similar competence. In practice it requires additional qualifications, especially publications in peer-reviewed journals. Most universities announce vacancies at the associate professor level, with the right to apply for promotion to full professor. On average, an associate professor earns an annual salary of around 60,000 euro. Associate professors may occasionally be employed in small part-time positions, similar to professors II and for similar reasons. However, there is not a separate position formally called "førsteamanuensis II". The term "førsteamanuensis II" is sometimes used informally for individuals with a part-time position as associate professor in the normal code (SKO 1011) that is also used for full-time associate professors.
Senior Researcher The rank of senior researcher ( or
forsker II), now with code 1109/1110, was introduced in the state in 1959 as equivalent to the associate professor position. The formal requirement for the position is the same as for associate professor, i.e. a doctoral degree or equivalent scientific competence; the individual research institutes may also set requirements in addition to this when hiring. It is the middle position in the research hierarchy. Researchers in this position code are, as a general rule, permanently employed in the institute sector. In the European Framework for Research Careers, senior researcher and associate professor both belong to the second highest category R3 (established researcher). The competence requirement for the position is stipulated in the Government Personnel Handbook as "Norwegian doctoral degree, or foreign doctoral degree approved as equivalent to Norwegian doctoral degree, or Norwegian associate professor competence, or documented competence at equivalent level through scientific work of similar scope and quality". A researcher who obtains such competence is entitled to promotion to senior researcher. Codes 1109 and 1110 have identical qualification requirements at most institutions and are therefore in practice considered to be identical; 1110 is largely unused and is being phased out at most institutions. 1110 does not have its own regulations in the Government Personnel Handbook, but is mentioned together with SKO 1109 as one of two position codes that can apply for promotion to the highest position, research professor.
Assistant professor The position below
førsteamanuensis is called
amanuensis,
universitetslektor or
høgskolelektor, which are all translated into English as assistant professor (in a US context) or lecturer (in a UK context). On average an assistant professor earns an annual salary of around 50,000 euro.
Researcher The rank of researcher (), now with code 1108, was introduced in the state in 1959 as equivalent to university lecturer and assistant professor positions. Known as only researcher in English, the position is usually called
forsker or
forsker III in Norwegian. The formal requirement is a higher degree examination (master's degree, official examination, master's degree or similar). The institutions may have requirements for qualifications beyond this, such as a certain amount of research competence. In the same way as for the university lecturer position, new appointments at the researcher level have become less common after the turn of the millennium, but may still occur, especially at institutes with a more applied scope; otherwise, it is common for researchers with a master's degree or equivalent to instead be employed as research fellows to pursue a doctorate. ==Teaching-based ranks==