Academic ranks in the Netherlands
in the Netherlands are the titles, relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in academia. These ranks are mostly limited to scholars holding a position at the Dutch research universities with the position of Lector being the exception at the vocational universities.
Overview
Academic ranks
| Dutch title | Literal translation | Pay grade | US equivalent | UK/commonwealth equivalent |
| Akademiehoogleraar | Academy Professor High teacher of the Academy | |||
| Universiteitshoogleraar | University Professor High teacher of the University | Distinguished or University Professor | ||
| Hoogleraar | High teacher | H1, H2, 14+extra | Full Professor | Full Professor |
| Lector | Reader | 15 | Full Professor | Full Professor/Reader |
| Universitair Hoofddocent | University head lecturer | 13, 14 | Associate professor | University senior lecturer / Reader |
| Universitair Docent | University lecturer | 11, 12 | Assistant professor | University lecturer |
| Docent | Lecturer | 10–13 | Lecturer | Lecturer |
| Onderzoeker / Postdoc | Researcher, Postdoc | 10–13 | Researcher | Research fellow / Research Associate |
| Assistent in Opleiding / Promovendus | Assistant in training | P | Ph.D. candidate | Ph.D. candidate |
| Onderzoeksassistent | Research assistant | 6–9 | Research assistant | Research assistant |
| Student Assistent | Student assistant | SA | Student teaching/research assistant | Student teaching/research assistant |
Administrative positions
Professor ranks
Most academic staff will have both research and teaching duties.The ranking system of faculty with combined teaching and research tasks in Dutch universities is as follows:
- universitair docent 2, abbreviated UD2
- universitair docent 1, abbreviated UD1
- universitair hoofddocent 2, abbreviated UHD2
- universitair hoofddocent 1, abbreviated UHD1
- hoogleraar 2, or professor.
- hoogleraar 1, or professor.
University of applied sciences appoint lectors to coordinate their research. Like a full professor, a lector coordinates a research group. In contrast to full professors, lectors are not allowed to be principal supervisor of PhD students and are not allowed to use the formal title "professor".
Full professors
A professor should have substantial research achievements and international reputation. The title professor is not protected by Dutch law.The head of a department or of a "chair-group" within a department is a full professor. After a "chaired" professor leaves university, an open application is usually announced to replace the chair holder.
Personal chairs, are full professors created based on personal achievement but have no formal administrative function in leading a department. Personal chair are becoming increasingly familiar; and are generally promoted from the assistant or associate professor ranks in a department. If a personal chair leaves the chair ceases to exist.
Dutch universities also appoint professors occupying an endowed chair, often on a part-time basis. Special professors usually have their main employment somewhere else, often in industry or at a research institute or University elsewhere, although some foundations sponsor a special professor for one of the sitting associate professors. The special professor does not get paid by the university, but receives a salary from an external organization, such as a company, an organization or a fund. Special professors sometimes provide lectures or do research on special topics associated with their main employment. They also often supervise graduate students who may do their research at the place of the professor's main employment.
Some Dutch universities have also instituted University Professorships appointing scientific ambassadors by the university, rather than representing a department. The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences can sponsor an established professor to be an Academy Professor. In addition, members of the Royal Academy are selected full professor. Being elected to member of the academy is a high honor for a sitting professor.
When a full professor retires in good standing, the professor becomes professor emeritus. This allows the retired professor to keep the title professor for life. A professor emeritus is allowed to supervise doctorate theses until five years after retirement, but the use of the honorific professor is for life. Professors emeriti have no formal teaching or administrative duties and are paid no salaries. They are often provided with a desk and will have access to university resources for as long as the person so requests. In any event, professors who move out of the academy or retire in good standing retain the ius promovendi. for five years thereafter.
Due to the system of part-time special professors and personal chair-holders promoted from sitting staff within a department, many university research groups will have several professors.
In the Netherlands a special right of a full professor has always been the ius promovendi. This means that by Dutch law, any doctoral dissertation must always be supported by a full professor; or in other words the principal supervisor of any PhD project is always a full professor. From 2018 onwards, the law has changed and holder of a position with a research university appointment is eligible to be main supervisor of a PhD. student. Universities have agreed that only such colleagues with proven capacity to supervise PhD projects will be granted this right. Increasingly, Ph.Ds are co-supervised by a UD or UHD, and they are often the regular point of contact for the Ph.D student, particularly in large research groups.
International comparison
Although the ranks are often translated as if they were aligned with the American system, this not as clear-cut. Traditionally a lecturer could only become associate or full professor by applying for such a position if there was a vacancy. However, Dutch universities are moving towards a system closer to the US tenure track system to have more flexibility in rewarding merits of individuals. In Dutch universities, permanent positions must be offered upon the third extension of fixed-term position or after 6 years of continuous contracts, a rule which was instigated to avoid permatemp situation.; permanent positions may, of course, be offered sooner. Unlike in the US, the terms Assistant Professor and Associate Professor are not as such indicative of tenure status; the new tenure-track system is actually something of a misnomer as far as exiting staff entrants on the track are concerned; it is an 'up or out' programme whereby very promising staff are put on a pathway of accelerated promotion and accelerated 'jus promovendi' which will, if all the boxes are ticked at the relevant review steps, lead in due course to the person becoming Professor. Someone who was already a tenured member of staff who enters the pathway but who fails to make the grade at the end of the day will revert to their former grade, or, if she or he was appointed on a tenure-track pathway, will cease to be employed by the University. Confusingly, tenure-track pathway colleagues can be given the title 'Adjunct hoogleraar', and are for that period Professors in the sense of the Dutch Higher Education Act ; the title of adjunct Professor' in The Netherlands has noting to do with what is meant by that title in the US, where it is used to denote a practitioner or other specialist from outside the Academy who is given the title as a part-time specialist teacher.In 1986 there was a reform of the system. Junior professors and professors of the agricultural and technology universities, until then labelled as Lector were transformed into full Professors, but as a new Professor A rank at a lower salary scale than the existing professors on the older, and more favourable, salary scale. The present salary scales refer to Professor 1 or Professor 2. The former title buitengewoon hoogleraar for a part-time professor is no longer used ; all the then holders of such positions became part-time full professors '.
In the early 2000s the lector position was introduced at universities of applied sciences for research group leaders dealing with applied research. Until that moment universities of applied sciences had no research tasks. Based on salary pay grade, lectors would rank between associate and full professor in the research university system.