Professor
Professor 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'. Professors are usually experts in their field and teachers of the highest rank.
In most systems of academic ranks, "professor" as an unqualified title refers only to the most senior academic position, sometimes informally known as "full professor". In some countries and institutions, the word professor is also used in titles of lower ranks such as associate professor and assistant professor; this is particularly the case in the United States, where the unqualified word is also used colloquially to refer to associate and assistant professors as well, and often to instructors or lecturers.
Professors often conduct original research and commonly teach undergraduate, postgraduate, or professional courses in their fields of expertise. In universities with graduate schools, professors may mentor and supervise graduate students conducting research for a thesis or dissertation. In many universities, full professors take on senior managerial roles such as leading departments, research teams and institutes, and filling roles such as president, principal or vice-chancellor. The role of professor may be more public-facing than that of more junior staff, and professors are expected to be national or international leaders in their field of expertise.
Etymology
The term professor was first used in the late 14th century to mean 'one who teaches a branch of knowledge'. The word comes "...from Old French professeur" and directly from Latin ; the Latin term came from the "...agent noun from wikt:profiteri. As a title that is "prefixed to a name, it dates from 1706". The "hort form prof is recorded from 1838". The term professor is also used with a different meaning: "ne professing religion. This canting use of the word comes down from the Elizabethan period, but is obsolete in England."Description
A professor is an accomplished and recognized academic. In most Commonwealth nations, as well as northern Europe, the title professor is the highest academic rank at a university. In the United States and Canada, the title of professor applies to most post-doctoral academics, so a larger percentage are thus designated. In these areas, professors are scholars with doctorate degrees or equivalent qualifications who teach in colleges and universities. An emeritus professor is a title given to selected retired professors with whom the university wishes to continue to be associated due to their stature and ongoing research. Emeritus professors do not receive a salary, but they are often given office or lab space, and use of libraries, labs, and so on.The term professor is also used in the titles assistant professor and associate professor, which are not considered professor-level positions in all European countries. In Australia, the title associate professor is used in place of the term reader as used in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries; ranking above senior lecturer and below full professor.
Beyond holding the proper academic title, universities in many countries also give notable artists, athletes and foreign dignitaries the title honorary professor, even if these persons do not have the academic qualifications typically necessary for professorship and they do not take up professorial duties. However, such "professors" usually do not undertake academic work for the granting institution. In general, the title of professor is strictly used for academic positions rather than for those holding it on honorary basis.
Tasks
Professors are qualified experts in their field who generally perform some or all of the following tasks:- Managing teaching, research, and publications in their departments ;
- Presenting lectures and seminars in their specialties ;
- Performing, leading and publishing advanced original research in peer reviewed journals in their fields;
- Providing community service, including consulting functions or providing expert commentary on TV or radio news or public affairs programs;
- Mentoring graduate students in their academic training;
- Mentoring more junior academic staff;
- Conducting administrative or managerial functions, usually at a high level ; and
- Assessing students in their fields of expertise.
Around the world
Many colleges and universities and other institutions of higher learning throughout the world follow a similar hierarchical ranking structure amongst scholars in academia; the list above provides details.Salary
A professor typically earns a base salary and a range of employee benefits. In addition, a professor who undertakes additional roles in their institution sometimes earns additional income. Some professors also earn additional income by activities such as consulting, publishing academic or other books, giving speeches, or coaching executives. Some fields give professors more opportunities for outside work.Germany and Switzerland
A report from 2005 by the "Deutscher Hochschulverband DHV", a lobby group for German professors, the salary of professors, the annual salary of a German professor is €46,680 in group "W2" and €56,683 in group "W3", without performance-related bonuses. The anticipated average earnings with performance-related bonuses for a German professor is €71,500. The anticipated average earnings of a professor working in Switzerland vary for example between 158,953 CHF to 232,073 CHF at the University of Zurich and 187,937 CHF to 247,280 CHF at the ETH Zurich; the regulations are different depending on the Cantons of Switzerland.Italy
, in the Italian universities there are about 18 thousand Assistant Professors, 23 thousand Associate Professors, and 14 thousand Full Professors. The role of "professore a contratto", a non-tenured position which does not require a PhD nor any habilitation but requires a public academic competition, is paid at the end of the academic year nearly €3000 for the entire academic year, without salary during the academic year. There are about 28 thousand "Professori a contratto" in Italy. Associate Professors have a gross salary in between 52.937,59 and 96.186,12 euros per year, Full Professors have a gross salary in between 75.431,76 and 131.674 Euros per year, and adjunct professors of around 3,000 euros per year.As of 2025 in the Italian universities there are: 16,574 Full Professors 26,472 Associate Professors with salary and 33,535 "Professori a contratto" without salary.
Saudi Arabia
According to World Salaries 2023, the salary of a professor in any public university is 447,300 SAR, or 119,217.18 USDSpain
The salaries of civil servant professors in Spain are fixed on a nationwide basis, but there are some bonuses related to performance and seniority and a number of bonuses granted by the Autonomous Regional governments. These bonuses include three-year premiums, five-year premiums and six-year premiums. These salary bonuses are relatively small. Nevertheless, the total number of is a prerequisite for being a member of different committees.The importance of these as a prestige factor in the university was enhanced by legislation in 2001. Some indicative numbers can be interesting, in spite of the variance in the data. We report net monthly payments, without bonuses: Ayudante, €1,200; Ayudante Doctor, €1,400; Contratado Doctor; €1,800; Profesor Titular, €2,000;
Catedrático, €2,400. There are a total of 14 payments per year, including 2 extra payments in July and December.
United States
commonly occupy any of several positions in academia. In the U.S., the word "professor" informally refers collectively to the academic ranks of assistant professor, associate professor, or professor. This usage differs from the predominant usage of the word "professor" internationally, where the unqualified word "professor" only refers to full professors. The majority of university lecturers and instructors in the United States, as of 2015, do not occupy these tenure-track ranks, but are part-time adjuncts.Table of wages
In 2007 the Dutch social fund for the academic sector SoFoKleS commissioned a comparative study of the wage structure of academic professions in the Netherlands in relation to that of other countries. Among the countries reviewed are the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, France, Sweden and the Netherlands. To improve comparability, adjustments have been made to correct for purchasing power and taxes. Because of differences between institutions in the US and UK these countries have two listings of which one denotes the salary in top-tier institutions.The table below shows the final reference wages expressed in net amounts of Dutch euros in 2014.