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, at universities or other academic institutions at a similar level. The title is protected by law, and may only be used by accredited institutions under certain conditions. Professors belong to the R4 (Leading Researcher) group in the European Framework for Research Careers.
Historically, 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). Due to the increasing number of appointments, this changed in 1989 when the institutions received the right to formally appoint professors. 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. 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.
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.
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 (in Norwegian known as forsker I or forskningsprofessor) is a rank at the full professor level and is equivalent to the ordinary full professor (chair) rank. Research professors belong to the R4 (Leading Researcher) group in the European Framework for Research Careers
The title research professor is primarily the top academic rank in the hierarchy of research-only institutes and other research-focused institutions, for example at institutions such as the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. To a very limited degree the title is used in exceptional circumstances by universities for researchers with few if any teaching obligations who are exclusively or mainly engaged in research, typically for full professor-level researchers with long-term funding from the Research Council of Norway or European Union programmes. Research professors are usually permanent employees.
The Norwegian title forsker I literally means "researcher I" or "scientist I," but the title is always translated into English as research professor 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 around 1960, 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. Due to the relatively higher prestige and meritorious nature of research compared to teaching, a position as research professor with the right to engage in research full time may be seen by some as more desirable than a normal professor position with only 50% or less research time.
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. While not normally obliged to teach, research professors often choose to supervise select PhD candidates, and may take on limited teaching activities, typically 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 (traditionally, Danish and Norwegian doctoral degrees are considered higher doctorates comparable to a habilitation in countries such as Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Russia, or France). 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.
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.