Academic ranks in Russia

Academic ranks in Russia (also called scientific ranks) are the conferred titles, indicating relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel in Russian academia and scientific institutions. The rank “certifies” the demonstrated ability of an individual to function in the specific academic position(s).

With respect to professionals involved in teaching and/or research and employed at the universities/research institutes or in industry, there are three attributes: academic (scientific) rank, academic (scientific) degree, and position.

In Russia, as of 2016, the scientific ranks of a Docent (Associate Professor) and a Professor (Full Professor) are conferred. Detailed information on the ranks can be obtained – in Russian – on the website of the Higher Attestation Commission which is responsible for conferment in the most cases.

Often, the word “rank” in Russia is overused and incorrectly synonymized with the degrees and positions. However, any terms or titles like “PhD”, “Academician”, “Dean”, “senior researcher”, “Doctor”, etc. are, officially, not ranks – although a mixing sometimes occurs even in documents and is usually tolerated. As for the degrees in Russia, there are Kandidat nauk (literally Candidate of Sciences, an equivalent to PhD) and Doktor nauk (literally Doctor of Sciences, similar to German Habilitation).

The faculty positions at Russian universities are: Professor (full professor), usually Doktor Nauk; Docent (associate professor), usually Candidate of Sciences; Senior lecturer (Russian: старший преподаватель) - normally an experienced teacher (>3 years of teaching experience) but not holder of the Candidate of Sciences degree; Assistant (ассистент) - entry-level faculty member. Furthermore, there are Technical staff positions: Research technician (техник), lab manager (лаборант), and related personnel are generally not regarded as faculty, most of them are undergraduate or graduate students. As can be deduced, each of the terms “Docent” and “Professor” in Russia has a dual meaning: it is the name of the rank and the position.

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