Academic ranks in China

Overview of academic ranks in China

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Academic ranks in China are the titles, relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in academia.

## Overview

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Most universities in the People's Republic of China adopt a four-level academic rank system (Senior rank, Vice-Senior rank, Medium rank, and Junior rank), i.e. professor, associate professor, lecturer, and assistant lecturer.[1] More recently, some top universities (e.g. Tsinghua University, Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University) also added the American-style title of assistant professor, typically granted to tenure-track positions, with the expectation that they will be promoted to associate professor (tenured or untenured) and then full professor (tenured) within the academic tenure system.[citation needed]

Most PhD graduates will initially be appointed at the lecturer level and receive the qualification to be promoted to associate professorship after several years of teaching. However, people holding a doctorate from Western universities and with some working experience overseas will occasionally be appointed at a higher level, in exceptional cases at the full professor level directly.[citation needed] Mostly, each individuate institute has only one principal rank (e.g. dean of a college, president of a university) and multiple deputy ranks.

Four-level academic rank in different series (Senior rank, Vice-Senior rank, Medium rank, and Junior rank)

Professor series

* Professor (Senior rank) (教授)
* Associate Professor (Vice-Senior rank) (副教授)
* Lecturer (Medium rank) (讲师) or Assistant Professor (American-style title) (助理教授)
* Assistant Lecturer, or Associate Lecturer (Junior rank) (助教)

Engineer series

* Professorate Senior Engineer[2] (Senior rank) (正高级工程师)
* Senior Engineer (Vice-Senior rank) (高级工程师)
* Engineer (Medium rank) (工程师)
* Assistant Engineer (Junior rank) (助理工程师)

Researcher series

* Researcher (Senior rank) (研究员)
* Associate researcher (Vice-Senior rank) (副研究员)
* Assistant researcher (Medium rank) (助理研究员)
* Intern researcher (Junior rank) (实习研究员)

Academic trainee

* Postdoctoral research fellow (博士后研究员) and research fellow/researcher ( 研究员)
* Research assistant (研究助理) and teaching assistant ( 教学助理/助教)
* Doctoral student (博士研究生)
* Master student (硕士研究生)
* Undergraduate student or Bachelor student (本科生)

Honorary titles

* Academician (院士), a person who was nominated as a member of Chinese Academy of Engineering or/and Chinese Academy of Sciences
* Emeritus Professor (退休教授)
* Honorary Professor (名誉教授), usually awarded to academics with important social contributions
* Distinguished Professor (特聘教授), usually awarded to academics with a recognized achievement in research
* Guest professor, or commonly visiting professor (客座教授), usually awarded to distinguished visiting scholars

Administrative ranks

* Secretary of the CPC Committee (党委书记), similar to Chancellor, who usually does not take administrative responsibilities
* Associate Secretary of the CPC Committee (党委副书记), similar to Vice-Chancellor; the 1st order Associate Secretary is usually appointed President, with other Associate Secretaries being the Vice-President
* President (校长), taking the major decision for academic and administrative affairs, assisted by Vice-Presidents
* Vice-president (副校长), usually taking the responsibility of a certain area, e.g. academic, administrative, facilities, finance, etc.
* Dean (院长/所长)
* Deputy dean or associate dean (副院长/副所长) of schools and faculties
* Director of research centre (部长/主任) and director of academic department (系主任)

## References

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1. ^ "人事部 教育部关于印发高等学校、义务教育学校、中等职业学校等教育事业单位岗位设置管理的三个指导意见的通知 - 中华人民共和国教育部政府门户网站".
2. ^ "Professorate Senior Engineer". it.ouc.edu.cn. Archived from the original on 2025-03-23. Retrieved 2025-03-23.

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Academic ranks overview

Overview|

* Faculty
* Ranks and titles
* Professorship
* Tenure track

North American system|

Tenure track

* Assistant professor
* Associate professor
* Professor (full)
* Endowed chair and Distinguished professor

Non-tenure track

* Adjunct professor
* Instructor
* Lecturer

Commonwealth system|

Research and teaching track

* Associate lecturer
* Lecturer
* Senior lecturer
* Reader or associate professor
* Professor

Research track

* Research assistant
* Research fellow
* Senior research fellow
* Professor or research professor

Junior positions|

Teaching track

* Teaching assistant
* Teaching fellow
* Associate instructor

Research track

* Research assistant
* Research associate
* Research fellow
* Postdoctoral researcher

Other positions|

* Chancellor
* Agrégation
* Docent
* Habilitation
* Head of college
* Privatdozent
* Professor of practice
* Schoolmaster
* Head teacher
* Vice-principal

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Education in China

Education system

History|

* Imperial examination
* Mandarin (bureaucrat)
* Scholar-bureaucrats
* Taixue
* Academies of Classical Learning
* Chinese educators
* Burning of books and burying of scholars
* Guozijian
* Beijing Guozijian
* Hundred Schools of Thought
* Scouting in China
* Digital divide in China
* Challenge Cup Competition of Science Achievement in China
* May Fourth Movement
* 1952 reorganization
* Simplified Chinese
* Education inequality in China

Academies|

* Chinese Academy of Sciences
* Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
* Chinese Academy of Engineering

Projects|

* Plan 111
* Project 211
* Project 985
* Double First-Class Construction
* Project Hope
* Thousand Talents Plan

Administration|

* Ministry of Education
* National Education Examinations Authority

Basic|

* Primary education
* Secondary education
* Boarding schools
* Private and public schools
* Zhongkao

Vocational|

* Vocation education

Higher|

* Gaokao
* National Key Disciplines
* College English Test
* National Key Universities
* Academic grading in China
* State Key Laboratories
* JUPAS
* for HKSAR students
* Academic ranks in China
* Self-Taught Higher Education Examinations

Libraries|

* Archives in China
* Book collecting in China
* National Library of China
* Nanjing Library
* Shanghai Library

Specialist|

* Medical schools
* Business schools
* Law schools
* Foreign-language schools
* Schools of Journalism and Communication

Int'l cooperation|

* Association of East Asian Research Universities
* Association of Pacific Rim Universities
* Global U8 Consortium
* International Alliance of Research Universities
* Universitas 21
* Worldwide Universities Network

Subject areas|

* English education
* Ideological and political education
* Morality and the Rule of Law
* Patriotic education

Exams|

* Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi
* Putonghua Proficiency Test
* Zhíyè Hànyŭ Nénglì Cèshì
* Common Recruitment Examination
* Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers
* College English Test
* Quanguo Waiyu Shuiping Kaoshi
* Public English Test System

Rankings|

* List of universities and colleges
* ARWU
* BCUR
* Wu Shulian
* CUAA
* Netbig

See also: Rankings of universities in China, Science and technology in China, and Types of universities and colleges in China
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