List of Academic Ranks - Portugal

Portugal

• Professor Catedrático, equivalent to full professor
• Professor Associado, equivalent to associate professor
• Professor Auxiliar, equivalent to assistant professor

Both Professor Associado and Professor Auxiliar may have Habilitation, while that extra degree is mandatory to all applicants to the rank of Professor Catedrático. This is an additional degree to which one can apply to usually years after the PhD (similar to the French Agrégation). Agregação is a two days exam based on curriculum vitae evaluation and a public lecture, where the candidate is evaluated by secret vote by a large number of other full professors where the professors insert a white or a black sphere into a bag according to his or her decision.

The 3 ranks of professors may also be held by invited professors, according to the rank, coming from out of the university.

Portuguese universities still have some few other teaching staff in two ranks not holding a PhD. These two ranks have been extinguished in 2009 and will vanish after all the ongoing contracts terminate in the next few years.

• Assistente, equivalent to assistant lecturer (without a PhD), normally someone who is simultaneously doing a PhD and holding a master's degree. Only teaches practical (or lab) classes.
• Assistente Estagiário, equivalent to a junior teaching assistant. It used to be the start of the teaching career until 2009 and already extremely rare to find since the Bologna agreement. They are typically graduate studentss and only teach practical (lab) classes.