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Academic ranks in Norway are the system of merit-based ranks used by academic employees in academia. Similar to the British rank system, the Norwegian rank system is broadly divided into three pathways, a combined research and teaching career pathway, a research career pathway and a teaching career pathway.
In general the combined pathway is the norm at teaching-focused institutions such as universities and colleges, the research pathway is the norm at elite research institutes which only or primarily engage in research—such as the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI)—while the more recent teaching pathway is a much less used alternative to the combined pathway primarily at colleges and former colleges that have recently become "new universities" and that are less research-intensive than older universities.
The main ordinary combined ranks in Norway are assistant professor, associate professor and professor, which directly correspond to researcher, senior researcher and research professor with identical formal promotion criteria. The junior, temporary ranks of research assistant, research fellow and postdoctoral fellow are shared between the combined and research pathways. Research professors at elite research institutes (e.g. NUPI) concentrate on research and research leadership roles, and often serve in governmental committees; ordinary professorships at colleges and universities on the other hand concentrate on teaching and only have about 30% research time on average.[1] Due to the more meritorious nature of research in academia, a research professorship is considered more prestigious by some, but formally research professors and other professors are of equal rank.