What is Professors: Definition and 117 Discussions

Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors are usually experts in their field and teachers of the highest rank.In most systems of academic ranks, "professor" as an unqualified title refers only to the most senior academic position, sometimes informally known as "full professor". In some countries and institutions, the word "professor" is also used in titles of lower ranks such as associate professor and assistant professor; this is particularly the case in the United States, where the word professor is also used to refer to associate and assistant professors as well. This usage would be considered incorrect among other academic communities. However, the unqualified title "Professor" designated with a capital letter nearly always refers to a full professor.
Professors often conduct original research and commonly teach undergraduate, professional, or postgraduate courses in their fields of expertise. In universities with graduate schools, professors may mentor and supervise graduate students conducting research for a thesis or dissertation. In many universities, full professors take on senior managerial roles such as leading departments, research teams and institutes, and filling roles such as president, principal or vice-chancellor. The role of professor may be more public-facing than that of more junior staff, and professors are expected to be national or international leaders in their field of expertise.

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  1. F

    Why do professors have to teach?

    I've always wondered about this. Do professors actually get paid for doing research or teaching? Is teaching actually a side job for them?
  2. H

    Programs Telling your professors what your major is

    Telling your professors what your major is... I think this is definitely a lower level topic, but a couple of days ago one of my professors asked me what my major is and when I told her...she knit her eyebrows and gave me a look of...scorn I guess. I am not sure really, but it was not a good...
  3. T

    Professors won't write recommendations?

    Hi all, this post regards my attempt to get into a math phD program. I have just completed my undergrad BS in math with nearly a 4.0 g.p.a., and I've already taken both the subject and general GRE exams and scored well enough where I would have been able to get into programs. The problem I...
  4. D

    Are there any professors here?

    First of all, I am a rising Senior in high school. I plan on becoming a research professor. I plan on double majoring in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering during my undergrad studies. Why do I want to take a such drastic path of life? Well, my life long ambition is to understand and...
  5. O

    Do Professors read their own ratemyprofessor.com comments?

    I was just wondering if any of you professors read the comments on ratemyprofessor.com about yourself. My professor last semester said he went and looked it up whenever he needed a good laugh.
  6. romsofia

    Schools University professors emailing back?

    Back in February I started sending out emails to professors who were doing research, the first three reply back saying they would be in Europe and that they couldn't use me for the summer. After that I've emailed ~8 other professors (Not all at once, but I wait a week for a response) and none of...
  7. F

    Does anyone know what program do professors use for creating PDFs?

    Like online pdfs, what do professors use? They look really compatible with LaTeX too
  8. Simfish

    What percent of professors have open positions for new grad students?

    It seems that most professors seem to have positions open for undergrads (although undergrads don't need pay). But what about graduate students? Is it a good idea to *always* email any prospective advisor, asking him if he has open positions available for new grad students? It seems that...
  9. Simfish

    What % of Earth Science professors have ties to the oil/gas industry?

    My impression is that very few of them do in my department. In fact, these days, it seems that many Earth scientists are often the most vocal environmentalists. But were they more common in the past? Was there ever significant conflict between Earth scientists due to this?
  10. M

    Schools Should I e-mail professors from other colleges about research?

    I'm considering math grad school right now. I attend a small liberal arts college, and there are virtually no research opportunities at my school. I've never done math research before, and I would like to get a feel for what it's like. Would it be a good idea to e-mail professors from a local...
  11. Simfish

    Facebooking prospective professors rather than emailing them

    Yes, I know, it's a *very* crazy idea. :p But, you know, you might actually be very surprised. It probably has a higher chance of actually working when it comes with professors who openly embrace the blogosphere, like Sean Carroll. Has anyone else tried this?
  12. Simfish

    Why do so many professors list National Merit Semifinalist on their CVs?

    Why do so many professors list "National Merit Semifinalist" on their CVs? I mean, most of their later accomplishments should easily supersede the NMSF award on their CV. And I know people with high school achievements better than the NMSF, but who refrain from mentioning them. But yet, they...
  13. Simfish

    Do universities delete the webpages of professors who die?

    And if they do, have there ever been exceptions? Sometimes, the webpages contain some really valuable content. :(
  14. Simfish

    Is it polite to ask professors for references to ideas that you have?

    For example, here's a e-mail I recently sent to a professor. ""Hello Professor XX, Do you know if any theoretical work has been done on the atmospheric evolution of a tidally locked planet facing a red dwarf star? Especially a planet whose atmosphere freezes over on the cold side, but...
  15. D

    Is it too much work to do research for two professors at once?

    I have plans to do research for two professor, all the while running public observatory sessions, which will be minimal, but also alongside a full courseload. My Courseload: Differential Equations University Physics II Intro to Engineering Introduction to Systems engineering English So...
  16. Simfish

    Courses Compare Professors Teaching Course: Years of Experience vs. First Timers

    Do you think that they are better at teaching the course or worse at teaching the course, as compared to newer professors who might have taught the course for only a couple of times? Obviously, I realize that there is no clear-cut relationship. *But*, there are certainly patterns to look for...
  17. M

    How can I get to know my professors for strong letters of recommendation?

    I'm a junior math major who is strongly considering applying to math grad school. I was wondering, how do students let professors get to know them better so that those professors can write strong letters of recommendation? I go to a small college where it's basically impossible to do research...
  18. B

    What Does Assisting in Professor's Research Involve for Undergraduate Math Students?

    I'm a pure mathematics student (undergraduate) and wondering what does assisting a professor in his research usually involve? And how would you get a position (unpaid/paid)? Thanks for answering! EDIT: Another question, I've always heard that graduate schools usually prefer research over...
  19. Simfish

    Why do so many professors use Macs?

    Many of them grew up on Linux so I'd expect them to be able to configure computers well. Yet, for some reason, many of them seem to be very averse to Windows. Of course, Macs allow you to use the terminal and to easily install applications. But is this the only reason? Or are there others? In...
  20. Simfish

    Recommendations from professors you chat with (rather than do research with)

    Are these types of recommendations common? Can they be extremely helpful? Here's the thing: when you do research, you're not really talking about the big picture - you're merely in for the small details. I'm more of a "big picture" person than a "small details" person, and most of my insights...
  21. Simfish

    What do professors feel about students who sleep overnight in their department?

    It's a pretty common topic at phdcomics. :p But anyways, what do they feel about them? Do they consider it a positive thing or a negative thing? Certain administrators HATE this (well, certain people who hate "weird" people would hate this, or I guess, people who are obsessed with keeping their...
  22. Simfish

    Schools Emailing professors when applying to grad schools

    I know it's frequently done. Just a question - what sorts of questions do these professors ask when they reply to these emails? (and are there certain professors more likely to reply than others - maybe profs looking for grad students or professors in less competitive fields?) Do they ever ask...
  23. Simfish

    Appreciation of real analysis/abstract algebra among science professors

    What % of professors in, say, physics, would be familiar with real analysis/abstract algebra/topology? What about, say, the material in senior level CS courses? How about professors in astrophysics, theoretical biology, earth/atmospheric sciences, and chemistry?
  24. F

    Inductance problem, puzzles professors

    I posted this question a few months ago, but got no responses, especially after it got moved to the homework help forum. Since then, I have asked several professors, many of whom I expected to be experts in this area, and I've been given several different shaky sounding responses. So, I'd like...
  25. Z

    Making Connections With Professors (Undergrad)

    I'm going to university this Fall (freshman) and, having been repeatedly encouraged to make connections with professors/find a mentor/network, am wondering...how? In high-school, the kids who had good relationships with teachers usually just hung around their offices and chatted. I have trouble...
  26. B

    Referring to professors in a paper

    This is sort of off-topic, but I couldn't find a better forum to ask in. I'm writing a paper for my internship, and I need to refer to one of my professors for purposes of background information. I want to do this in a professional manner. Should I say Professor Xxxx Xxxxxxx, Ph.D.? Should...
  27. B

    Referring to professors in papers

    This is sort of off-topic, but I couldn't find a better forum to ask in. I'm writing a paper for my internship, and I need to refer to one of my professors for purposes of background information. I want to do this in a professional manner. Should I say Professor Xxxx Xxxxxxx, Ph.D...
  28. fluidistic

    Different pedagogy between 2 professors

    Hey! Today I had an incredible class of electromagnetism (level of Jackson's book, i.e. upper undergrad level). I'll explain. My professor is a "genius" in the sense he can do very complicated mathematics/physics without thinking 1 second, he already know the answer. He speaks well (never...
  29. M

    Mediocre professors or mediocre students?

    It seems to me many professors or teachers that are labeled as "bad" or "mediocre" may have been labeled as such because their students were the ones who were actually the mediocre ones. I came to this conclusion after an interesting incident in my Intro to Chemistry class, where the...
  30. B

    Courses Benefits: taking graduate courses as an undergrad/contacting professors

    This is a two parter, feel free to respond to one, two or no parts: 1)I'll be taking a grad level sequence in mathematical logic and possibly another in analysis with measure theory. I also have taken a couple independent studies in algebraic geometry ( my university does not normally offer...
  31. S

    Schools Approaching professors at another university

    I am an undergraduate student and I started looking for summer research opportunities. There are no opportunities at my own university and only a single REU (one of the most selective ones in the country, no hope of getting in) on the topic I am interested in. That's why I thought I might ask...
  32. N

    How much pedagogical freedom do professors have

    My teacher today said that we had to buy these $50 dollar clickers to answer all questions rather than simply answering questions on paper for free , because university set standards that all classrooms should use clickers , whether the professor, department, or college like the idea for their...
  33. Astronuc

    Professors suspected of Ph.D. bribes

    This is really disappointing! Germany: 100 professors suspected of Ph.D. bribes http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090822/ap_on_re_eu/eu_germany_university_investigation Well - academicians are only human. So much for the Ivory Towers. :frown:
  34. N

    Adjunct Professors: Supervising Graduate Students

    Hey all, are adjunct professors allowed to supervise graduate students?
  35. M

    Do you know any professors working on Accelerator-Driven Nuclear Reactors?

    I have just finished my PhD in Statistics. My Masters Dissertation was on the topic of Accelerator Driven Nuclear Energy Systems. I would be very interested in continuing research on the subject as a post-doctoral student.
  36. P

    Asking professors to do research

    I want to ask a professor or two about possibly doing research for them. I'm only a sophomore and my major is Astronomy and Astrophysics. His field of research is loop quantum gravity, string theory, cosmic matter-anti matter asymmetry, singularity resolution, electroweak symmetry breaking and...
  37. Topher925

    Are all math professors conceited bigots?

    My university has only one math professor that I actually like and I will only take math courses taught by that one professor. This is because he teaches mathematics from an engineers standpoint by providing a lot of examples and application problems. He teaches this way because he is not a...
  38. G01

    Contacting Professors at Graduate Programs

    So, I'm filling out applications for graduate school. In each of the applications there is a section to mention the names of any professors you have contacted. I have yet to contact any professors at any graduate institutions. I know that this can help in getting accepted to competitive...
  39. P

    When should professors retire?

    So my physics professor is around 68 and his grading methods drive us all up the walls. He's very old school and it seems as though he will pick one person a class and give them the A. His grading methods change from test to test so we never know how to present the material. In one test he'll...
  40. I

    Professors never replied to my emails

    I emailed a few professors in my physics department about opportunities for undergrad research in their labs. some of them never responded to my emails. But I am still interested in their researches, should I just go to their office and show up unannounced?
  41. E

    Understanding the Payment Structure for Math Professors in Academia

    Do they give you a set amount just for "being on the faculty"? Do you get paid per class? Do you get paid per article or book published? How much of your payment comes from your university and how much comes from other sources such as NSF grants? Specifically I am interested in how math...
  42. B

    Studying What do Professors recommend for Full textbook study?

    Hi, I guess this is a question that is directed more towards any of the Professors here at the forums, although anyone with advice is more than welcome to. I always wondered why Professors would only cover certain chapters from the textbook. Although I know that time is one of the limiting...
  43. B

    Getting back up after failing? [Question specifically to Professors]

    Hey everyone, I was wondering, specifically if the Professors or teachers could answer this; as to whether you have ever seen someone who has failed a course in their first year of university but was still able to maintain a very good CGPA? Something in the 3.50 range, that is though after...
  44. K

    I just have a few questions on professors

    I just have a few questions on professors a) What is the system for professors i.e. do you get a job as a post-doctorate fellow (<--?) then go to associate professor then move up to professor? b) When your a professor, do you have certain classes and have time where you are paid to work on...
  45. B

    Is it general true among math professors

    If math professors observed that their students who don't perform well in their foundation to proofs class and abstract algebra class, there not going to do well in any other math course? My math professor told me about a study of 200 students who did not do well in their analysis class who...
  46. E

    Do you think sociology professors are to the left, economics to the right on capitali

    Do you think sociology professors are to the left, economics to the right on capitalism? I do!
  47. A

    Advice regarding confronting professors about there research

    Advice regarding confronting professors about their research I am a first year physics student and very interested in being involved in research in some capacity (even if that means being a volunteer lab monkey), however most 'official' avenues of undergrad research involvement are through...
  48. G01

    GERM101: Struggling with Too Much German Homework

    I'm taking this course in German, GERM101. It is a course in basic German language and vocabulary. I really want to learn this language, but this professor is somewhat discouraging me. She expects ALOT of work. This usually not a problem. I like to think I have a good work ethic, but she is...
  49. P

    Why do so many professors just do proofs in class?

    All my classes are just profs doing proofs. Great. Too bad the tests requires us to use what we prove to calculate something. For example, my prof spent the first two lectures proving cross and dot product identities (the ones found on the inside covers of many math or physics books). Why...
  50. qspeechc

    Why are Professors Always Grumpy?

    Ok, not all professors are grumpy, and those that are are not so all the time. But I mean give me a break! Today I asked my prof. for my dynamics course about a certain question in the tutorial, and he replied "Do you go over your notes aat the end of the day?" To which I said no, as I usually...
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