List of Academic Ranks - Italy

Italy

Faculty (all these positions are tenured or tenure-track):

• Professore Emerito (full professor after retirement age whose high importance in academic field has been credited by the faculty council: it is just an honorific title, although, in some cases, a Professore Emerito is allowed to keep his/her office for up to two years)
• Professore Ordinario, but more precisely: Professore di I fascia (full professor; tenured position)
• Professore Straordinario (a professor taking his/her three years of testing before being confirmed as full professor)
• Professore Associato, but more precisely: Professore di II fascia (associate professor; tenured position)
• Professore Associato non confermato: Professore di II fascia taking his/her three years of testing before being confirmed as Professore Associato
• Professore aggregato (a faculty researcher with a temporary appointment for a given course)
• Ricercatore confermato (assistant professor or researcher; tenured position)
• Ricercatore non confermato (assistant professor or researcher in tenure-track; a researcher taking his/her three years of testing before being confirmed as researcher; ; no position of Ricercatore can be created after an Italian university reform in 2010, but whoever achieved this role before will keep his right to be tenured after the first three years)
• Assistente (The former entry level of permanent positions before Ricercatore replaced it in the early 1980s. No position of Assistente were created since then, but some personnel kept the title, though most of them became Ricercatore confermato)

Non-faculty and temporary:

• Professore a contratto (professor with a temporary appointment for a given course or lecture series)
• Professore incaricato (former name, before 1980, for Professore a contratto)
• Assegnista di Ricerca (research fellow with a temporary position, usually holding a Ph.D. title)
• Dottorando di Ricerca (Ph.D. student)

Notice that as of January 2011, some changes have been introduced in the above system.

Administrative ranks

• Rettore (rector)
• Prorettore (vice-rector)
• Preside (dean of faculty)
• Presidente di Consiglio di Corso di Laurea (head of a Bachelor/Msc curriculum on a given topic)
• Direttore di Dipartimento (head of department)