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The term " docent" is derived from the Latin word docens, which is the third-person plural present active indicative of docere ('to teach, to lecture'). Becoming a docent is often referred to as habilitation or doctor of science and is an academic qualification that shows that the holder is qualified to be employed at the level of associate or Professor. The title of "docent" is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French maître de conférences (MCF), and equal to or above the title of assistant professor.
Docent is the highest academic title in several countries, and the qualifying criteria are research output that corresponds to 3–5 doctoral dissertations, supervision of PhD students, and experience in teaching at the undergraduate and graduate level.
Docent is also used at some (mainly German) universities generically for a person who has the right to teach. In Southeast European countries, it is the first position that people achieve once they enter the University, and after the completion of their PhD degree.
The title of Privatdozent can be awarded (with certain conditions) to those who have successfully completed a Habilitation, thereby denoting that its holder has the right to independently teach without being supervised by a full professor. In this way, a Privatdozent may for instance hold an appointment as Dozent or Hochschuldozent (on either a temporary or permanent basis as academic employee).
In Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, docent is an academic title below professor.
In Poland, the title of docent used to be mandatory in order to become a full professor. This is no longer a requirement, and the title has nearly vanished in the last 20 years. Currently, it may be given to a teacher or instructor not engaged in research. Only a scientific researcher may apply for the title of professor, and therefore docent is the highest title for teachers and instructors.
In countries such as Lithuania, Bulgaria,http://www.lex.bg/bg/laws/ldoc/2135680028 ЗАКОН ЗА РАЗВИТИЕТО НА АКАДЕМИЧНИЯ СЪСТАВ В РЕПУБЛИКА БЪЛГАРИЯ (чл. 2, ал. 3) docent is used as an academic title equivalent to associate professor in German-speaking countries.
In most former Yugoslav countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, the system of academic ranks is similar to that of North America. The academic rank of docent corresponds to assistant professor.
In Armenia and Azerbaijan, the title of docent—equivalent to associate professor—is awarded to either a Candidate of Sciences or a Doctor of Sciences before becoming a full professor.
In Finland, Sweden, Estonia, and Latvia, docent (Finnish language dosentti, Swedish language docent, Estonian dotsent, Latvian language docents) is an academic title conferred to a person fulfilling requirements similar to that of a German Privatdozent. Such persons are usually expected to give lectures on their specialties if their professional activities permit this. Most docents are employed at the university where they are docents, but usually in a different position (often with the title senior lecturer; universitetslektor). The Scandinavian title docent as used in e.g. Sweden is often translated into English as reader to avoid confusion with foreign uses of the term docent. In Finland, the Docents' Union of Finland recommends the term associate professor in English, while the University of Helsinki uses the title of docent.
In Sweden, there used to be both stipendiary (docentstipendiat) and non-stipendiary (oavlönad docent) docent positions. A stipendiary docent both held the title of docent (for life) and benefited from a stipend that paid for their salary at the university for up to six years. The non-stipendiary alternative was solely an academic title (also for life). Today, most universities only confer a non-stipendiary docent title. The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the Chalmers University of Technology still maintain the stipendiary docent. The title is in most cases awarded to people employed as an assistant professor (biträdande universitetslektor), or associate professor (universitetslektor/senior lecturer) with a distinguished international reputation after a rigorous review of their research. Docent can be used as an English term for the Swedish title docent. Since the Swedish title docent is rather a mark of competence than a job title, it is in some contexts less appropriate to use the terms reader and associate professor
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Candidates are required to give a lecture demonstrating their teaching skills and are evaluated by an academic committee.
While traditionally a docentship used to be a formal position without a salary, the 2009 change in legislation changed it to a title only. Thus, a docentship is nowadays an official recognition of individual expertise as well as a title equivalent to that of an associate professor and also bestowing the right to teach () and supervise doctoral students independently. Docents may work as , associate professors, assistant professors, lecturer, or researchers at the university or work elsewhere full time. The rank of docent entitles the holder to teach at universities and to be a principal researcher, lead research groups, and act as the responsible supervisor of doctoral students.
According to Finnish legislation, The title cannot be revoked under any circumstance. There has been some discussion among academics whether revocation should be possible in cases such as a criminal conviction.
In Norway, the title of docent () was traditionally used for positions immediately below full professors and above those holding the title førsteamanuensis (corresponding to associate professor in the US and senior lecturer in the Commonwealth) until 1985. The requirements were the same as for full university professors, but until then, each department usually only had one professor and other academics with similar qualifications were appointed as docents. Hence, docents could be seen as professors without chair (professor extraordinarius). The title was comparable to reader or associate professor in many Commonwealth countries and professor extraordinarius in continental Europe. All docents were lifted to full professor status in 1985, when the title was abolished at the universities.Dosent, in Store Norske Leksikon, Vol. 4, 2005
Both the titles college docent and (teaching) docent are almost exclusively used in the colleges and new universities, and usually not used in the old universities. (Teaching) docent is ranked within the state pay grade system as administratively equivalent to the position of professor, but promotion to docent is based on a different set of merits, with more emphasis on teaching qualifications relative to research merits than in professorial appointments. Persons holding a permanent position as senior teaching fellow () at a university or university college may apply for promotion to docent. Forskrift om ansettelse og opprykk i undervisnings- og forskerstillinger (Regulations concerning appointment and promotion to teaching and research posts, Ministry of Education and Research 9 February 2006), accessed March 14, 2014. After the 2006 changes there are three parallel academic career ladders in Norway, one focused on both research and teaching, one focused on research and one focused on teaching. Forskrift om ansettelse og opprykk i undervisnings- og forskerstillinger, Regjeringen.no, February 20, 2006 (accessed August 26, 2014).
In Spain, an academic with a docent level is one who has been given the accreditation profesor titular de universidad by the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (Agencia Nacional de Evaluación de la Calidad y Acreditación, ANECA). This is the equivalent to associate professor in the UK or Dozent in Germany. The following level evaluated by ANECA is catedrático de universidad, that is 'university professor', according to European standards.
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