| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Education and Teaching |
| Level | Manager |
| Reports to | Head of Department (College) |
| Direct reports | Project Assistant |
| Experience | 8+ years of teaching and research after the master's degree, usually as assistant professor |
Associate Professor job description template
Copy this job description, replace the text in square brackets and post it on your careers page or a job portal.
Job title: Associate Professor
Department: Education and Teaching
Reports to: Head of Department (College)
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
An Associate Professor is a mid-career faculty member who teaches, guides research and carries a growing share of department responsibility. Compared with an assistant professor, they are expected to supervise postgraduate or PhD research, lead funded projects, coordinate a programme or committee and mentor newer colleagues. They report to the Head of Department. A good associate professor pairs consistent teaching with steady publications, and becomes the person the department relies on for accreditation files, lab development or programme coordination.
Key responsibilities
- Deliver the weekly teaching load set by the university across undergraduate and postgraduate courses, including tutorials or practicals where required.
- Prepare course files with lesson plans, outcome mapping, question papers and attainment calculations for every course taught.
- Supervise postgraduate dissertations and, once recognized as a research guide, PhD scholars.
- Write research proposals to funding agencies and industry, and run sanctioned projects within budget and timeline.
- Publish in indexed journals and present at conferences, building the research record needed for promotion to professor.
- Coordinate a programme, a lab or a committee such as NBA, IQAC or examinations when assigned by the HoD.
- Mentor assistant professors on course design, question paper setting and research writing.
- Develop or upgrade a laboratory, from equipment specifications and purchase proposals to safety procedures.
- Act as mentor for a batch of students, following up on attendance, academic standing and placement readiness.
- Take part in admissions, invigilation, evaluation and other university duties as scheduled.
Requirements
- PhD in the relevant subject
- Postgraduate degree in the same subject with 55 percent or its grade equivalent
- Teaching, research and publication record that meets UGC norms for associate professor
- 8+ years of teaching and research after the master's degree, usually as assistant professor
KRAs and KPIs for a Associate Professor
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Teaching delivery | Syllabus completed as per the lesson plan, with student feedback averaging at least 4 on a 5-point scale |
| Research output | At least one indexed journal paper and one conference paper each year |
| Funded work | At least one funded project or consultancy proposal submitted every year |
| Programme coordination | Assigned programme or committee files complete and audit ready at every internal review |
| Student mentoring | Pass rate of 90 percent or above among mentees in end-semester exams |
| Course documentation | Course files with outcome attainment submitted within 15 days of semester end |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: Learning management system, Plagiarism detection software, MATLAB, SPSS or discipline software, Scopus and Google Scholar, MS Office, Laboratory equipment of the discipline.
Reporting line and career path
Interview questions for a Associate Professor
- Which course do you teach best, and how do you know students learned it?
- Tell us about a research proposal that was rejected and what you changed afterwards.
- How would you prepare your department's course files for an NBA visit?
- A student you mentor has 60 percent attendance four weeks before exams. What do you do?
- What would you need to set up a new lab for our postgraduate programme?
- How do you divide your week between teaching, research and committee work?
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What does an associate professor do?
An associate professor teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses, supervises research, writes proposals for funded projects, publishes papers and mentors junior faculty. They also coordinate programmes, labs or committees such as NBA or IQAC. The post sits between assistant professor and professor on the university faculty ladder.
What is the eligibility for associate professor in India?
Candidates usually need a PhD, a good master's degree and several years of teaching and research, with publications that meet UGC norms for the post. Universities also look at research guidance and projects. The exact minimum years and publication counts are set by the current UGC regulations and each university's advertisement.
How is an associate professor different from an assistant professor?
An assistant professor mainly teaches and starts building a research record. An associate professor is expected to lead: supervise research scholars, run funded projects, coordinate a programme or committee and mentor assistant professors. The associate professor post also needs a PhD and more years of experience.