Planning policy

There is no top-level planning policy for academic staff supply and demand.

Entry to the profession

All higher education institutions are responsible for recruiting their academic staff.

To be employed as academic staff at a higher education institution, the applicant must fulfil the qualification requirements set out in the ministerial orders on job structure:

• For academic staff employed at business academies and university colleges: Ministerial Order on Job Structure for Lectures at Academies of Professional Higher Education, University Colleges and the Danish School of Media and Journalism;

• For academic staff employed at universities: Ministerial Order on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities.

Job advertisement

The following information must be included in all job advertisements:

• Application area;

• Collective agreement basis;

• Time of employment;

• Working time;

• Salary;

• Recipient of application;

• Application deadline.

When universities employ academic staff, additional regulation applies. According to the Ministerial Order on Employment of Academic Staff at Universities:

• Job vacancies at associate professor and professor level must be advertised internationally;

• The universities must set up assessment committees to assess the candidates’ academic qualifications within research, teaching, communication, etc., as well as job requirements stated in the job advertisement;

• The rector* can offer the job vacancy without advertising it if there is a particularly qualified candidate.

*In Denmark, the universities use this title for the head of the university. It corresponds to the title as chancellor or vice-chancellor.

Professional status

Academic staff working in higher education is employed on collective agreement terms. Employment contracts can be either fixed-term or indefinite depending on the position.

Previously, it was quite common that academic staff was employed as civil servants. However, the civil servant status is being phased out which means that today, only a very limited number of academic staffs are employed as civil servants.

Salaries

Academic staff is employed according to the collective agreement for academics between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. Specific rules apply for academic staff employed on an hourly basis such as teaching assistants and part-time lecturers.

The salary system consists of an annual basic salary and allowances based on qualifications, areas of responsibility, and results. Allowances are negotiated at central and local level. Employees are placed in the basic salary system according to their education and length of service.

The basic salary system has seven** steps, where level one is the minimum amount and level eight is the maximum amount.

**Level three was removed in 2008

In addition to their salary, academic staff receive a fixed percentage of their salary for their pension. This is regulated by the collective agreement. The employer pays the pension contribution to a pension scheme which is managed by a pension company.

Working time and holidays

At business academies and university colleges, the main responsibilities for assistant lecturers, associate lecturers, and senior associate lecturers are teaching, research and development activities, and collaboration with relevant research environments. In addition, senior associate lecturers are responsible for developing the education programmes and the institution’s practice. For part-time lecturers, the main responsibility is teaching duties and other tasks associated with teaching.

At the universities, the main responsibilities for assistant professors, associate professors, and professors are research and research-based teaching, whereas the main responsibility for researchers and senior researchers is research. It is for the universities to decide the exact combination of responsibilities.

The collective agreement states that, on average, the working hours are 37 hours per week.

All academic staff are entitled to 25 days of holiday per year. 

Promotion, advancement

There is no automatic promotion or advancement.

To advance from one position to another, academic staff must have their academic qualifications assessed. If the assessment proves that the employee is academically qualified for the next level, he/she advances to that position.

The job positions and qualification requirements are regulated by the Ministerial Order on Job Structure for Lecturers at Academies of Professional Higher Education, University Colleges and the Danish School of Media and Journalism and by the Ministerial Order on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities.

Job categories at business academies and university colleges

Business academies and university colleges have the following job categories:

• Research student;

• Assistant lecturer;

• Associate lecturer;

• Senior associate lecturer;

• Part-time lecturer.

A research student is normally employed on a full-time basis during the PhD programme. Upon completion of the PhD programme, the research student can be promoted to assistant lecturer.

Usually, the employment as assistant lecturer is offered with a view to the assistant lecturer qualifying for associate lecturer assessment after a period of up to four years. Appointment as associate lecturer takes place after a positive associate lecturer assessment.

Appointment to senior associate lecturer takes place after a positive senior associate lecturer assessment. The assessment of applicants for a senior associate lecturer position is based on a number of qualification requirements. Among other qualifications, emphasis is placed on documented teaching experience and experience with development of teaching, including that the applicant is highly qualified in terms of communicating theory and incorporating practice, as well as in terms of linking theory and practice to the industry or profession.

Employment as part-time lecturer is for a fixed-term period of up to three years. The job category is not part of the career path at the business academies and university colleges. The appointment as a part-time lecturer requires a qualification level which, overall, is higher than the leaving qualifications for the programme on which the part-time lecturer is going to teach, as well as academic knowledge at a high level about the subjects/subject areas within which the part-time lecturer is going to teach.

Principal job categories at the universities

Universities have the following principal job categories:

• PhD fellow;

• Assistant professor/researcher;

• Associate professor/senior researcher;

• Professor.

The above principal job categories at the universities constitute a progressive career path. In addition to the principal job categories, other job categories exist at the universities. These are not part of the progressive university career path and may be used by the universities as needed or within specific areas. These other job categories include research assistant, teaching assistant, part-time lecturer, postdoc, and senior advisor.

The position of PhD fellow is a fixed-term educational position. Upon completion of the PhD programme, the graduate may transfer to the position as assistant professor/researcher.

The university decides whether a position as assistant professor/researcher is advertised as part of a fixed-term employment or a tenure-track programme. Under the tenure-track programme, the employee transfers to employment as an associate professor/senior researcher after a maximum of six years. Such transfer requires that the employee is assessed and found to be academically qualified for employment at the level of associate professor/senior researcher.

The university can offer a programme for promotion to professor for associate professors/senior researchers. The promotion programme may have a duration of up to eight years after which the associate professor/senior researcher transfers to employment as professor. Such transfer requires that the employee is assessed and found to be academically qualified for employment at the level of professor.

Retirement and pension

The retirement age depends on the date of birth. Persons who have reached retirement age are entitled to state pension.

References

Bibliography

Danish Agency for Labour Market and Recruitment (Styrelsen for Arbejdsmarked og Rekruttering), 2024: Retirement age now and in the future (Folkepensionsalderen nu og fremover). [Accessed 4 December 2024]

Danish Association of Masters and PhDs, 2024: University Staff. [Accessed 4 December 2024]

Ministry of Higher Education and Science (Uddannelses- og Forskningsministeriet), 2024: Job advertisement (Stillingsopslag). [Accessed 4 December 2024]

Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science (Uddannelses- og Forskningsministeriet), 2024: Qualification and assessment for associate professors (Lektorkvalificering og lektorbedømmelse). [Accesed 4 December 2024]

Legislation and Official Policy documents

Legal Information (Retsinformation), 2012: Ministerial Order on recruitment of academic staff at universities (Bekendtgørelse om ansættelse af videnskabeligt personale ved universiteter), BEK no. 242 of 13/03/2012. [Accessed 4 December 2024]

Legal Information (Retsinformation), 2019: Ministerial Order on job position structure for academic staff at universities (Bekendtgørelse om stillingsstruktur for videnskabeligt personale ved universiteter), BEK no. 1443 of 11/12/2019. [Accessed 4 December 2024]

Legal Information (Retsinformation), 2021: Circular letter on the collective agreement for academics in state (Cirkulære om overenskomst for akademikere i staten), CIR1H no. 10084 of 20/12/2021. [Accessed 4 December 2024]

Legal Information (Retsinformation), 2021: Ministerial Order on job position structure for lecturers at business academies, university colleges, and the Danish School of Media and Journalism (Bekendtgørelse om stillingsstruktur for undervisere ved erhvervsakademier, professionshøjskoler og Danmarks Medie- og Journalisthøjskole), BEK no. 1458 of 24/06/2021. [Accessed 4 December 2024]