Professor and associate professor nominees increase by nearly 40%

933 individuals have been nominated for professor and associate professor titles in 2025, a rise of 260 people (over 38.6%) compared to last year.

The National Professor Council announced on 8/9 the list of 89 professor and 844 associate professor nominees across 26 disciplines/interdisciplinary fields. The Military Science and Security Science Professor Councils did not disclose their information.

Economics and Medicine had the most nominees, with an increase of 42-45 individuals compared to last year. Economics led with 153 nominees, including 11 for professor and 142 for associate professor. Medicine had 15 professor and 109 associate professor nominees.

Literature had the fewest nominees with only one for associate professor and none for professor. Several other fields had no professor nominees: History - Archaeology - Ethnology/Humanities, Irrigation, Mechanics, Linguistics, Culture - Arts - Sports, Law, and Agriculture - Forestry.

The process involves universities forming their own councils to select qualified candidates and then recommending them to the National Council.

These applications are then reviewed by specialized and interdisciplinary councils, which eliminate unqualified candidates. Finally, the National Council reviews and approves the list of those who meet the standards, announcing the results in November or December annually.

To be considered, nominees must be the primary author of 3-5 articles published in journals listed in the ISI or Scopus databases (reputable scientific indexing services), or in a list specified by the National Professor Council.

Last year, out of over 670 initial nominations, 567 (84.2%) were approved.

According to the Ministry of Education and Training, most professors and associate professors teach at universities. Those holding these titles can remain at state agencies for up to 5 more years after reaching retirement age and are given priority in research projects.