To meet the qualification requirements for Associate Professor (Regulations for the Act on Universities and University Colleges, § 3-4), the minimum requirements are:
- a higher degree or equivalent in a relevant subject area
- educational competence
- Norwegian language skills at level B2
- relevant professional or teaching experience, and
- contribution to high-level professional development work, in accordance with international and/or national standards within the discipline or professional field.
UiA applies the Frascati Manual's definition of scientific and experimental development work in understanding professional development work, i.e. "Systematic work that applies knowledge from research and practical experience and produces additional knowledge aimed at producing new products and processes or improving existing products and processes".
The professional development work may relate to the field of education, the relevant profession/professional field, or the interface between these.
UiA's requirements for educational competence:
Developed basic skills in planning, implementing, evaluating, and developing teaching and supervision that are rooted in both disciplinary and educational research and that promote students' learning and development.
Documentation of own activities:
- Completed formal training, usually through UiA's course in university pedagogy (200 hours) or equivalent from other institutions
- Brief overview of other pedagogical education
- Brief description of the development of own educational competence, seniority as a teacher, and at what levels the teaching has taken place
- Brief overview of own teaching practice with descriptions of planning, implementation, evaluation, and development of teaching and supervision.
Reflection on own practice and competence, for example:
- Integration between teaching and research/professional development work
- Student involvement
- Digital teaching and learning forms
- Collegial teaching and learning forms
- Student evaluations
The requirements for educational competence are documented in a pedagogical portfolio (maximum 20 pages). The documentation section provides an overview of the applicant's teaching and supervision experience. The reflection section present the applicant's reflections on student learning, professional development as a teacher, an exploratory approach to teaching, and collegial values and practice.
The appointing authority may grant exceptions from the requirement for educational competence at the time of appointment, provided that the competence can be achieved within two years from the date of appointment (Regulations for the Act on Universities and University Colleges, § 3-9). This does not apply in cases of promotion or transition.