R&T pathway: Further Eligibility Information

Promotion to Professor (Grade 11) and Professor at Grade 12

Holders of established University offices whose duties are primarily concerned with research or teaching and research are eligible for promotion to these offices. Exceptionally, holders of University offices whose duties are not primarily concerned with either teaching or research or both may be eligible for consideration if they are known to have made a significant contribution to research in addition to fulfilling the duties of the office they currently hold.  In these circumstances, advice should be sought from the relevant Head of Institution.

An employee who does not hold an office listed in the Schedule to Special Ordinance C(i) 1 of the Statutes would only be promoted to a personal Professorship on condition that their duties after promotion remain principally those of the office from which they have been promoted. 

Promotion to Clinical Professor 

Holders of University offices whose duties are primarily concerned with research or teaching and research, who also hold an honorary consultant contract (i.e. are registered with the General Medical Council (GMC), the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) or the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) with a licence to practice and, if GMC-registered as consultant level, be on the specialist register) are eligible for promotion to a Clinical Professorship. They cannot apply for Professorships (Grade 11) or Professorships at Grade 12.

Promotion to Associate Professor (Grade 10) 

Only established Assistant Professors or Associate Professors (Grade 9) may be considered for promotion to established Associate Professorships (Grade 10). 

Unestablished Assistant Professors or unestablished Associate Professors (Grade 9) may be considered for promotion to the unestablished post of Associate Professor (Grade 10). The period of the appointment would be from the date of the promotion to the end date of their current tenure.  Holders of these posts should discuss their possible promotion application with their Head of Institution before deciding whether or not to submit an application for promotion.

Staff with curatorial, conservation and associated responsibilities

Those holding a Grade 9 office or unestablished post with curatorial, conservation and associated responsibilities in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the Whipple Museum of the History of Science and the Fitzwilliam Museum are eligible to apply for promotion to Grade 10.  Ordinarily, holders of the office of Associate Professor (Grade 10) are required to teach a minimum of 30 hours a year.  However, Section 3(d) of Special Ordinance C has been introduced to allow for the Faculty Board or other authority concerned to determine the amounts of teaching to be given by officers undertaking curatorial, conservation and associated responsibilities in that institution.

When submitting the application via the online application portal, curators and associated staff wishing to apply for promotion to Grade 10 should select the option “Associate Professor (Grade 10)”.  However, should their application for promotion to Grade 10 be successful, their new title will not be Associate Professor (Grade 10).  Their new title will be determined, as appropriate, by their employing department and in accordance with Statutes and Ordinances, if applicable. 

For more information on the assessment of applications from staff with curatorial, conservation and associated responsibilities, please refer to the Scoring section of the guidance.

It is acknowledged that those in these roles are more focused on research and service than teaching, and as such, it is expected that applications from these employees will be considered under Option 1, the research-weighted scoring route for applications for this office/post.

Staff with curatorial, conservation and associated responsibilities are also eligible to apply for promotion to Professor (Grade 11) or Professor at Grade 12.

Research staff

The normal promotion route for Research staff is via the R pathway.  However, employees on Research contracts may be permitted to apply to the established offices of Professor (Grade 11), Clinical Professor (for clinical research staff) or Professor at Grade 12 on the R&T pathway. As per Special Ordinance C (ii), appointments to established University offices are to the retiring age.  As such, Research staff wishing to apply for promotion to these offices must seek written confirmation from their Principal Investigator (PI) that funding is available to the retiring age. They must also obtain written support from their Head of Institution and approval from their Head of School.  Approval must be provided to the HR Reward Team (acp@admin.cam.ac.uk) prior to the application deadline in order for the individual to be granted access to the ACP Application Portal to prepare their application.