In the English-speaking world a professorship (Latin “profiteri”; meaning “to publicly reveal oneself as a teacher”) primarily denotes a role in the academic teaching staff of a university.

 

The official title or job description of professor usually pertains to persons in possession of a professorship or functions as the academic title of those persons. Unlike, for instance, the doctorate, it is not an academic degree.

 

The label of a professorship can, under certain conditions, also be awarded as an honorary title in Germany and Switzerland - for example, to artists.

 

Professor is an official title in Austria too, as well as an honorary and job title for teachers appointed at secondary schools.

 

The independent execution of academic research projects and teaching (in the sense of the Humboldtian model of higher education) is the main task of a professor at a university. Every chairholder is a professor, although the reverse is not necessarily true. A professorial chair and the title of professor are thus not categorically affiliated with each other.