Career Path for Academic Staff

Career Path for Academic Position at King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok (KMUTNB)

An academic career at KMUTNB starts as one is appointed a lecturer (in Thai: Ajarn). After gaining more experiences and attaining sufficient academic achievements and qualifications, a personnel in an academic position may submit an application seeking an appointment in higher academic ranking (assistant, associate and full professorship) from the University.
The procedure for obtaining an academic ranking appointment at KMUTNB follows the Royal Thai Government Gazette specific to the Standard and Appointment of Academic Ranking (Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor). The latest update is the Royal Thai Government Gazette B.E. 2563.

Standard and Qualifications for Appointment of Assistant Professorship

1. Time duration:
a. a holder of a Bachelor’s degree must be working as a lecturer for not less than six years
b. a holder of a Master’s degree must be working as a lecturer for not less than four years
c. A holder of a doctorate’s degree must be working as a lecturer for not less than one year and must pass the probation period set by the University

2. Teaching:
The applicant must have an experience in teaching a class of at least three-credit. The teaching skill of the applicant will be evaluated by a committee. The teaching materials and related documents must also be submitted for evaluation. The applicant’s teaching skills must be of at least a “Proficient” level, while the teaching materials must receive at least a “Good” level in evaluation.

3. Academic Achievements:
The applicant must submit academic work for evaluation. The work must achieve the quality of “B” level and consist of
(1) Two research publications OR
(2) One research publication and one research work of other format OR
(3) One research publication and one social service work OR
(4) One research publication and a textbook or a book in related field

The applicant must be the first author or the corresponding author in one of the works in (1)-(4). In addition, the works submitted as part of the academic achievements must not be part of requirements for graduations of any degree unless it can be demonstrated that sufficient improvements have been made to such works. The works must also be peer-reviewed by experts from other universities or organizations.

4. Ethical standards
The applicant must have necessary moral values and ethical standards, including academic honesty, respect of intellectual properties, confidentiality and privacy.

Standard and Qualifications for Appointment of Associate Professorship
1. Time duration:
The applicant must hold the position of an assistant professor for at least two years.

2. Teaching:
The applicant’s teaching skills must be evaluated by a process similar to the assistant professor level. The teaching skills must be of at least the ‘Highly Proficient’ level and the teaching materials must receive at least a ‘Very Good’ level in evaluation.

3. Academic Achievements:
There are three methods for evaluating academic works.
Method 1: The academic works must pass a B+ level qualification or above and consist of
(1) Two research publications OR
(2) One research publication and one research work of other format OR
(3) One research publication and one social service work
AND
A textbook or a book in the related field
The applicant must be the first author or the corresponding author in one of the works in (1)-(3).
Method 2: The academic works must satisfy the followings
(1) Three research publications, two of which must attain “A” level qualification or above and the other “B+” level OR
(2) Two research publications with “A” level qualification and one research work of other format OR
(3) Two research publications with “A” level qualification and one social service work
The applicant must be the first author or the corresponding author in two of the works at the “A” level qualification in (1)-(3).

The works submitted as part of the academic achievements must not be part of requirements for graduations of any degree unless it can be demonstrated that sufficient improvements have been made to such works. The works must be peer-reviewed by experts from other universities or organizations. One-third of these academic works shall be published within five years prior to being promoted to assistant professor.

Method 3: This is only applicable to science and engineering specializations
(1) At least 10 research works published in the first quartile and the second quartile of journals ranked in SCOPUS, all of which must be published after having been appointed an assistant professor, and in five of which the applicant must be the first or the corresponding author AND
(2) The publications by the applicant must have a life-time citation in the SCOPUS database for not less than 500 times, excluding self-citation AND
(3) The applicant must have a life-time H-index based on SCOPUS database not less than 8 AND
(4) The applicant must be the principal investigator who has over time led at least 5 research projects that receive external funding sources.

4. Ethical standards
The same standard as in the case of assistant professorship applies.

Standard and Qualifications for Appointment of Full Professorship

1. Time duration:
The applicant must hold the position of associate professor for at least two years.

2. Teaching:
The applicant must teach a subject in a university-level curriculum.

3. Academic Achievements:
There are three methods for evaluating academic works.

Method 1: The academic works must pass an “A” level qualification or above and consist of
(1) Five research publications in an international database OR
(2) One research publication in an international database and a combination of five research work of other format or social services
AND
A textbook or a book in the related field
The applicant must be the first author or the corresponding author in all of the works in (1)-(2) and be the first author of the book.

Method 2: The academic works must satisfy the followings
(1) Five research publications in an international database, two of which must attain “A+” level qualification or above and the others “A’ level OR
(2) One research publication in an international database and social service works for a total of five topics, two of which must attain “A+” level qualification and the others at “A” level OR
(3) Ten research publications in an international database with “A” level qualification

The applicant must be the first author or the corresponding author in two of the works at the “A+” level qualification in (1)-(2) and at least in one of the work at the “A” level. For (3), the applicant must be the first or the corresponding author in at least six of works at the “A” level.
The works submitted as part of the academic achievements must not be part of requirements for graduations of any degree unless further improvements are demonstrated. The works must be peer-reviewed by experts from other universities or organizations. One-third of these academic works may be published within five years prior to being promoted to associate professor.

Method 3: This only applies for science and engineering specializations
(1) At least 10 research works published in Quartile 1 and Quartile 2 of SCOPUS ranking journals all published after being appointed an associate professor, all of which the applicant must be the first or the corresponding author AND
(2) The publications by the applicant must have a life-time citation in the SCOPUS database not less than 1,000 times, excluding self-citation AND
(3) The applicant must have a life-time H-index based on SCOPUS database not less than 18 AND
(4) The applicant must be the principal investigator who in a life-time has led at least 10 research projects that receive external funding sources.
4. Ethical standards
The same standard as in the case of assistant professorship applies.

The person who submits the application must choose between one of the two evaluation procedures:
a) Normal Procedure – applicable when a person attains the minimum requirements of the next higher position, namely from lecturer to assistant professor to associate professor and to full professor.
b) Special Procedure – applicable when a person aims for an appointment of a higher rank but does not meet its minimum requirements, such as time duration of the current rank, or intends to skip the next higher position, or switches the field of specialties.

Under normal procedure, the evaluation committee consists of at least three to five qualified members from outside the institution. The evaluation decision is based on majority vote by the committee members. For the position of assistant or associate professorship, the University Council may appoint or reject the application based on recommendation by the committee. For the position of professorship, the University Council will make a decision whether or not to accept the recommendation, and pass along the decision to be bestowed by the government.

Under special procedure, the differences are in the decision making process.

For assistant professor position, the committee decision must be unanimous and the quality of academic work must be at “B+” level.

For associate professor position, the evaluation is based on Method 1 only. Furthermore, the committee decision must be unanimous and the quality of academic work must be at “A” level.
For full professor position, the evaluation is based on Method 1 only. Furthermore, the committee decision must be unanimous and the quality of academic work must be at “A+” level.