Michael D Nunez, PhD

The problem with translating Dutch academic job titles to American academic job titles or other systems is that the systems and cultures are often fundamentally different. I will only speak about the Dutch-American comparison, which I know the best. There are two main differences between the two systems:
 

1. In the United States, being Associate Professor means you both have tenure and have achieved some seniority after (typically) being an Assistant Professor (for ~5 years). For many departments in the Netherlands, tenure is completely divorced from seniority. I achieved a permanent position, tenure, in the Netherlands within 1.5 years in my first faculty career stage. Most faculty in my department achieve this after 1 year from being hired now, due to an interaction with newer Dutch law about permanent contracts. 

2. The major faculty career stages in the Netherlands are: Universitair docent (UD), Universitair Hoofddocent (UHD), and Hoogleraar. But the availability of these slots are often very different across Dutch departments with different standards of seniority depending on the department. In the U.S., the seniority of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor is more standardized. This is likely due to the fact that the pay scales are fixed across the Netherlands while in the U.S. the pay scales vary widely. Thus title can be divorced from pay in the U.S. while title and pay cannot easily be separated in the Netherlands.

I am currently at Universitair docent 1 (UD1), achieving this after ~4.5 years being at UD2 (an entry faculty position). For my department and institution this is fairly normal, but varies widely.  As of April 2026, the dean of our school has said that we can translate UD1 to "Associate Professor" for international correspondence. To me, this translation makes sense for the American system because it reflects both the typical seniority and tenure status of UD1. However, when using "Associate Professor" for English-language translations within the Dutch system, it doesn't make much sense because generally we would want to differentiate UD from UHD (more senior than UD) from Hoogleraar (more senior than UHD). Thus, a translation of "Assistant Professor" within the Dutch system makes more sense. I keep "Associate Professor" as the English translation because I have a lot of international colleagues and apply to international grants. And I just use "Universitair docent 1 (UD1)" instead of an English translation within the Dutch system, reflecting my actual position title and what is needed within formal University of Amsterdam communication.