{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.professor","code":"thing-q121594","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q121594/","name":"professor","alternateNames":["affiliate professor","distinguished professor","distinguished research professor","courtesy appointment","Professor of Classics","visiting professor","affiliate associate professor","Ruth and Edwin Kennedy Distinguished Professor Award","distinguished visiting professor","professor of medicine","Juniorprofessor","Professor of Geosciences"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.2","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Society, people and institutions","entryKind":"thing","plane":"SOC","domain":["SOC.PER"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"An academic rank and title for a senior teacher and researcher at a university or college, with variants such as full, associate, assistant, distinguished, visiting, affiliate and courtesy professors, named chairs such as Professor of Classics, and differing systems across countries; professors teach, research, supervise and serve in governance, and the title is also used informally for teachers in some countries.","purpose":"Let an agent explain the professor rank and its variants across systems, describe how the title is attained and used, identify specific professors with sources, and support academic career questions.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Academic title","Teaching and research role","Country-specific systems","Variants and chairs"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"understand","name":"Understand","description":"What a professor is.","layers":[{"id":"ranks","name":"Ranks","description":"Ranks and variants.","findings":[{"id":"ranks-finding","name":"Ranks","description":"Ranks.","questions":[{"text":"What are the professorial ranks and variants such as distinguished, visiting, affiliate or courtesy professor, and how do they differ?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"How do systems differ between countries?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"specific","name":"Specific","description":"A specific professor.","findings":[{"id":"specific-finding","name":"Specific","description":"Specific professor.","questions":[{"text":"Who is this professor, and what are their position and work, according to their institution and reliable sources?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits them?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"career","name":"Career","description":"Becoming a professor.","layers":[{"id":"path","name":"Path","description":"Career path.","findings":[{"id":"path-finding","name":"Path","description":"Career path.","questions":[{"text":"How does one become a professor in this system, from doctorate to tenure or habilitation?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"What do promotion criteria involve?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"roles","name":"Roles","description":"Duties.","findings":[{"id":"roles-finding","name":"Roles","description":"Duties.","questions":[{"text":"What do professors do in teaching, research, supervision and governance?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"What is a named chair?","kind":"definition"}]}]}]},{"id":"rules","name":"Rules","description":"Title and rights.","layers":[{"id":"title","name":"Title","description":"Use of the title.","findings":[{"id":"title-finding","name":"Title","description":"Title.","questions":[{"text":"Who may use the title professor here, and how is it regulated?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"How is it used informally in some countries?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"freedom","name":"Freedom","description":"Academic freedom.","findings":[{"id":"freedom-finding","name":"Freedom","description":"Academic freedom.","questions":[{"text":"What are academic freedom and tenure, and how are they protected?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which debates exist, with positions attributed?","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History and culture.","layers":[{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History of the rank.","findings":[{"id":"history-finding","name":"History","description":"History.","questions":[{"text":"How did the professorship develop from medieval universities to modern systems?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"How has diversity among professors changed, according to data?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"culture","name":"Culture","description":"Professors in culture.","findings":[{"id":"culture-finding","name":"Culture","description":"Culture.","questions":[{"text":"How are professors represented in fiction and popular culture?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which misconceptions arise?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Report a professor's rank, field and institution from official institutional sources.","Explain how professorial ranks differ between countries."],"mustNot":["Attribute the title professor to someone who does not hold it.","Treat ranks from different countries as equivalent without noting the differences.","Confuse two people with similar names when citing a professor.","Use a professor's title to lend authority to claims they did not make."],"requiresHuman":["Publishing statements about an identifiable professor's conduct or competence."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Academic titles confer public trust; misuse of them misleads people.","Misattributing claims can damage a scholar's reputation."],"affectedParties":["Professors and academics","Students","The public relying on expert claims"]},"owners":{"steward":"The university or institution that confers the rank.","roles":[],"masterSystems":["Institutional staff and appointment records"]},"relations":[{"target":"Q1622272","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q1706722","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q3400985","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"university teacher","type":"related","note":"category"},{"target":"academic","type":"related","note":"category"},{"target":"scientific theory","type":"related","note":"research output"},{"target":"cultural studies","type":"related","note":"an academic field"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.professor","Wikidata: Q121594 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q121594)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Senior academic rank","Teaching and research","Lecturers and instructors hold junior ranks in many systems","Not physical; a title and role."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain ranks and variants","describe appointment and promotion","identify specific professors","support academic careers"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Misuse of the title","Confusing ranks across countries","Misidentifying individuals"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["University statutes on academic ranks","National regulations on the professor title","Academic freedom and tenure rules"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["A senior academic rank.","full professors","associate and assistant professors","distinguished and research professors","visiting, affiliate and courtesy professors","named chairs"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q121594: professor","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q121594","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Professor","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professor","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should academic ranks be a single entry?","How should university directories be linked?","How should national systems be compared?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q121594/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q121594/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-11T22:32:03Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-06T19:51:53+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane SOC: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}