To become a research professor, you should primarily focus on your education and the background in academics that you need to gain a professorship. This means you should begin by pursuing a degree from a college or university, typically starting with a bachelor’s degree. From there, you are likely to need to continue and receive a doctorate of philosophy (PhD) or comparable degree, often gaining a master’s degree while you complete your PhD. Once you have the education you need, you should look for opportunities to become a research professor at a college, university, or private organization that offers research professorship positions to qualified applicants.
One of the first things you should consider to become a research professor is the educational background you need for this position. A research professor is a professor, typically at a college or university, who focuses primarily on research work rather than teaching classes. This means that much like any other type of professorship, you typically need to have a thorough academic background in your chosen subject area to become a research professor. You should usually begin by pursuing a bachelor’s degree in a general subject area, such as a particular language, scientific field, or mathematics.
Once you have a bachelor’s degree in your chosen field, then you should begin pursuing a master’s degree and a PhD to help you become a research professor. Such professorships usually require a PhD, and you can typically earn a master’s degree either before continuing on to earn your PhD or as you are taking classes toward a PhD. You should consider what type of specialized field you might want to focus on for your education and research. If you want to become a research professor in psychology, for example, then you might consider clinical psychology or neuropsychology as specializations, while medieval literature or classical theater might be fields you could pursue in language or literature studies.
After you complete your PhD, then you can begin working on securing a position at a college or university and become a research professor. You can find a number of different colleges that accept research professors, and this position may be considered a tenure-track position or a non-tenured position depending on the school’s policies. In either type of program, however, you typically need to demonstrate a strong background in research and show that your work has yielded notable results that are significant in your field. You may also be able to find opportunities to become a research professor at organizations that do not typically focus on general education, such as medical research organizations.