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  3. Education / Pedagogy

assistant-docteur

English translation: doctoral assistant

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:assistant-docteur
English translation:doctoral assistant
Entered by: Wendy Streitparth

17:13 Nov 19, 2019
French to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Education / Pedagogy / Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting
French term or phrase: assistant-docteur
The word is found in a letter of recommendation for an art history post-graduate applying for a grant. The student is described as having been, in turn, "assistant diplômé, chargé de cours, puis assistant-docteur".

I am not sure whether "assistant doctor" is a viable translation for this job title in the context of a university department in French-speaking Switzerland. I'd be grateful for any further suggestions.
Martin Fyles
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:06
doctoral assistant
Explanation:
Doctoral Assistant position (PhD position) in Early Modern English Literature
https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BBP342/doctoral-assistant-positio...

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Note added at 16 mins (2019-11-19 17:30:41 GMT)
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Maybe one should add "pre" before the doctoral assistant.
Selected response from:

Wendy Streitparth
Germany
Local time: 04:06
Grading comment
Thanks for your help!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
2 +4doctoral assistant
Wendy Streitparth
4 +1Assistant professor
Amany Saeed
2junior lecturer
Wolf Draeger
Summary of reference entries provided
doctural assistant
Yvonne Gallagher
Academic ranks
Wolf Draeger

  

Answers


3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Assistant professor


Explanation:
It is a common job in universities with the described job duties so it is more relevant

Amany Saeed
Egypt
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Ben Gaia
2 hrs
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6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +4
doctoral assistant


Explanation:
Doctoral Assistant position (PhD position) in Early Modern English Literature
https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BBP342/doctoral-assistant-positio...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 mins (2019-11-19 17:30:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Maybe one should add "pre" before the doctoral assistant.

Wendy Streitparth
Germany
Local time: 04:06
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 12
Grading comment
Thanks for your help!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Yolanda Broad
10 mins
  -> Thanks Yolanda :-)
agree  writeaway
6 hrs
  -> Many thanks, writeaway :-)
agree  Jennifer White
22 hrs
  -> Thank you, Jennifer
agree  katsy
1 day 18 hrs
  -> Many thanks, Katsy.
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
junior lecturer


Explanation:
Based on the immediate link below, I'm guessing assistant-docteur is akin to a junior lecturer. They have a PhD (hence docteur), give classes and conduct research, but still answer to and/or assist a senior lecturer (hence assistant).

See https://www.jean-francoiscorpataux.ch/ for an example of the career path (note the order is assistant-diplomé –> assistant-docteur –> chargé de cours, which might translate roughly to "assistant lecturer", "junior lecturer" and "senior lecturer").

The term seems specific to Switzerland.
Bottom links for context.

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Note added at 1 hr (2019-11-19 18:43:55 GMT)
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You might even want to keep the FR with your translation as a gloss in brackets, as exact equivalents are unlikely.


    Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lecturer
    Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senior_lecturer
Wolf Draeger
South Africa
Local time: 04:06
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
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Reference comments


14 mins peer agreement (net): +3
Reference: doctural assistant

Reference information:
https://www.unine.ch/droit/en/home/enseignants_1/assistants/...

Doctoral assistants are staff members who hold a Swiss licence or Master’s degree, and who have undertaken to write a doctoral thesis. In principle, applicants must not be over 30 years old, although this can be waived with the rector’s approval if certain criteria are met.

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Note added at 23 mins (2019-11-19 17:37:09 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

oops! typo in heading: doctOral

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 112

Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  Yolanda Broad
2 mins
  -> Many thanks:-)
agree  writeaway
6 hrs
  -> Thanks:-)
agree  katsy
1 day 18 hrs
  -> Thanks:-)
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr
Reference: Academic ranks

Reference information:
Beware of literal renderings here, as academic ranks differ from country to country and are not uniform in EN either. You need to establish where in the Swiss system this position fits and may have to ask your client for confirmation.

According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_academic_ranks), the Swiss-French ranks are:
- Professeur ordinaire (full professor, chairman)
- Professeur extraordinaire
- Professeur invité
- Professeur associé (associate professor literally, yet functions as full professor or reader, non-chairman, tenured)
- Professeur assistant (assistant professor literally, yet functions as associate professor, tenure-track)
- Chargé de cours (senior lecturer, yet functions as associate professor, tenure-track)
- Privat docent (has the habilitation but not professorship, required for tenure-track)
- Maître-Assistant (assistant professor or lecturer, non-tenured)
- Assistant (lecturer, usually a graduate student)
- Moniteur (undergraduate student)


    Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_ranks_in_the_United_Ki...
    Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_ranks_in_the_United_St...
Wolf Draeger
South Africa
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
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