Professors and lecturers are the mainstay of the academic community. Lecturers or instructors spend most of their time teaching undergraduate students, while professors typically trade some or all of their teaching load for research responsibilities, including graduate student mentorship. Many professors follow a well-established career track.
New professors start as assistant professors .
Assistant professors are usually fresh from a postdoc , and have a research project or idea taken from that training. After another several years have passed, the associate professor will again be considered for promotion to full professor . Although this promotion pattern does not hold true in all cases, it is not unusual. Much time is devoted to writing grants and serving on committees, but an academic career allows tremendous freedom to pursue interesting questions wherever they may lead. It is this freedom that makes these positions so popular.