Academic careers
Welcome to the Magical University of Lille! Best university in France, its lecturers wage a fierce competition for promotions. The recent arrival of the Chosen One thrust lecturer Adélaïde into the high-stake politics she has tried so hard to avoid. Soon, both the king and the Dark Lord take interest in her... Come read about her struggle and the world in which she lives!
Introduction to the story | The University of Lille | Novel upcoming
Introduction to the story | The University of Lille | Novel upcoming
Table of Contents
Academic careers
How to start an academic career
The most basic conditions to starting an academic career is of course to have graduated from a university and gone on to have obtained a Mastery in one's chosen field. Then, candidates "teachers-researchers" have to enter a competition for each specific post that opens at one of the French university. The best candidate in the competition then get presented to the president of the university and to the king who make the final decision in consultation together. To be successful in a competition, candidates have to demonstrate their quality through:State of current knowledge and skills
Answer an improvised oral exams in their field from future colleagues
Share opinions on current research topics
Teach a short seminar to undergraduate students
Success of past research and teaching
Present the results of past research project
Bring academic publications written from past projects
Bring past students' testimonies and stats
Plans for future research and teaching
Present a plan for a new teaching module
Present a 5 year research plan.
Discuss how collaborations would benefit their future colleagues
Climbing the ranks
There are 2 main academic ranks, each with their own title. Each Rank then has different grades (the "classes"), and each class has different pay scales. Changes are made through another competition (rank), an application to the president and His Majesty (grade), His Majesty's special offer (exceptional class and scale), or depend on seniority and are automatic (scales). Special titles can also be obtained through an election by all faculty members of a university and His Majesty's approval—or by His Majesty's direct nomination and approval through a faculty vote. They mark the culmination of one's academic career. The different ranks, grades and scales are:Conference master (aka. Master)
Normal class (9 scales)
Outstanding class (6 scales + 1 exceptional scale)
University professor (aka. Professor)
Second class (7 scales)
First class (3 scales)
Exceptional class (2 scales)
Special elective titles
Deans
Members of the board of director or academic council
President of the university
How to have a successful career
To have a successful career, one need to carry out quality teaching and research, and both are very obviously highly dependent on funding. Money will indeed determine what materials and equipment a researcher can access, but also the quality of practicals they can give to students and even of the labs and classrooms they can access. Each funding round is the results of a competition in which the value of the projects to be funded are judged against each other. Depending on the funding competitions, the judges can be the university president, the faculty of another university, a private patron, the royal court, or His Majesty in person. Thus, to have a successful career, someone need to have:Technical skills
Have innovative ideas and the skills and cleverness to pull them through
Be a good orator and writer to present their project and career well
Social graces
Be extremely likeable to colleagues, superiors, students and politicians alike
Have high society contacts to grease administrative gears
Strategy
Know when to flatter or backstab their colleagues
Know how to handle spoilt students without offending them or letting them fail or kill themselves
I like that this is based on real life, but gosh, it sounds so stressful. XD
Explore Etrea | Summer Camp 2025
Way too much based on real life, apart from the fact that our backstabbing is less literal XD The worst was that writing all of this and rereading about academia made me nostalgic about having left XD