Under Law No. 2914 on Higher Education Personnel, academic staff are classified as follows:
- Academic members (this category includes professors, associate professors, and doctor lecturers),
- Instructors (this category covers instructors),
- Research assistants (this category covers research assistants).
In addition to the provisions of Law No. 2914, the provisions set out by the Higher Education Law No. 2547 define the following:
- Academic staff: professors, instructors and research assistants serving in higher education institutions,
- Academic members: professors, associate professors and doctor lecturers serving in higher education institutions,
- Associate professor: a person who holds the academic title of associate professor granted by the Interuniversity Board,
- Doctor lecturer: a person who has successfully completed doctoral studies, or in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and veterinary medicine holds a specialty title, or who has obtained proficiency in certain arts as determined by the Higher Education Council upon the recommendation of the Interuniversity Board,
- Instructor: an academic staff member responsible for delivering courses, conducting or supervising practical training in higher education institutions.
The following points summarize how salaries, retirement and additional indicators apply to these categories:
- There is no distinction, under Laws No. 2914 and 2547, between doctor lecturers in medicine and doctor lecturers in other faculties. Both groups are subject to the same salary scales, pension calculations and additional indicator rules according to their rank.
- The additional indicator schedule attached to Law No. 2914 sets an additional indicator of 3600 for doctor lecturers who are ranked between degrees 1 and 5.
- The attached official compensation schedule does not include a separate section specifically labeled for doctor lecturers.
- For associate professors, the attached additional indicator table assigns an indicator of 4800 for degrees 1 to 3. In the official compensation schedule, provided the acquired-rights salaries are at degree 1, a position compensation indicator of 2000 is specified.
- According to the Higher Education Personnel Law No. 2914, provisions that apply to salaries, financial and social rights while in service do not necessarily continue to apply in the same way during retirement.
- Legal provisions that allow increases to salaries while in active service are explicitly stated in the laws. These provisions apply only during the period that academics remain in active service and do not generally cover the retirement period.