Difference between lecturer and professor?

[Lilac13]

This may not be the most appropriate forum for this question, but I figured I would give it a try. What is the difference between a lecturer and professor? What I really want to know is, can lecturers serve as advisors for PhD students? My guess is no, but maybe I am wrong.

[Eigen]

Not usually. I'd say a straight no, but it might be possible some places.

Instructors are usually a non-tenure track teaching only position, with no explicit research component. Many do research, but it's not a part of their official job description.

[ZeChocMoose]

In my master's program, there were a couple adjunct professors/lectures that were advisors for PhD students. I am not sure how helpful that was for the students who wanted to be faculty though because those individuals were not involved in research. It seemed to work out fine for students that were interested in admin or policy so I guess it depends on what your purpose is for doing a PhD.

Edited December 15, 2012 by ZeChocMoose

[rising_star]

Wait, are you asking in a UK/Australia/New Zealand context or in a US context? If you're talking about the US, then Eigen's answer is correct. However, a Lecturer in the UK is equivalent to an Assistant Professor in the United States...

[TakeruK]

If I'm not sure what someone's rank means and if the website doesn't give clues (i.e. sometimes their website or CVs list students that they advised in the past/currently advising), then I usually wrote them a short email saying that I'm interested in applying to their program and if they would take students in the following year, etc.

[ZeChocMoose]

It's a little different though in Education where you could have adjuncts/lecturers who work at the university and teach 1 course per semester or even 1 course per year. Generally though, these people don't do research (as they are in admin) and the student wouldn't be on a research team with them even though they could be the student's advisor.

I know that the context around adjuncts/lecturers is completely different in other fields but in education it could be possible for a PhD student to have a lecturer as an advisor. Why you want to do this is another story however.