Hi,

I have heard that it is possible to be a Professor in the USA without a PhD, particularly in the practical fields. Is it also like that in UK?

In my department (well kind of, I'll start in a couple of weeks) in some of the lecturers don't have PhD, but it's a Department of Music and therefore not strictly an academic subject i.e. if you could have Stravinsky as a lecturer of composition who would bother if he has a PhD or not. In more accademical areas like historical musicology, music theory... most people tend to have PhDs.

As MistaG says in America professor is a general term for lecturer meaning anyone who lectures in a university can call themselves a professor, whether they have a PhD or not.

In Britain the title Professor is only used by senior academics that have been promoted to the position of Professor after a long career of research. However, there is no reason why someone who has produced enough research of high quality can be promoted to Professor without a PhD (although this is very rare).