The academic age is the time that a scientist has been in the research field and performed active research. The academic age of a scientist may be computed as the span of years from their first published work up until the present.^[1] Another definition regards the academic age as the time since their doctoral degree.^[2]

When the academic age is computed in formal settings, the academic age may be adjusted taking into account maternity and paternity leave, long-term illness, clinical training and/or national service.^[3]

The academic age may be used as one of the components in scientometrics studies, particularly author-level metrics.^[4][1]

The academic age may be a strict criterion for certain grant applications. For instance, the European Research Council has several funding schemes restricted to specific academic ages: So-called Starting Grants require an academic age of 2 to 7 years,^[5] Consolidator grants require an academic age of 7 to 12 years^[6] and Advanced Grants require "a track-record of significant research achievements in the last 10 years".^[7]