Austria, Germany, and Switzerland In Germany, Austria, and the
German-speaking region of Switzerland, common doctoral degrees in science are the following: • Dr. techn.: Doctor technicae, awarded by Austrian technical universities. In German: "Doktor der technischen Wissenschaften" which translates to
Doctor of Engineering Sciences, or Doctor of Science, or Doctor of Technical Sciences, or
Doctor of Technology. Dr.techn. title is also awarded in Denmark. •
Dr. rer. nat.: Doctor rerum naturalium, literally "Doctor of the things of nature" • Dr. rer. medic.: Doctor rerum medicarum, Doctor of medical sciences • Dr. sc. med.: Doctor scientiarum medicarum, Doctor of science in medicine • Dr. sc. nat.: Doktor der Naturwissenschaften, Doctor of
Natural Sciences • Dr. sc. ETH: Doktor der Naturwissenschaften ETH, Doctor of Natural Sciences, awarded by
ETH Zurich, Switzerland. • Dr. phil. nat.: Doctor philosophiae naturalis, used only by
Goethe University Frankfurt instead of Dr rer. nat; Doctor of Natural Sciences, awarded by Swiss universities. •
Dr.-Ing.: Doktor der Ingenieurwissenschaften (Doctor of Engineering), awarded by German universities in areas of technology and engineering. • Dr. mont.: Doctor rerum montanarum, awarded by the
University of Leoben instead of Dr. techn. • Dr. nat. techn.: Doctor rerum naturalium technicarum, awarded by the
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna instead of Dr. techn. In these countries there are some related doctoral degrees with very similar names, these are the: • Dr. sc. agr.: Doctor scientiarum agrariarum, Doctor of
Agricultural science • Dr. sc. hum.: Doctor scientiarum humanarum, Doctor of
Humanistic Sciences • Dr. sc. inf.: Doctor scientiarum informaticarum, Doctor of Science in
Informatics • Dr. sc. inf. med.: Doctor scientiarum informaticarum medicæ, Doctor of Science in
Medical Informatics • Dr. sc. inf. biomed.: Doctor scientiarum informaticarum biomedicæ, Doctor of Science in
Biomedical Informatics • Dr. sc. math.: Doctor scientiarum mathematicarum, Doctor of
Mathematics • Dr. scient. med.: Doctor scientiæ medicæ, Doctor of
Medical Sciences • Dr. sc. mus.: Doctor scientiae musicae, Doctor of
Musicology • Dr. sc. oec.: Doctor scientiarum oeconomicarum, Doctor of
Economics • Dr. sc. pol.: Doctor scientiarum politicarum, Doctor of
Political Sciences • Dr. rer. pol.: Doctor rerum politicarum, Doctor of economics, business administration, or political science • Dr. sc. soc.: Doctor scientiae socialis, Doctor of
Social Sciences All of these doctoral degrees are equivalent to the PhD or ScD of the American system. Until
German Reunification, universities in East Germany also awarded the Dr Sc. However, the East German Dr Sc was not equivalent to the PhD since it was adopted to replace the German
Habilitation and therefore was equivalent to this higher-level qualification. After reunification the Habilitation was reintroduced at universities in Eastern Germany. The procedure of
habilitation is normally required to receive officially the "venia docendi", which entitles the candidate to lecture at universities (
Privatdozent, for men, or
Privatdozentin, for women). The academic degree after the successful habilitation is e.g. Dr. rer. nat. habil., by adding the suffix "habil." to the earlier received Doctors degree. In Switzerland, the Dr sc. is a doctoral degree awarded only by the two
Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (
EPFL and
ETHZ), the
University of Fribourg and the Department of Informatics of the
University of Zurich. The Swiss Dr sc., like the DSc in the US, is equivalent to the PhD. It is earned with the approval of a committee on the basis of original research, publications, and extensive applied professional contributions and is awarded in doctoral level science and technology programs. Since 2004 the Dr sc. is the only doctoral degree awarded by the
ETH Zurich. The awards the degree
Docteur ès sciences, abbreviated
Dr ès sc.and translated into English as PhD.
Poland In Poland higher doctorate is
Habilitation (habilitated doctor, doctor with habilitation) ( or in Polish) is the degree higher than PhD and it is awarded for substantial accomplishments in academic teaching, research and service after getting the PhD degree (usually up to 8 years of original research and multiple publications in
peer reviewed
scientific journals and
monograph, habilitation
dissertation after PhD). It is similar to habilitation degree in Germany and Austria. It is also similar (in terms of requirements) to associate professor with tenure. After achieving high degrees and rich research or artistic achievements, including as an
academic teacher,
lecturer, one can apply to become a
professor. The
President of Poland awards a
scientist also in
engineering (
engineer) or
artist the scientific title of professor () and the title of professor of art (), respectively, in recognition of their scientific achievements and contributions to
science,
technology, and respectively their achievements in
art and contributions to art. These titles are not academic/scientific or art degrees. However, possession of high degrees is required to receive the title. Habilitation has been a mandatory requirement for many years to apply for professorship in Poland.
United Kingdom, Ireland, India, Pakistan and the Commonwealth In Ireland, the United Kingdom and the countries of the
Commonwealth, such as Australia, New Zealand and India (in the
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay), the degree of Doctor of Science (DSc or ScD) is one of the
Higher Doctorates. In some older universities it typically has precedence after Divinity, Laws or Civil Law, Medicine, and Letters, and above Music. The degree is conferred on a member of the university who has a proven record of internationally recognised scholarship. A candidate for the degree will usually be required to submit a selection of their publications that follow a consistent theme to the board of the appropriate faculty, which will decide if the candidate merits this accolade. Quite often they will need to be a doctoral graduate of at least ten years' standing and have a substantial research association with the awarding university. In 1893
Maria Gordon (née Ogilvie) was the first woman to receive this degree. In former times the doctorate in science was regarded as a greater distinction than a professorial chair and hence a professor who was also a DSc would be known as Doctor. The Doctor of Science may also be awarded as an honorary degree, that is, given to individuals who have made extensive contributions to a particular field and not for specific academic accomplishments. It is usual to signify this by adding DSc h.c. (for
honoris causa).
Other European Union countries In the Czech Republic and Slovakia "Doctor of Sciences" (DrSc behind the name), established in 1953, is equivalent to the degree of Doctor of Science in the sense in which the DSc is used in the Commonwealth. It is the highest academic qualification, different from both PhD and PhDr. titles. In the Czech Republic, DrSc has not been awarded since 2001; instead, since 2006, a "Doctor of Sciences" degree (DSc behind the name) has been awarded, not by universities but by the
Czech Academy of Sciences mostly for research in the field of natural or formal science. In Slovakia, "Doctor of Sciences" (DrSc) is awarded by the
Slovak Academy of Sciences. In Hungary, "Doctor of Sciences" (DSc) is a higher doctoral degree awarded by the
Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In Finland, most doctoral degrees awarded in the fields of natural sciences, technology and economics are termed DSc degrees in English, with a suffix indicating the field of study. However, there is no translation of the term
Doctor of Science to Finnish. For example, the proper translation for the doctorate in technology (
tekniikan tohtori) would be DSc (Tech), whereas a doctorate in economics and business administration (
kauppatieteiden tohtori) would be translated as DSc (Econ). When conversing or writing in English, the prefix
Dr may be used to address a holder of a doctoral degree awarded in Finland. The degrees are equivalent to
filosofian tohtori (FT, English: PhD), but FT is usually awarded only in general sciences, not in specializations like engineering, economics or medicine. In France, the Doctor of Sciences degree (
doctorat en sciences also called ''doctorat d'État'') was a
higher doctorate in the fields of experimental and natural sciences, superseded in 1984 by the
habilitation. In Denmark, Dr Scient. is a higher doctorate. In Bulgaria, "Doctor" (PhD) is the highest education level and first science degree. Doctor of Sciences (DrSc) is the second and the highest science degree.
Russia and other post-communist states In Russia, the status of Russian
Doktor Nauk (literally 'Doctor of Sciences') is considered a higher scientific degree. The equivalent to PhD is "Kandidat Nauk" (literally 'Candidate [for Doctor] of Science')
Other European countries In the former
Yugoslavia, (Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Slovenia, North Macedonia), title
doktor nauka or
doktor znanosti (literally "doctor of science") is used in a much broader sense than DSc, simply referring to a field of academic study – from art history (
doktor znanosti/nauka povijesti umjetnosti), philosophy (
doktor znanosti/nauka filozofije), and literary studies (
doktor znanosti/nauka književnosti) to hard sciences such as molecular biology (
doktor znanosti/nauka molekularne biologije). It is therefore formally recognized as a PhD degree. Starting in 2016, in
Ukraine Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, ) is the highest education level and first science degree. "Doctor of Sciences" (DSc ) is the second and the highest science degree, awarded in recognition of a substantial contribution to scientific knowledge, origination of new directions and visions in science. Since 2016, a PhD degree is one of the prerequisites for heading a university department in Ukraine. In
Belarus "Doctor of Sciences" (DSc, ) is the highest level of education that follows a PhD. Is awarded by
The Higher Attestation Commission under the aegis of the
President of the Republic of Belarus. == North America ==