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Doctor of Philosophy



 
 
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated Ph.D. or PhD for the Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 , meaning "teacher of philosophy", (or, more rarely, D.Phil., for the equivalent ) is an advanced academic degree
Academic degree

A degree is any of a wide range of status levels conferred by institutions of higher education, such as University, normally as the result of successfully completing a program of study....
 awarded by universities
University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education....
. In many, but not all countries in the English-speaking world, it has become the highest degree one can earn (but see also the higher doctorates awarded by universities in the UK, Ireland and some Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, also known as the Commonwealth or the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organization of fifty-three independent member states....
 countries) and applies to graduates in a wide array of disciplines in the science
Science

In its broadest sense, science refers to any systematic knowledge or practice. In its more usual restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on scientific method, as well as to the organized body of knowledge gained through such research....
s and humanities
Humanities

The humanities are academic disciplines which study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytic, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural science and social sciences....
.






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Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated Ph.D. or PhD for the Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 , meaning "teacher of philosophy", (or, more rarely, D.Phil., for the equivalent ) is an advanced academic degree
Academic degree

A degree is any of a wide range of status levels conferred by institutions of higher education, such as University, normally as the result of successfully completing a program of study....
 awarded by universities
University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education....
. In many, but not all countries in the English-speaking world, it has become the highest degree one can earn (but see also the higher doctorates awarded by universities in the UK, Ireland and some Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, also known as the Commonwealth or the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organization of fifty-three independent member states....
 countries) and applies to graduates in a wide array of disciplines in the science
Science

In its broadest sense, science refers to any systematic knowledge or practice. In its more usual restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on scientific method, as well as to the organized body of knowledge gained through such research....
s and humanities
Humanities

The humanities are academic disciplines which study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytic, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural science and social sciences....
. The Ph.D. has become a requirement
Terminal degree

A terminal degree is generally accepted as the highest Academic degree in a field of study. An earned academic doctorate such as a Doctor of Philosophy is considered the terminal degree in most academic fields of study in some countries....
 for a career as a university professor or researcher
Academia

Academia, Academe, or the Academy are collective terms for the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research....
 in most fields
Faculty (university)

A faculty is a division within a university comprising one subject area, or a number of related subject areas . The concept of a university with different faculties for different subjects dates back to Al-Azhar University, which had individual faculties for a Madrasah and theological seminary, Sharia and Fiqh, Arabic grammar, Islamic astronom...
.

The detailed requirements for award of a Ph.D. degree vary throughout the world; however, there are a number of common factors. In some countries (the US, Canada, Denmark, for example), most universities require coursework for Ph.D. degrees. In many other countries (especially those with a greater degree of specialization at the undergraduate level, such as the UK) there is no such condition in general. It is not uncommon, however, for individual universities or departments to specify analogous requirements for students not already in possession of a master's degree
Master's degree

A master's degree provides a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of profession. Within the area studied, graduates possess advanced knowledge of a specialized body of theory and applied topics; high order skills in analysis, Critical thinking and/or professional application; and the ability to problem solving a...
.

In countries requiring coursework, there is usually a prescribed minimum amount of study — typically two to three years full time, or a set number of credit hours — which must take place before submission of a thesis. This requirement is usually waived for academic staff submitting a portfolio of peer-reviewed published work. The candidate may also be required to successfully complete a certain number of additional, advanced courses relevant to his or her area of specialization.

A candidate must submit a thesis or dissertation consisting of a suitable body of original academic research, which is in principle worthy of publication in a peer-refereed context. In many countries a candidate must defend this work before a panel of expert examiners appointed by the university; in other countries, the dissertation is examined by a panel of expert examiners who stipulate whether the dissertation is in principle passable and the issues that need to be addressed before the dissertation can be passed.

Universities in the non-English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
-speaking world have begun adopting similar standards to those of the Anglophone
Anglophone

An Anglophone is someone who speaks the English language. As an adjective, it refers to belonging to an English-speaking population especially in a country where two or more languages are spoken....
 Ph.D. degree for their research doctorates (see, for example, Bologna Process
Bologna process

The purpose of the Bologna process is to create the European higher education area by making academic degree standards and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout Europe, in particular under the Lisbon Recognition Convention....
).

History of the Ph.D. degree

The origins of the doctorate
Doctorate

A doctorate is an academic degree that in most countries represents the highest level of formal study or research in a given field. In some countries it also refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to practice in a specific profession ....
 dates back to the ijazat
Ijazah

An ijazah is a certificate used primarily by Muslims to indicate that one has been authorized by a higher authority to transmit a certain subject or text of Islamic studies....
 attadris wa 'l-iftta
("license to teach and issue legal opinions") in the medieval Madrasah
Madrasah

File:Registan_-_Sherdor_madrasa.jpgMadrasah is the Arabic word for any type of school, whether secular or religious . It is variously Arabic transliteration as madrasah, madarasaa, medresa, madrassa, madraza, madarsa, etc....
s from the 9th century, though it was limited to Islamic law
Sharia

Sharia is the body of Islamic religious law. The term means "way" or "path to the water source"; it is the legal framework within which the public and private aspects of life are regulated for those living in a legal system based on Fiqh and for Muslims living outside the domain....
 at the time, as in a Doctor of Laws
Doctor of Laws

Doctor of Laws is a doctorate-level academic degree in law. What follows is a country-by-country analysis of earned doctorates in law, which are the most analogous to the concept of the LL.D....
 degree. The doctorate was later extended to philosophy in the Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
an universities in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
 which generally placed all academic disciplines outside the professional fields of theology
Theology

Theology is the study of the existence or attributes of a deity or gods, or more generally the study of religion or spirituality. It is sometimes contrasted with religious studies: theology is understood as the study of religion from an internal perspective , and religious studies as the study of religion from an external perspective....
, medicine
Medicine

Medicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
 and law
LAW

LAW may refer to:* Anti-tank warfare, e.g. the US Army M72 LAW or the British Army LAW 80*Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights ...
 under the broad heading of "philosophy" (or "natural philosophy
Natural philosophy

Natural philosophy or the philosophy of nature , is a term applied to the Objectivity study of nature and the physical universe that was dominant before the development of modern science....
" when referring to science
Science

In its broadest sense, science refers to any systematic knowledge or practice. In its more usual restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on scientific method, as well as to the organized body of knowledge gained through such research....
). The degree of Doctor of Philosophy was a doctorate, generally granted as honorary degree
Honorary degree

An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements . The degree itself is typically a doctorate or, less commonly, a master's degree, and may be awarded to someone who has no prior connection with the institution in question....
s to select and well-established scholars.

According to Wellington, Bathmaker, Hung, MucCullough and Sikes (2005), the first Ph.D. degree was awarded in Paris in 1150, but not until the early nineteenth century did the term "Ph.D. degree" acquire its modern meaning as the highest academic doctoral degree, thanks to university practice in Germany. As Wellington et al. explain, prior to the nineteenth century professional doctoral degrees could only be awarded in theology (Th.D.), law (J.D.), or medicine (M.D.). In 1861, Yale University
Yale University

Yale University is a private university in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1701 as the Collegiate School, Yale is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher education in the United States and is a member of the Ivy League....
 adopted the German
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 practice (first introduced in the 19th century at the Friedrich Wilhelm University
Humboldt University of Berlin

The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities....
 in Berlin
Berlin

Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
) of granting the degree to younger students who had completed a prescribed course of graduate study and successfully defended a thesis/dissertation containing original research in science or in the humanities.

From the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 the degree spread to Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 in 1900, and then to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 in 1917. This displaced the existing Doctor of Philosophy degree in some universities; for instance, the D.Phil. (higher doctorate in the faculty of philosophy) at the University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews

The University of St Andrews is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation university in Scotland and third oldest in the English-speaking world, having been founded between 1410 and 1413....
 was discontinued and replaced with the Ph.D. (research doctorate). Oxford
University of Oxford

The University of Oxford , located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation in the English-speaking world....
 retained the D.Phil. abbreviation for their research degrees. Some newer UK universities, for example Buckingham
University of Buckingham

The University of Buckingham is the only degree awarding private university in the United Kingdom.Its two campuses are both located in Buckingham....
 (est. 1976), Sussex
University of Sussex

The University of Sussex is a British campus university situated next to the East Sussex village of Falmer, from Brighton. It was the first of the New Universities of Plate glass university....
 (est. 1961), and, until a few years ago, York
University of York

The University of York is a campus university located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, York has expanded to more than 30 departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects....
 (est. 1963), chose to adopt the D.Phil., as did some universities in New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
.

Doctor of Philosophy degrees across the globe

Ph.D. degrees are awarded under different circumstances and with different requirements in many different countries.

Australia and New Zealand


Admission
Admission to a Ph.D. program within Australia and New Zealand requires the prospective student to have completed a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or major that generally lasts for three, four, or in some cases and countries, five or six years....
 with an honours component or a higher degree, such as a post graduate master's degree
Master's degree

A master's degree provides a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of profession. Within the area studied, graduates possess advanced knowledge of a specialized body of theory and applied topics; high order skills in analysis, Critical thinking and/or professional application; and the ability to problem solving a...
 by research or a master's degree
Master's degree

A master's degree provides a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of profession. Within the area studied, graduates possess advanced knowledge of a specialized body of theory and applied topics; high order skills in analysis, Critical thinking and/or professional application; and the ability to problem solving a...
 by course work.

In most disciplines, honours require an extra year of study including a large research component in addition to coursework; however, in some disciplines such as engineering, law and pharmacy, honours are automatically awarded to high achievers of the normal four-year program. To obtain a Ph.D. position, students must usually gain first class honours, but may sometimes be admitted with high second class honours (known as a 2A, or Second Class Honours Division I). Alternatively, a student who fails to achieve first or second class Honours may apply for a research masters course (usually 12–18 months) and upgrade to a Ph.D. program after the first year, pending sufficient improvement.

Funding
In both Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 and New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
, Ph.D. students are sometimes offered a scholarship to study for their Ph.D. degree. The most common of these in Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 is the government-funded Australian Postgraduate Award (APA), which provides a living stipend to students of approximately AU$
Australian dollar

The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Islandss of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu....
 20,000 a year (tax free). Most universities in both countries also offer a similar scholarship that matches the APA amount, but are funded by the university. In recent years, with the tightening of research funding in Australia, these scholarships have become increasingly hard to obtain. Due to a continual increase to living costs, many Ph.D. students are forced to live under the poverty line,. In addition to the more common APA and University scholarships, Australian and New Zealand students also have other sources of funding in their Ph.D. degree. These could include, but are not limited to, scholarships offered by schools, research centres and commercial enterprise. For the latter, the amount is determined between the university and the organisation, but is quite often set at the APA (Industry) rate, roughly AU$
Australian dollar

The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Islandss of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu....
7,000 more than the usual APA rate. Australian and New Zealand students are often also able to tutor undergraduate classes and do guest lectures (much like a teaching assistant in the USA) to generate income. An Australian or New Zealand Ph.D. scholarship is paid for a duration of 3 years, while a 6 month extension is usually possible upon citing delays out of the control of the student.

Australian-citizen and other eligible Ph.D. and Research Masters students in Australia are not charged course fees as these are paid for by the Australian Government under the Research Training Scheme. International students and Coursework Masters students must pay course fees, unless they receive a scholarship to cover them. In order to attract top international doctoral students, the New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
 government reduced international doctoral fees to the domestic fee level in 2006.

Argentina


Admission
In the Latin American docta
The Latin American docta

Argentina is sometimes referred to as the Latin American docta . This originates in the Latin docta . Benefitting from Latin America's highest literacy rates since shortly after Domingo Sarmiento made primary education universally available in the 1860s and 1870s, Argentine researchers and professionals at home and abroad continue...
, the admission to a Ph.D. program at an Argentine University requires the full completion of a Master's degree
Master's degree

A master's degree provides a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of profession. Within the area studied, graduates possess advanced knowledge of a specialized body of theory and applied topics; high order skills in analysis, Critical thinking and/or professional application; and the ability to problem solving a...
 or a Licentiate
Licentiate

Licentiate is the title of a person who holds an academic degree called a license. This degree exists in various African, Asian, European and Latin American countries but can represent different educational levels....
's degree. Non-Argentinian Master's titles are generally accepted into a Ph.D. program when the degree comes from a recognized university.

Funding
While a significant portion of postgraduate students finance their tuition and living costs with teaching or research work at private and state-run institutions, international institutions, such as the Fullbright Program and the Organization of American States (OAS), have been known to grant full scholarships for tuition with apportions for housing.

Requirements for completion
Upon completion of at least two years' research and course work as a graduate student, a candidate must demonstrate truthful and original contributions to his or her specific field of knowledge within a frame of academic excellence. The doctoral candidate's work should be presented in a dissertation or thesis prepared under the supervision of a tutor or director, and reviewed by a Doctoral Committee. This Committee should be composed of examiners external to the program, and at least one of them should also be external to the institution. The academic degree of Doctor — abbreviated, "Dr.", with a suffix appropriate to the specific field — is received after a successful defense of the candidate’s dissertation.

Canada


Admission
Admission to a Ph.D. program at a Canadian university may require completion of a Master's degree
Master's degree

A master's degree provides a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of profession. Within the area studied, graduates possess advanced knowledge of a specialized body of theory and applied topics; high order skills in analysis, Critical thinking and/or professional application; and the ability to problem solving a...
 in a related field, with sufficiently high grades and proven research ability. In some cases, a student may progress directly from an Honours Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or major that generally lasts for three, four, or in some cases and countries, five or six years....
 to a Ph.D. program. The student usually submits an application package including a research proposal, letters of reference, transcripts, and in some cases, a sample of the student's writing. A common criterion for prospective Ph.D students is the comprehensive or qualifying examination, a process that often commences in the second year of a graduate program. Generally, successful completion of the qualifying exam permits continuance in the graduate program. Formats for this examination include oral examination by the student's faculty committee (or a separate qualifying committee), or written tests designed to demonstrate the student's knowledge in a specialized area (see below).

At English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
-speaking universities, a student may also be required to demonstrate English language abilities, usually by achieving an acceptable score on a standard examination (e.g., Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL
TOEFL

The Test of English as a Foreign Language evaluates the potential success of an individual to use and understand academic English at a college level....
)). Depending on the field, the student may also be required to demonstrate ability in one or more additional languages. A prospective student applying to French-speaking universities may also have to demonstrate some English language ability.

Funding
While some students work outside the university (or at student jobs within the university), in some programs students are advised (or must agree) not to devote more than ten hours per week to activities (i.e., employment) outside of their studies.

At some Canadian
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 universities, most Ph.D. students receive an award equivalent to the tuition amount for the first four years (this is sometimes called a tuition deferral or tuition waiver). Other sources of funding include teaching assistant
Teaching assistant

A teaching assistant is an individual who assists a professor or teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include graduate teaching assistants , who are graduate school students; undergraduate teaching assistants , who are undergraduate students; secondary school TAs, who are either high school students or adults; and elementary sch...
ships and research assistantships; experience as a teaching assistant is encouraged but not requisite in many programs. Some programs may require all Ph.D. candidates to teach, which may be done under the supervision of their supervisor or regular faculty.

Besides these sources of funding, there are also various competitive scholarships, bursaries, and awards available, such as those offered by the federal government via NSERC
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada is a Canada government division that provides grants for research in the natural sciences and in engineering....
, CIHR
Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Canadian Institutes of Health Research is the major federal agency responsible for funding health research in Canada. It is the successor to the Medical Research Council of Canada....
, or SSHRC
Social Science and Humanities Research Council

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada is an arm's length Canada federal funding agency. SSHRC supports a wide range of research and scholarship in the social sciences and humanities and the current president of the Council is Chad Gaffield....
.

Requirements for completion
In general, the first two years of study are devoted to completion of coursework and the comprehensive examination
Comprehensive examination

A comprehensive examination , often abbreviated as "comps," is a specific type of examination that must be completed by graduate students in some disciplines and courses of study....
s. At this stage, the student is known as a "Ph.D. student." It is usually expected that the student will have completed most of his or her required coursework by the end of this stage. Furthermore, it is usually required that by the end of eighteen to thirty-six months after the first registration, the student will have successfully completed the comprehensive exams.

Upon successful completion of the comprehensive exams, the student becomes known as a "Ph.D. candidate." From this stage on, the bulk of the student's time will be devoted to his or her own research, culminating in the completion of a Ph.D. thesis or dissertation. The final requirement is an oral defense of the thesis, which is open to the public.

At most Canadian universities, the time needed to complete a Ph.D. degree typically ranges from four to six years. It is, however, not uncommon for students to be unable to complete all the requirements within six years, particularly given that funding packages often support students for only two to four years; many departments will allow program extensions at the discretion of the thesis supervisor and/or department chair. Alternate arrangements exist whereby a student is allowed to let their registration in the program lapse at the end of six years and re-register once the thesis is completed in draft form. The general rule is that graduate students are obligated to pay tuition until the initial thesis submission has been received by the thesis office. In other words, if a Ph.D. student defers or delays the initial submission of their thesis they remain obligated to pay fees until such time that the thesis has been received in good standing.

France


Admission
Due to the differences in French education systems in comparison to anglophone systems, students who want to earn the Ph.D. degree must complete a Master of Science program which lasts for 2 years after graduation with a Bachelor's degree (5 years in total).

In France, the Masters program is divided into two branches, Master of Engineering which orients the students towards the working world. On the other hand, a Master of Science orients the students towards research. The Ph.D admission is adopted by a graduate school (in French, "école doctorale"), a Ph.D Student has to follow some courses offered by the graduate school while continuing his/her research at laboratory. His/her research may be carried out in a laboratory, at a university, or in a company. In the last case, the company hires the student as an engineer and the student is supervised by both the company's tutor and a labs' professor. The validation of the Ph.D degree requires generally 3 to 4 years after the Master degree. Consequently, the Ph.D degree is considered in France as a "Bac +8" diploma ."Bac" stands for "Baccalauréat" which is the French High-school diploma.

Funding
The financing of Ph.D studies comes mainly from funds for research of French Ministry of National Education. These grants often depend of the results and the student's file. However, the student can apply for funds from a company who can host him/her at its premise (as in the case where Ph.D students do their research in a company). Other resources come from some regional/city projects, some associations, etc.

Germany


Admission
In Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 a Master
Master's degree

A master's degree provides a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of profession. Within the area studied, graduates possess advanced knowledge of a specialized body of theory and applied topics; high order skills in analysis, Critical thinking and/or professional application; and the ability to problem solving a...
, Diplom
Diplom

Diplom is an academic degree in some European countries including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Estonia, Croatia, Serbia, Education in Ukraine, Belarus, Greece and Hungary....
, Magister
Magister (degree)

Magister is an academic degree used in various systems of higher education....
 or Staatsexamen
Staatsexamen

The is a Germany government licensing examination that future Physicians, teachers, lawyers, judges, public prosecutors and pharmacists have to pass to be allowed to work in their profession....
 (state examination) degree is usually required to gain admission to a doctoral program. Sometimes good grades or a degree in a related field are additional requirements. The candidate must also find a tenured professor or Privatdozent
Privatdozent

Private docent is a title conferred in some European university systems, especially in German language-speaking countries, for someone who pursues an academic career and holds all formal qualifications to become a tenured university professor....
 to serve as the formal advisor on the Dissertation throughout the doctoral program. This advisor is informally termed Doktorvater.

Doctoral programs in Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 generally take three to five years to complete, strongly depending on the subject. Since there are usually no formal classes, and the doctoral candidate mainly conducts independent research under the tutelage of a single professor, a good deal of doctoral candidates work as teaching or research assistants, and are paid a reasonably competitive salary. This is a considerable difference from the situation in many other countries (such as the U. S.) where doctoral candidates are often referred to as Ph.D. "students"; whereas with German candidates, this rather inaccurate term should be avoided.

History
In early university history the Doctorate was awarded as a first degree. It has since evolved into a research degree.

In German
German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
-speaking countries, most Eastern European countries, the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
, most parts of Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
, Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
, and many Spanish
Spanish language

Spanish or Castilian is a Romance languages that originated in northern Spain, and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile and evolved into the principal language of government and trade....
-speaking countries the corresponding degree is simply called "doctor" and is distinguished by subject area with a Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 suffix (e.g. "Dr.med." for , which is a title like a master, unlike a PhD, "Dr.rer.nat" for — Doctor of Science, "Dr. phil." for , "Dr. iur." for , which is not equal to a J.D., etc.).

Norway


Norway was one of the first countries to introduce the Doctor of Philosophy degree, inspired by the German university system. The degree doctor philosophiae
Dr. philos. (Norwegian degree)

Dr. philos., in full doctor philosophiae, is one of the traditional Doctorate awarded by Norway universities, that may be obtained in any field....
, abbreviated dr. philos., was first awarded in 1847. The degree was used for all other fields than theology, law and medicine, which had separate degrees: doctor theologiae, doctor juris and doctor medicinae. In the late 20th century new degrees were created in the fields of natural sciences, humanities and social sciences, but it was still possible to obtain the dr. philos. degree in any field. As the dr. philos. degree was one of the four original doctoral degrees and much older than the specific degrees in natural sciences, humanities and social sciences, it was considered more prestigious by some. Both the dr. philos. degree and the other degrees required four years of high-level scientific research which significantly contributed to new knowledge of its field. Most people who started at a doctoral degree had already studied for five or seven years and obtained a Candidate degree (five years) or a Magister
Magister (degree)

Magister is an academic degree used in various systems of higher education....
 degree (seven years).

Following a reform in 2003, all the traditional degrees except dr. philos. were abolished, and replaced by a new doctor of philosophy degree, spelled philosophiae doctor and abbreviated ph.d. The scientific standard of the ph.d. degree is lower, as it in most cases only requires three years of research.

The traditional degree dr. philos., equivalent of four years of scientific research, is still awarded to those who qualify for such a degree without being admitted to an organized doctoral programme.

United Kingdom


Admission
In principle, a university is free to admit anyone to a Ph.D. programme; however, in practice, admission is usually conditional on the prospective student having successfully completed an undergraduate degree with at least upper second-class honours, or a postgraduate master's degree.

In addition, Ph.D. students from countries outside the EU/EFTA area are required to comply with the Academic Technology Approval Scheme
Academic Technology Approval Scheme

The Academic Technology Approval Scheme is a scheme of the British government for certifying foreign students from outside the European Union for entry into the United Kingdom to study or conduct research in certain technology-related fields....
 (ATAS), which involves undergoing a security clearance process with the Foreign Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO, is the Departments of the United Kingdom Government responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs....
 for certain courses in medicine, mathematics and many natural, engineering and material sciences. This requirement was introduced in 2007 due to concerns about terrorism and weapons proliferation.

Funding
In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, funding for Ph.D. students is sometimes provided by government-funded Research Council
Research Council

The UK Research Councils are government agencies responsible for co-ordinating and funding particular areas of research, including the arts, humanties, all areas of science and engineering....
s or the European Social Fund
European Social Fund

The European Social Fund is the European Union?s main financial instrument for supporting employment in the Member States as well as promoting economic and social cohesion....
, usually in the form of a tax-free
Income tax

An income tax is a tax levied on the financial income of people, corporations, or other legal entities. Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence....
 bursary
Bursary

A bursary is strictly an office for a bursar and his or her staff in a school or college.In modern English usage, the term has become synonymous with "bursary award", a Money award made by an institution to an individual or a group to assist the development of their education or research, intended to cover course related costs such as books...
 which consists of tuition fees together with a stipend
Stipend

A stipend is a form of monetary payment or salary, such as for an internship or apprenticeship. Stipends are usually lower than what would be expected as a permanent salary for similar work....
 of around GBP
Pound sterling

----The pound sterling , subdivided into 100 pence , is the currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown dependency and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and British Antarctic Territory....
 12,940 per year for three years (rising to £14,940 per year in London), whether or not the degree continues for longer. Research Council funding is sometimes 'earmark
Earmark (finance)

In public finance, an earmark is a requirement that all or a portion of a certain source of revenue, such as a particular tax, be devoted to a specific Government spending....
ed' for a particular department or research group, who then allocate it to a chosen student, although in doing so they are generally expected to abide by the usual minimum entry requirements (typically a first degree with upper second class honours, although successful completion of a postgraduate master's degree is usually counted as raising the class of the first degree by one division for these purposes). However, the availability of funding in many disciplines (especially humanities, social studies, and pure science subjects) means that in practice only those with the best research proposals, references and backgrounds are likely to be awarded a studentship. The ESRC (Economic and Social Science Research Council) explicitly state that a 2.1 minimum (or 2.2 plus additional masters degree) is required - no additional marks are given for students with a first class honours or a distinction at masters level.

Since 2002, there has been a move by research councils to fund interdisciplinary doctoral training centres such as MOAC which concentrate on communication between traditional disciplines and an emphasis on transferable skills in addition to research training.

Many students who are not in receipt of external funding may choose to undertake the degree part time, thus reducing the tuition fees, as well as creating free time in which to earn money for subsistence.

Students may also take part in tutoring, work as research assistants, or (occasionally) deliver lectures, at a rate of typically £25–30 per hour, either to supplement existing low income or as a sole means of funding.

Completion
Funding typically lasts for three or four years for PhD students and four years for students earning both their master's degree and PhD degree; there is a usually first-year assessment to remain in the programme and the thesis is submitted at the end of the 3-4 year program. These periods are usually extended pro rata for part-time students. With special dispensation, the final date for the thesis can be extended for up to four additional years, for a total of seven, but it is rare for students to spend more than four years in the programme. Since the early 1990s, the UK funding councils have adopted a policy of penalising departments where large proportions of students fail to submit their theses in four years (or pro rata equivalent) by reducing the number of funded places in subsequent years.

Other doctorates
In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 Ph.D. degrees are distinct from other doctorates, most notably the higher doctorates such as D.Litt.
Doctor of Letters

Doctor of Letters is a university academic degree.In the United Kingdom, Australia, India and certain other countries, the degree is a higher doctorate, above the Doctor of Philosophy , and is issued on the basis of a long record of research and publication....
 (Doctor of Letters) or D.Sc.
Doctor of Science

Doctor of Science , usually abbreviated D.Sc., Sc.D., S.D. or Dr.Sc., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world....
 (Doctor of Science), which are granted on the recommendation of a committee of examiners on the basis of a substantial portfolio of submitted (and usually published) research.

Recent years have seen the introduction of professional doctorates, most notably in the fields of engineering (Eng.D.
Engineering Doctorate

The Engineering Doctorate scheme is a United Kingdom Postgraduate education programme promoted by the United Kingdom Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council ....
), education (Ed.D.), clinical psychology (D.Clin.Psych.),public administration (D.P.A.), business administration (D.B.A.), and music (D.M.A.
Doctor of Musical Arts

The Doctor of Musical Arts degree is a doctorates academic degree in music. The D.M.A. combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization with graduate-level academic study in subjects such as music history, music theory, or music pedagogy....
). These typically have a more formal taught component consisting of smaller research projects, as well as a 40,000-60,000 word thesis component, which collectively is equivalent to that of a Ph.D. degree.

United States


Overview
In the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, the Ph.D. degree is the highest academic degree
Terminal degree

A terminal degree is generally accepted as the highest Academic degree in a field of study. An earned academic doctorate such as a Doctor of Philosophy is considered the terminal degree in most academic fields of study in some countries....
 awarded by universities in most fields of study. The Ph.D. degree is often misunderstood to be synonymous with the term doctorate
Doctorate

A doctorate is an academic degree that in most countries represents the highest level of formal study or research in a given field. In some countries it also refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to practice in a specific profession ....
. While the Ph.D. degree is the most common doctorate, the term doctorate can refer to any number of doctoral degrees in the United States. The U.S. Department of Education and the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering....
 recognize numerous doctoral degrees as "equivalent", and do not discriminate between them.

American students typically undergo a series of three phases in the course of their work toward the Ph.D. degree. The first phase consists of coursework in the student's field of study and requires one to three years to complete. This often is followed by a preliminary, a comprehensive examination, or a series of cumulative examinations where the emphasis is on breadth rather than depth of knowledge. Some Ph.D. programs require the candidate to successfully complete requirements in pedagogy (taking courses on higher level teaching and teaching undergraduate courses) or applied science (e.g., clinical practica and predoctoral clinical internship in Ph.D. programs in clinical or counseling psychology).

Another two to four years are usually required for the composition of a substantial and original contribution to human knowledge in the form of a written dissertation, which in the social sciences and humanities typically ranges from 50 to 450 pages in length. In many cases, depending on the discipline, a dissertation consists of (i) a comprehensive literature review, (ii) an outline of methodology, and (iii) several chapters of scientific, social, historical, philosophical, or literary analysis. Typically, upon completion, the candidate undergoes an oral examination, sometimes public, by his or her supervisory committee with expertise in the given discipline.

As the Ph.D. degree is often a preliminary step toward a career as a professor, throughout the whole period of study and dissertation research the student may be required or at least offered the opportunity, depending on the university and degree, to teach undergraduate or sometimes graduate courses in relevant subjects.

Admission
There are 282 universities in the United States that award the Ph.D. degree, and those universities vary widely in their criteria for admission, as well as the rigor of their academic programs. Typically, Ph.D. programs require applicants to have a Bachelor's degree in a relevant field (and, in rare cases, a master's degree), reasonably high grades, several letters of recommendation, relevant academic coursework, a cogent statement of interest in the field of study, and satisfactory performance on a graduate-level exam specified by the respective program (e.g., GRE, GMAT
Graduate Management Admission Test

The Graduate Management Admission Test is a computer adaptive standardized test in the English language for measuring aptitude to succeed academically in graduate business studies....
). Specific admissions criteria differ substantially according to university admissions policies and fields of study; some programs in well-regarded research universities (i.e., Research 1 universities) may admit less than five percent of applicants and require an exceptional performance on the GRE along with near-perfect grades, strong support in letters of recommendation, substantial research experience, and academically sophisticated samples of their writing.

Master's degree "in passing"
As applicants to many Ph.D. programs are not required to have master's degrees, many programs award a Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts is a Postgraduate education academic degree master degree awarded by University in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in English language, Fine Arts, History, Humanities, Philosophy, Social Sciences or Theology and can be either fully-taught, research-based, or a combination of the two....
 or Master of Science
Master of Science

A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in a large number of countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences and occasionally in the social sciences....
 degree "in passing" or "in course" based on the graduate work done in the course of achieving the Ph.D. Students who receive such master's degrees are usually required to complete a certain amount of coursework and a master's thesis
Thesis

A dissertation is a document that presents the author's research and findings and is submitted in support of candidature for a degree or professional qualification....
. Depending on the specific program, masters-in-passing degrees can be either mandatory or optional. Not all Ph.D. students choose to complete the additional requirements necessary for the M.A. or M.S. if such requirements are not mandated by their programs. Those students will simply obtain the Ph.D. degree at the end of their graduate study.

Some programs also include a Master of Philosophy
Master of Philosophy

The Master of Philosophy is a postgraduate research degree requiring the completion of a thesis. It is a lesser degree than the Doctor of Philosophy or Engineering Doctorate , greater than the Bachelor of Philosophy , and is of greater scope than the Master of Arts and Master of Science degrees....
 degree as part of the Ph.D. program. The M.Phil., in those universities that offer it, is usually awarded after the appropriate M.A. or M.S. (as above) is awarded, and the degree candidate has completed all further requirements for the Ph.D. degree (which may include additional language requirements, course credits, teaching experiences, and comprehensive exams) aside from the writing and defense of the dissertation itself. This formalizes the "all but dissertation" (ABD) status used informally by some students, and represents that the student has achieved a higher level of scholarship than the M.A./M.S. would indicate - as such, the M.Phil. is sometimes a helpful credential for those applying for teaching or research posts while completing their dissertation work for the Ph.D. degree itself.

Time
Depending on the specific field of study, completion of a Ph.D. program usually takes four to eight years of study after the Bachelor's Degree
Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or major that generally lasts for three, four, or in some cases and countries, five or six years....
; those students who begin a Ph.D. program with a master's degree may complete their Ph.D. degree a year or two sooner. As Ph.D. programs typically lack the formal structure of undergraduate education, there are significant individual differences in the time taken to complete the degree. Many U.S. universities have set a ten-year limit for students in Ph.D. programs, or refuse to consider graduate credit older than ten years as counting towards a Ph.D. degree. Similarly, students may be required to re-take the comprehensive exam if they do not defend their dissertations within five years of taking it. Overall, 57% of students who begin a Ph.D. program in the US will complete their degree within ten years, approximately 30% will drop out or be dismissed, and the remaining 13% of students will continue on past ten years.

Funding
Doctoral students are usually discouraged from engaging in external employment during the course of their graduate training. As a result, Ph.D. students at U.S. universities typically receive a tuition waiver and some form of annual stipend. The source and amount of funding varies from field to field and university to university. Many U.S. graduate students work as teaching assistant
Teaching assistant

A teaching assistant is an individual who assists a professor or teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include graduate teaching assistants , who are graduate school students; undergraduate teaching assistants , who are undergraduate students; secondary school TAs, who are either high school students or adults; and elementary sch...
s or research assistant
Research assistant

A Research Assistant is a junior graduate student scholar, employed on a temporary contract by a college or university or a non-university research institution, for the purpose of academic research....
s while they are doctoral students. Graduate schools increasingly encourage their students to seek outside funding; many are supported by fellowships they obtain for themselves or by their advisers' research grants from government agencies such as the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering....
 and the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health

The National Institutes of Health is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research....
. Many Ivy League
Ivy League

The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of university in the Northeastern United States. The term is most commonly used to refer to those eight schools considered as a group....
 and other well-endowed universities provide funding for the entire duration of the degree program (if it is short) or for most of it.

Ph.D. candidacy
A Ph.D. Candidate (sometimes called Candidate of Philosophy
Candidate of Philosophy

Candidate of Philosophy is any of the following academic degrees: a Bachelor's level, Master's level, higher than Master's level, or Doctorate level degree, depending on the country....
) is a postgraduate student at the doctoral level who has successfully satisfied the requirements for doctoral studies, except for the final thesis or dissertation. As such, a Ph.D. Candidate is sometimes called an "ABD" (All But Dissertation). Although a minor distinction in postgraduate study, achieving Ph.D Candidacy is not without benefit. For example, Ph.D. Candidate status may coincide with an increase in the student's monthly stipend and may make the student eligible for additional employment opportunities.

Models of supervision

At some universities, there may be training for those wishing to supervise Ph.D. studies. There is now a lot of literature published for academics who wish to do this, such as Delamont, Atkinson and Parry (1997). Indeed, Dinham and Scott (2001) have argued that the worldwide growth in research students has been matched by increase in a number of what they term "how-to" texts for both students and supervisors, citing examples such as Pugh and Phillips (1987). These authors report empirical data on the benefits that Ph.D. students may gain if they publish their work, and note that Ph.D. students are more likely to do this with adequate encouragement from their supervisors.

Wisker (2005) has noticed how research into this field has distinguished between two models of supervision: The technical-rationality model of supervision, emphasising technique; The negotiated order model, being less mechanistic and emphasising fluid and dynamic change in the Ph.D. process. These two models were first distinguished by Acker, Hill and Black (1994; cited in Wisker, 2005). Considerable literature exists on the expectations that supervisors may have of their students (Phillips & Pugh, 1987) and the expectations that students may have of their supervisors (Phillips & Pugh, 1987; Wilkinson, 2005) in the course of Ph.D. supervision. Similar expectations are implied by the Quality Assurance Agency's Code for Supervision (Quality Assurance Agency, 1999; cited in Wilkinson, 2005).

See also

International Ph.D. Equivalent Degrees:

  • Belgium (Dutch-speaking): Doctor
    Doctor (title)

    Doctor means teacher in Latin language. The word is originally an agentive noun of the verb docere . It has been used continuously as an honored academic title for over a millennium in Europe, where it dates back to the rise of the university....
  • Belgium (French-speaking): Doctorat
  • Brazil: Doutorado
  • France: Doctorat
    Doctorate

    A doctorate is an academic degree that in most countries represents the highest level of formal study or research in a given field. In some countries it also refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to practice in a specific profession ....
  • Greece: ??da?t?????
  • Italy: dottorato di ricerca
    Dottorato di ricerca

    The dottorato di ricerca is the highest Italy academic degree, the formal equivalent of a Ph.D..The dottorato is a relatively recent addition to the Italian academic landscape, having been instituted in 1980....
  • Latin America: Doctorado/Doctorate
    Doctorate

    A doctorate is an academic degree that in most countries represents the highest level of formal study or research in a given field. In some countries it also refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to practice in a specific profession ....
  • Mexico: Doctorado
  • Poland: Doktor
  • Portugal: Doutoramento
  • Spain: Doctorado
  • Turkey: Doktora


Other Degrees:
  • Doctorate
    Doctorate

    A doctorate is an academic degree that in most countries represents the highest level of formal study or research in a given field. In some countries it also refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to practice in a specific profession ....
     - A general term describing a set of degrees analogous to the Ph.D.
  • Terminal degree
    Terminal degree

    A terminal degree is generally accepted as the highest Academic degree in a field of study. An earned academic doctorate such as a Doctor of Philosophy is considered the terminal degree in most academic fields of study in some countries....
     - The highest degree awarded in a field, usually a Ph.D.
  • Graduate student - A student pursuing education past the bachelor's degree, such as Masters Degree or a Ph.D.
  • C.Phil. (also ABD) - Term, usually used unofficially, for a graduate student who has completed all Ph.D. coursework but has yet to defend his or her dissertation.
  • Kandidat
    Kandidat

    Kandidat nauk or Candidate of Sciences is a first post-graduate academic degree in the former Soviet Union and in some Post-Soviet states and East European countries, awarded for a dissertation....
     - Degree awarded by USSR and post-Soviet states.
  • Licentiate
    Licentiate

    Licentiate is the title of a person who holds an academic degree called a license. This degree exists in various African, Asian, European and Latin American countries but can represent different educational levels....
     - Degree awarded in various countries, including Portugal
    Portugal

    Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
    , Belgium
    Belgium

    * A small German-speaking Community of Belgium exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the history of Belgium and a complex Communities and regions of Belgium....
    , the UK, Argentina
    Argentina

    Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is a country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city....
    , Germany
    Germany

    Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
    , Switzerland
    Switzerland

    Switzerland is a landlocked Swiss Alps country of roughly 7.7 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km?. Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called Cantons of Switzerland....
    , Sweden
    Sweden

    Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
    , Finland
    Finland

    Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic countries situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland....
    , Australia
    Australia

    Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
    , New Zealand
    New Zealand

    New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
    , Mexico
    Mexico

    The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
     and Poland
    Poland

    Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....
    .
  • Sandwich PhD Programme
    Sandwich PhD Programme

    A Sandwich PhD Programme, aka Partial Doctoral Fellowship or ?Sandwich Doctorate?, is a Postgraduate PhD program offered by some research institutions in collaboration with a research institution....


Ph.D. in popular culture:
  • Piled Higher and Deeper
    Piled Higher and Deeper

    Piled Higher and Deeper is a newspaper and web comic strip written and drawn by Jorge Cham that follows the lives of several grad students....
     - Life (or the lack thereof) in Academia, a comic strip by Jorge Cham


External links

  • (1.9MiB)
  • Contains information/links of more general relevance than mathematics.