Magister (degree)
Encyclopedia
Magister is an academic degree
used in various systems of higher education.
, the Master of Science or Magister (Mg, Ma, Mag, MSc) is a postgraduate degree of two to four years of duration by depending on each university's statutes. The admission to a Master program (Castilian: Maestría) in an Argentine University requires the full completion of an undergraduate degree, as well Licentiate
's degree as Professorate degree of four to five years long from any recognized university. Under the accomplishment of the Magister Scietiæ thesis dissertation, that in years of formal education, is generally equivalent to a Ph.D.
or Doctorate
in universities of North America or Europe given the Bologna
comparison system among academic programs.
, Bulgaria
, the Czech Republic
, Germany
, Poland
, Ukraine
, Latvia
, Lithuania
and Slovakia
obtaining the Magister requires at least four to six years of study including coursework and a final thesis
, similar to a Diplom
degree. Magisters tend to be awarded in the humanities and the social sciences, while Diploms dominate in the natural sciences and in engineering.
Since the introduction of the Bologna Process
in 2005 the Magister was replaced with the graduate master degree, which is designed to take 4(-6) years (including the undergraduate 3-year Bachelor degree).
. The degree usually lasts about 5–6 years and is structured into Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced progressional components. Since the introduction of the Bologna Process
in 2005, the Magister has been broken into bachelor (formerly Basic/Intermediate) and master (formerly Advanced) components. However, the vast majority of students continue right through to complete the master degree and, in effect, the duration and extent of the old Magister degree remains much as it was.
In Sweden
, magister (filosofie magister) historically was the highest degree at the faculties of philosophy and was equivalent to the doctorate used in theology, law and medicine. The degree was abolished in 1863, and replaced with the Doctor of Philosophy
. The magister degrees used in Denmark and Norway most closely resemble this degree.
Magister has since referred to several degrees in Sweden which are unrelated to the original magister degree and unrelated to the magister degrees in the other Scandinavian countries. Some universities conferred a degree called magister between 1908 and 1969, which was roughly comparable to a master's degree.
A new undergraduate magister degree, requiring at least 4 years of studies, was introduced in 1993. In 2007, this degree was replaced with a 1-year graduate degree which requires three years of undergraduate studies. It is officially translated into either Master of Arts
, Master of Social Science
or Master of Science
depending on the subject.
and Norway
the Magister's degree was situated between the Candidate's (a degree that traditionally required 6 years of studies) and doctoral degrees (higher doctorates by British standards). In modern times, the Magister's degree typically required 7–8 years of studies, with strong emphasis on the scientific thesis.
Two main forms of the Magister's degree existed: Mag. Art. (abbreviation of the Latin , "teacher of the arts"), if the degree was earned in humanities
or social sciences, and Mag. Scient. for Natural Science
. In Denmark
, there was also a third degree in sociology, Mag. Scient. Soc. The Magister's degree is no longer awarded today. The Mag. Scient. degree was discontinued in the 1970s and the Mag. Art. degree programs ceased immatriculating students in 2007, but was rarely used since the 1990s.
The degree was originally introduced in Denmark-Norway in 1479, as the highest degree at the Faculty of Philosophy, and was equivalent to the doctoral degrees in Theology, Law and Medicine. It was replaced by the Doctor Philosophiae degree as the highest degree at the Faculty of Philosophy in both countries in 1824. In 1848, a new Magister's degree was introduced in Denmark as a supplement to the existing Candidate's degree programs, mainly extending the thesis portion of the Candidate's degree (the Candidate's degree being a somewhat higher degree than a Master's, historically requiring 6 years of studies). The new Magister's degree was originally formally known as Magisterkonferens, "Magister Counselor". The program was designed to be preparation for finding employment as a researcher. Sometimes the degree was obtained after the Candidate's degree had been obtained. The Magister's degrees, modelled after the Danish ones, were introduced in Norway in the early 1920s.
A Norwegian Magister's degree required a 3-year scientific thesis of high quality, and is considered "approximately equivalent to an American Ph.D." Also in Denmark the Magister's degree is considered a degree at the same level as a PhD.
Both American PhDs and German doctorates have been found to be equivalent to Danish and Norwegian Magister's degrees on several occasions. In Denmark and Norway, those obtaining the traditional doctorates are often already well-established academics, often (full) professors, and the traditional doctorates are considered as higher doctorates, comparable to the Central European Habilitation
or the British D.Sc. or D.Litt. degrees.
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
, Serbia
, Croatia
, Macedonia
and other countries once part of Yugoslavia
, before the implementation of the Bologna process
, the magistar nauka/znanosti (Magister of Science) was a research-oriented degree awarded for 2 or 3 years of study following the diplom
a degree (which lasted 4 to 5 years) and the defense of a magistarski rad (magister's thesis). In order to be promoted to doktor nauka/znanosti (Doctor of Science), a magistar was supposed to write and defend a doctoral thesis
. Magistar um(j)etnosti (Magister of Arts) was a terminal degree
in music
performance
, acting
and visual arts
.
In Serbia, by decision of the Serbian Parliament (Odredba stava 2.), the status of those graduated before the Bologna process is now equivalent with Masters Degree graduates in the EU. Magister's degree has been considered as equivalent of the first two years of three years doctoral studies. In Croatia, the statuses are regulated by a new law from 2007 and a new classification from 2008.
Entering 'Magistar" studies was a highly selective process. Only students with high GPA were eligible for these kind of studies. Mostly, those were preselected students who were employed at Universities.
This kind of degree entitles one to be considered as PhD candidate. He or she can immediately start working on a dissertation. The person with this kind of degree completed overall 4 + 3 years of education (humanities, science etc.) or 5 + 3 (engineering) years of education after high school. Two years were related to the coursework only. After two years of coursework and research, the thesis was completed in a year or two after the coursework, although it roughly depended on a workload of an average graduate student who is considered to be a faculty member with teaching responsibilities (which can be up to 16 hours per week of a teaching load).
After the Bologna process, previous undergraduate education has been reformed. Current students that are in a 3- or 4-year Bachelor program and 1–2 Master program have to complete PhD requirements before writing their dissertation. They have to complete the coursework and pass preliminary exams. Students with Magistar degree have no such requirements. They have to do the research only related to the dissertation.
, a magistère was a highly selective three-year course. To enter the course the student was required to obtain top-level grades at his Diplôme d'études universitaires générales (two-year first university degree). Due to the Bologna process
, magistères are substituted by master's degrees. The most prestigious French universities still offer "magistères" in Law, Economics, or Sciences, which are open to the highest-ranked students at the end of the first two years of studies.
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
used in various systems of higher education.
Argentina
In ArgentinaArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, the Master of Science or Magister (Mg, Ma, Mag, MSc) is a postgraduate degree of two to four years of duration by depending on each university's statutes. The admission to a Master program (Castilian: Maestría) in an Argentine University requires the full completion of an undergraduate degree, as well Licentiate
Licentiate
Licentiate is the title of a person who holds an academic degree called a licence. The term may derive from the Latin licentia docendi, meaning permission to teach. The term may also derive from the Latin licentia ad practicandum, which signified someone who held a certificate of competence to...
's degree as Professorate degree of four to five years long from any recognized university. Under the accomplishment of the Magister Scietiæ thesis dissertation, that in years of formal education, is generally equivalent to a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
or Doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in universities of North America or Europe given the Bologna
Bologna process
The purpose of the Bologna Process is the creation of 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...
comparison system among academic programs.
Central Europe and Eastern Europe
In AustriaAustria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe 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 exclave, to the north...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
and Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
obtaining the Magister requires at least four to six years of study including coursework and a final thesis
Thesis
A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
, similar to a Diplom
Diplom
A Diplom is an academic degree in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a similarly named degree in some other European countries including Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Estonia, Finland , Greece, Hungary, Russia, Serbia, Macedonia, Slovenia, and Ukraine...
degree. Magisters tend to be awarded in the humanities and the social sciences, while Diploms dominate in the natural sciences and in engineering.
Since the introduction of the Bologna Process
Bologna process
The purpose of the Bologna Process is the creation of 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...
in 2005 the Magister was replaced with the graduate master degree, which is designed to take 4(-6) years (including the undergraduate 3-year Bachelor degree).
Finland and Sweden
In Finland and Sweden, the Magister (fin. Maisteri) is by far the most prevalent form of masters degree traditionally taken as a first degreeUndergraduate degree
An undergraduate degree is a colloquial term for an academic degree taken by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. It is usually offered at an institution of higher education, such as a university...
. The degree usually lasts about 5–6 years and is structured into Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced progressional components. Since the introduction of the Bologna Process
Bologna process
The purpose of the Bologna Process is the creation of 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...
in 2005, the Magister has been broken into bachelor (formerly Basic/Intermediate) and master (formerly Advanced) components. However, the vast majority of students continue right through to complete the master degree and, in effect, the duration and extent of the old Magister degree remains much as it was.
In Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, magister (filosofie magister) historically was the highest degree at the faculties of philosophy and was equivalent to the doctorate used in theology, law and medicine. The degree was abolished in 1863, and replaced with the Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
. The magister degrees used in Denmark and Norway most closely resemble this degree.
Magister has since referred to several degrees in Sweden which are unrelated to the original magister degree and unrelated to the magister degrees in the other Scandinavian countries. Some universities conferred a degree called magister between 1908 and 1969, which was roughly comparable to a master's degree.
A new undergraduate magister degree, requiring at least 4 years of studies, was introduced in 1993. In 2007, this degree was replaced with a 1-year graduate degree which requires three years of undergraduate studies. It is officially translated into either Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
, Master of Social Science
Master of Social Science
A Master of Social Science is a taught Master's degree which has a number of different meanings dependent upon the education system in question.-Finland & Sweden :...
or Master of Science
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
depending on the subject.
Denmark and Norway
In DenmarkDenmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
the Magister's degree was situated between the Candidate's (a degree that traditionally required 6 years of studies) and doctoral degrees (higher doctorates by British standards). In modern times, the Magister's degree typically required 7–8 years of studies, with strong emphasis on the scientific thesis.
Two main forms of the Magister's degree existed: Mag. Art. (abbreviation of the Latin , "teacher of the arts"), if the degree was earned in humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
or social sciences, and Mag. Scient. for Natural Science
Natural science
The natural sciences are branches of science that seek to elucidate the rules that govern the natural world by using empirical and scientific methods...
. In Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, there was also a third degree in sociology, Mag. Scient. Soc. The Magister's degree is no longer awarded today. The Mag. Scient. degree was discontinued in the 1970s and the Mag. Art. degree programs ceased immatriculating students in 2007, but was rarely used since the 1990s.
The degree was originally introduced in Denmark-Norway in 1479, as the highest degree at the Faculty of Philosophy, and was equivalent to the doctoral degrees in Theology, Law and Medicine. It was replaced by the Doctor Philosophiae degree as the highest degree at the Faculty of Philosophy in both countries in 1824. In 1848, a new Magister's degree was introduced in Denmark as a supplement to the existing Candidate's degree programs, mainly extending the thesis portion of the Candidate's degree (the Candidate's degree being a somewhat higher degree than a Master's, historically requiring 6 years of studies). The new Magister's degree was originally formally known as Magisterkonferens, "Magister Counselor". The program was designed to be preparation for finding employment as a researcher. Sometimes the degree was obtained after the Candidate's degree had been obtained. The Magister's degrees, modelled after the Danish ones, were introduced in Norway in the early 1920s.
A Norwegian Magister's degree required a 3-year scientific thesis of high quality, and is considered "approximately equivalent to an American Ph.D." Also in Denmark the Magister's degree is considered a degree at the same level as a PhD.
Both American PhDs and German doctorates have been found to be equivalent to Danish and Norwegian Magister's degrees on several occasions. In Denmark and Norway, those obtaining the traditional doctorates are often already well-established academics, often (full) professors, and the traditional doctorates are considered as higher doctorates, comparable to the Central European Habilitation
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...
or the British D.Sc. or D.Litt. degrees.
Former territories of Yugoslavia
In SloveniaSlovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
and other countries once part of Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
, before the implementation of the Bologna process
Bologna process
The purpose of the Bologna Process is the creation of 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...
, the magistar nauka/znanosti (Magister of Science) was a research-oriented degree awarded for 2 or 3 years of study following the diplom
Diplom
A Diplom is an academic degree in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a similarly named degree in some other European countries including Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Estonia, Finland , Greece, Hungary, Russia, Serbia, Macedonia, Slovenia, and Ukraine...
a degree (which lasted 4 to 5 years) and the defense of a magistarski rad (magister's thesis). In order to be promoted to doktor nauka/znanosti (Doctor of Science), a magistar was supposed to write and defend a doctoral thesis
Thesis
A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
. Magistar um(j)etnosti (Magister of Arts) was a terminal degree
Terminal degree
A terminal degree is, in some countries, the highest academic degree in a given field of study. This phrase is in common use in the United States, but is not universal in an international context: the concept is not in general use in the United Kingdom, for example, and the exact definition varies...
in music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
performance
Performance
A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which a performer or group of performers behave in a particular way for another group of people, the audience. Choral music and ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience...
, acting
Acting
Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....
and visual arts
Visual arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
.
In Serbia, by decision of the Serbian Parliament (Odredba stava 2.), the status of those graduated before the Bologna process is now equivalent with Masters Degree graduates in the EU. Magister's degree has been considered as equivalent of the first two years of three years doctoral studies. In Croatia, the statuses are regulated by a new law from 2007 and a new classification from 2008.
Entering 'Magistar" studies was a highly selective process. Only students with high GPA were eligible for these kind of studies. Mostly, those were preselected students who were employed at Universities.
This kind of degree entitles one to be considered as PhD candidate. He or she can immediately start working on a dissertation. The person with this kind of degree completed overall 4 + 3 years of education (humanities, science etc.) or 5 + 3 (engineering) years of education after high school. Two years were related to the coursework only. After two years of coursework and research, the thesis was completed in a year or two after the coursework, although it roughly depended on a workload of an average graduate student who is considered to be a faculty member with teaching responsibilities (which can be up to 16 hours per week of a teaching load).
After the Bologna process, previous undergraduate education has been reformed. Current students that are in a 3- or 4-year Bachelor program and 1–2 Master program have to complete PhD requirements before writing their dissertation. They have to complete the coursework and pass preliminary exams. Students with Magistar degree have no such requirements. They have to do the research only related to the dissertation.
France
In FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, a magistère was a highly selective three-year course. To enter the course the student was required to obtain top-level grades at his Diplôme d'études universitaires générales (two-year first university degree). Due to the Bologna process
Bologna process
The purpose of the Bologna Process is the creation of 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...
, magistères are substituted by master's degrees. The most prestigious French universities still offer "magistères" in Law, Economics, or Sciences, which are open to the highest-ranked students at the end of the first two years of studies.