ADoctor of Science (Latin:Scientiae Doctor; most commonly abbreviatedDSc orScD) is a sciencedoctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. A Doctor of Science (DSc) degree signifies advanced expertise and significant contributions to a scientific or technical field. It is often seen as a more practice-oriented counterpart to thePhD, emphasizing applied research, innovation, and practical impact. In some countries, like the UK, Australia and New Zealand, the DSc is a higher doctorate, awarded for exceptional achievements and lifetime scholarly contributions.
In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the state award a "Doctorate" in all fields of science and humanities, equivalent to a PhD in the United Kingdom or United States.
Some universities in these four North African countries award a "Doctorate of the State" in some fields of study and science. A "Doctorate of the State" is slightly higher in esteem than a regular doctorate, and is awarded after performing additional in-depth post-doctorate research or achievement.[citation needed]
Similarly to in the US and most of Europe, Japanese universities offer both the PhD and the ScD as initial doctorates in science.
In India only a few prestigious universities offer ScD/DSc in science which is obtained in Graduate School after satisfactory evaluation of knowledge, research accomplishment, and a doctoral defence. The oldest institute to award aDSc degree in India isRajabazar Science College,University of Calcutta.[1]
Higher education institutes in Thailand generally grant PhD as a doctoral research degree, some universities includingChulalongkorn University award DSc. In exception,Mahidol University can grant both PhD and DSc. Doctoral students in Faculty of Science are always awarded PhD, but some other programs award DSc.[specify][citation needed]
DSc or PhD degrees are awarded after dissertation and fulfilling the required publication number.[2] In order to qualify for DSc, one is required to have attained a PhD. The higher education institutes in Uzbekistan also grant DSc degrees. As an example, the National University of Uzbekistan and the Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences offer DSc in various fields.
In Germany, Austria, and theGerman-speaking region of Switzerland, common doctoral degrees in science are the following:
In these countries there are some related doctoral degrees with very similar names, these are the:
All of these doctoral degrees are equivalent to the PhD or ScD of the American system. UntilGerman Reunification, universities in East Germany also awarded the Dr Sc. However, the East German Dr Sc was not equivalent to the PhD since it was adopted to replace the GermanHabilitation and therefore was equivalent to this higher-level qualification. After reunification the Habilitation was reintroduced at universities in Eastern Germany.
The procedure ofhabilitation is normally required to receive officially the "venia docendi", which entitles the candidate to lecture at universities (Privatdozent, for men, orPrivatdozentin, for women). The academic degree after the successful habilitation is e.g. Dr. rer. nat. habil., by adding the suffix "habil." to the earlier received Doctors degree.
In Switzerland, the Dr sc. is a doctoral degree awarded only by the twoSwiss Federal Institutes of Technology (EPFL andETHZ),[6] theUniversity of Fribourg and the Department of Informatics of theUniversity of Zurich.[7] The Swiss Dr sc., like the DSc in the US, is equivalent to the PhD. It is earned with the approval of a committee on the basis of original research, publications, and extensive applied professional contributions and is awarded in doctoral level science and technology programs. Since 2004 the Dr sc. is the only doctoral degree awarded by theETH Zurich. TheÉcole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne awards the degreeDocteur ès sciences, abbreviatedDr ès sc.and translated into English as PhD.[8]
In Poland higher doctorate isHabilitation (habilitated doctor, doctor with habilitation) (doktor habilitowany ordr hab. in Polish) is the degree higher than PhD and it is awarded for substantial accomplishments in academic teaching, research and service after getting the PhD degree (usually up to 8 years of original research and multiple publications inpeer reviewedscientific journals andmonograph, habilitationdissertation after PhD). It is similar to habilitation degree in Germany and Austria. It is also similar (in terms of requirements) to associate professor with tenure.
After achieving high degrees and rich research or artistic achievements, including as anacademic teacher,lecturer, one can apply to become aprofessor.
ThePresident of Poland awards ascientist also inengineering (engineer) orartist the scientific title of professor (tytuł naukowy profesora) and the title of professor of art (tytuł profesora sztuki), respectively, in recognition of their scientific achievements and contributions toscience,technology, and respectively their achievements inart and contributions to art. These titles are not academic/scientific or art degrees. However, possession of high degrees is required to receive the title.Habilitation has been a mandatory requirement for many years to apply for professorship in Poland.
In Ireland, the United Kingdom and the countries of theCommonwealth, such as Australia, New Zealand and India (in theIndian Institute of Technology, Bombay), the degree of Doctor of Science (DSc or ScD) is one of theHigher Doctorates. In some older universities it typically has precedence after Divinity, Laws or Civil Law, Medicine, and Letters, and above Music. The degree is conferred on a member of the university who has a proven record of internationally recognised scholarship. A candidate for the degree will usually be required to submit a selection of their publications that follow a consistent theme to the board of the appropriate faculty, which will decide if the candidate merits this accolade.[9] Quite often they will need to be a doctoral graduate of at least ten years' standing and have a substantial research association with the awarding university.[9]
The first University to admit an individual to this degree was theUniversity of London in 1860.[10] In 1893Maria Gordon (née Ogilvie) was the first woman to receive this degree.[11]
In former times the doctorate in science was regarded as a greater distinction than a professorial chair and hence a professor who was also a DSc would be known as Doctor. The Doctor of Science may also be awarded as an honorary degree, that is, given to individuals who have made extensive contributions to a particular field and not for specific academic accomplishments. It is usual to signify this by adding DSc h.c. (forhonoris causa).
In the Czech Republic and Slovakia "Doctor of Sciences" (DrSc behind the name), established in 1953, is equivalent to the degree of Doctor of Science in the sense in which the DSc is used in the Commonwealth. It is the highest academic qualification, different from both PhD and PhDr. titles. In the Czech Republic, DrSc has not been awarded since 2001; instead, since 2006, a "Doctor of Sciences" degree (DSc behind the name) has been awarded, not by universities but by theCzech Academy of Sciences mostly for research in the field of natural or formal science. In Slovakia, "Doctor of Sciences" (DrSc) is awarded by theSlovak Academy of Sciences.
In Hungary, "Doctor of Sciences" (DSc) is a higher doctorate degree and it is awarded by theHungarian Academy of Sciences.
In Finland, most doctoral degrees awarded in the fields of natural sciences, technology and economics are termed DSc degrees in English, with a suffix indicating the field of study. However, there is no translation of the termDoctor of Science to Finnish. For example, the proper translation for the doctorate in technology (tekniikan tohtori) would be DSc (Tech), whereas a doctorate in economics and business administration (kauppatieteiden tohtori) would be translated as DSc (Econ). When conversing or writing in English, the prefixDr may be used to address a holder of a doctoral degree awarded in Finland. The degrees are equivalent tofilosofian tohtori (FT, English: PhD), but FT is usually awarded only in general sciences, not in specializations like engineering, economics or medicine.
In France, the Doctor of Sciences degree (doctorat en sciences also calleddoctorat d'État) was ahigher doctorate in the fields of experimental and natural sciences, superseded in 1984 by thehabilitation.
In Denmark, Dr Scient. is a higher doctorate.
In Bulgaria, "Doctor" (PhD) is the highest education level and first science degree. Doctor of Sciences (DrSc) is the second and the highest science degree.
In Russia, the status of RussianDoktor Nauk (literally 'Doctor of Sciences') is considered a higher scientific degree. The equivalent to PhD is "Kandidat Nauk" (literally 'Candidate [for Doctor] of Science')
In the formerYugoslavia, (Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Slovenia, North Macedonia),[12] titledoktor nauka ordoktor znanosti (literally "doctor of science") is used in a much broader sense than DSc, simply referring to a field of academic study – from art history (doktor znanosti/nauka povijesti umjetnosti), philosophy (doktor znanosti/nauka filozofije), and literary studies (doktor znanosti/nauka književnosti) to hard sciences such as molecular biology (doktor znanosti/nauka molekularne biologije). It is therefore formally recognized as a PhD degree.
Starting in 2016,[13] inUkraine Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ukrainian:Доктор філософії) is the highest education level and first science degree. "Doctor of Sciences" (DSc Ukrainian:Доктор наук) is the second and the highest science degree, awarded in recognition of a substantial contribution to scientific knowledge, origination of new directions and visions in science. Since 2016, a PhD degree is one of the prerequisites for heading a university department in Ukraine.
InBelarus "Doctor of Sciences" (DSc, Belarusian:Доктар навук) is the highest level of education that follows a PhD. Is awarded byThe Higher Attestation Commission under the aegis of thePresident of the Republic of Belarus.
In the United States, the formally recognized traditionalDoctor of Science is an academic researchdoctoral degree awarded by research universities. The academic research ScD (or DSc) is not higher than a PhD as is the case in some European countries.[14]
The first North American ScD was inaugurated byHarvard University in 1872, when graduate studies first began at Harvard, and where the PhD and ScD degrees were introduced in the same year.[15] The Doctor of Science research degree is earned with the formal dissertation defense and approval of a committee on the basis of original research and publications, and it is awarded predominantly in doctoral-level science programs, such as engineering, medical and health sciences, andhealth economics.[16]
Although rarer than the Doctor of Philosophy, the Doctor of Science is awarded by institutions including:
A few university doctoral research programs offer both the Doctor of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in the same academic field, such asJohns Hopkins University andMassachusetts Institute of Technology,[21][22] with identical requirements for obtaining either. Research programs that offer the formal research ScD but not the PhD degree for a given field include several doctoral programs atHarvard University,[34]Boston University,[citation needed]Capitol Technology University,[35][36][37] andTexas Tech University Health Sciences Center[citation needed]. TheUniversity of Baltimore, School of Information Arts and Technologies offers a DSc degree in Information and Interaction Design, a program focused on usable design/user experience (UX) and Human Computer Interaction (HCI).[38]
There are programs where the Doctor of Science and Doctor of Philosophy have different degree requirements, though the two degrees are officially considered equivalent. The Engineering school atWashington University in St. Louis, for example, requires four more graduate courses in the DSc program, which can be completed in one year in conjunction with research duties, while the PhD requires teaching assistance services. TheJohns Hopkins University also offers both PhD and ScD in certain programs,[39] with only minor differences in university administration of the degrees. In some institutions, the ScD has been converted to the PhD.[40] For instance, the doctoral degree inbiostatistics at Harvard recently converted from ScD to PhD, even though the doctoral degree structure and requirements have remained identical.[40]
In Mexico the PhD level is considered a doctoral degree (level 8) similar to the doctorate degrees in Canada and the United States. TheDoctor of Sciences degree is instead recognized as aHigher Degree (Grado Propio).
In Costa Rica, doctorates are the highest academic degrees awarded by a university. They are focused on research and accessible only after the study of an academic Master's degree (as opposed to a professional Master's degree, intended for practical subjects).[41] TheUniversity of Costa Rica, for example, offers a generalDoctor of Sciences degree for students of all natural and exact sciences, aDoctor of Engineering degree for students of Engineering (in cooperation with theCosta Rica Institute of Technology), and a few other doctorate programs on applied sciences (for example, in Agricultural Sciences or Informatics).[42]
InArgentina the formal titleDoctor of Science would be attributed to different fields of the hard or soft sciences. To get into an Argentine PhD program the applicant must have experience in research and at least an Engineering,Licentiate or master's degree:[43]
In Brazil only the Doctor in Sciences (DSc) category is recognized as a higher doctorate,[44] generally followed by the concentration area (program field).
This kind of doctorate is obtained in Graduate School after satisfactory evaluation of knowledge, research accomplishment, and thesis defense. This doctorate is comparable to a PhD program found in other countries. In the state of São Paulo, the doctorate title is the second highest academic title given by the state's universities (University of São Paulo (USP), State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and São Paulo State University (UNESP)) and most Federal Universities, such as the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP). In those universities, the highest academic title conferred is thePortuguese:Livre-Docência.
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