A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a higher science doctorate 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 and is often seen as a more practice-oriented counterpart to the PhD, emphasizing applied research, innovation, and practical impact. In some countries, like the UK, Australia, India and New Zealand, the DSc is a superior higher doctorate, awarded for exceptional achievements through community work or lifetime scholarly contributions as an ultimate terminal degree of the highest order.
Africa
Algeria and Morocco 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.
Asia
Japan
Similarly to in the US and most of Europe, Japanese universities offer both the PhD and the ScD as initial doctorates in science.
India In India a few private and government universities offer a DSc degree which goes through rigorous evaluation by a scientific committee prior to being conferred after assessing knowledge, academic contributions, community/social impact independently.
Some universities who offer a DSc are Banaras Hindu University, SR University, University of Delhi.
Thailand Higher education institutes in Thailand generally grant a PhD as a doctoral research degree, some universities including Chulalongkorn University award a DSc. In exception, Mahidol University can grant both PhD and DSc. Doctoral students in Faculty of Science are always awarded a PhD, but some other programs award a DSc.
Uzbekistan DSc or PhD degrees are awarded after dissertation and fulfilling the required publication number. 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.
Europe
Austria, Germany, and Switzerland In Germany, Austria, and the German-speaking region of Switzerland, common doctoral degrees in science are the following: Dr. techn.: Doctor technicae, awarded by Austrian technical universities. In German: "Doktor der technischen Wissenschaften" which translates to Doctor of Engineering Sciences, or Doctor of Science, or Doctor of Technical Sciences, or Doctor of Technology. Dr.techn. title is also awarded in Denmark. Dr. rer. nat.: Doctor rerum naturalium, literally "Doctor of the things of nature" Dr. rer. medic.: Doctor rerum medicarum, Doctor of medical sciences Dr. sc. med.: Doctor scientiarum medicarum, Doctor of science in medicine Dr. sc. nat.: Doktor der Naturwissenschaften, Doctor of Natural Sciences Dr. sc. ETH: Doktor der Naturwissenschaften ETH, Doctor of Natural Sciences, awarded by ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Dr. phil. nat.: Doctor philosophiae naturalis, used only by Goethe University Frankfurt instead of Dr rer. nat; Doctor of Natural Sciences, awarded by Swiss universities. Dr.-Ing.: Doktor der Ingenieurwissenschaften (Doctor of Engineering), awarded by German universities in areas of technology and engineering. Dr. mont.: Doctor rerum montanarum, awarded by the University of Leoben instead of Dr. techn. Dr. nat. techn.: Doctor rerum naturalium technicarum, awarded by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna instead of Dr. techn.
In these countries there are some related doctoral degrees with very similar names, these are the:
Dr. sc. agr.: Doctor scientiarum agrariarum, Doctor of Agricultural science Dr. sc. hum.: Doctor scientiarum humanarum, Doctor of Humanistic Sciences Dr. sc. inf.: Doctor scientiarum informaticarum, Doctor of Science in Informatics Dr. sc. inf. med.: Doctor scientiarum informaticarum medicæ, Doctor of Science in Medical Informatics Dr. sc. inf. biomed.: Doctor scientiarum informaticarum biomedicæ, Doctor of Science in Biomedical Informatics Dr. sc. math.: Doctor scientiarum mathematicarum, Doctor of Mathematics Dr. scient. med.: Doctor scientiæ medicæ, Doctor of Medical Sciences Dr. sc. mus.: Doctor scientiae musicae, Doctor of Musicology Dr. sc. oec.: Doctor scientiarum oeconomicarum, Doctor of Economics Dr. sc. pol.: Doctor scientiarum politicarum, Doctor of Political Sciences Dr. rer. pol.: Doctor rerum politicarum, Doctor of economics, business administration, or political science Dr. sc. soc.: Doctor scientiae socialis, Doctor of Social Sciences
All of these doctoral degrees are equivalent to the PhD or ScD of the American system. Until German Reunification, universities in East Germany also awarded the Dr Sc. However, the East German Dr Sc was not equivalent to the PhD since it was adopted to replace the German Habilitation and therefore was equivalent to this higher-level qualification. After reunification the Habilitation was reintroduced at universities in Eastern Germany.
The procedure of habilitation is normally required to receive officially the "venia docendi", which entitles the candidate to lecture at universities (Privatdozent, for men, or Privatdozentin, for women). The academic degree after the successful habilitation is e.g. Dr. rer. nat. habil., by adding the suffix "habil." to the earlier received Doctors degree.
In Switzerland, the Dr sc. is a doctoral degree awarded only by the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (EPFL and ETHZ), the University of Fribourg and the Department of Informatics of the University of Zurich. The Swiss Dr sc., like the DSc in the US, is equivalent to the PhD. It is earned with the approval of a committee on the basis of original research, publications, and extensive applied professional contributions and is awarded in doctoral level science and technology programs. Since 2004 the Dr sc. is the only doctoral degree awarded by the ETH Zurich. The awards the degree Docteur ès sciences, abbreviated Dr ès sc.and translated into English as PhD.Ordinance on the doctorate conferred by the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (English translation ), Federal Chancellery of Switzerland, 1 September 2008 (page visited on 5 July 2017).
Poland In Poland, Habilitation (habilitated doctor, doctor with habilitation, or in Polish) is a doctoral degree higher than PhD awarded for substantial accomplishments in academic teaching, research and service after getting a PhD degree. It usually involves up to 8 years of original research and multiple publications in peer reviewed scientific journals and monograph and a habilitation dissertation after a 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 higher degrees and rich research or artistic achievements, including as a lecturer, one can apply to become a professor. Habilitation has been a mandatory requirement for many years to apply for a professorship in Poland.
The President of Poland awards a scientist, engineer or artist the scientific title of professor () or the title of professor of art (), respectively, in recognition of their achievements and contributions to science, technology, or art. These titles are not academic, scientific or art degrees. However, possession of high degrees is required to receive the title.
United Kingdom, Ireland, India, Pakistan and the Commonwealth
In Ireland, the United Kingdom and the countries of the Commonwealth, such as Australia, New Zealand and India (in the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay), the degree of Doctor of Science (DSc or ScD) is one of the Higher Doctorates. In some older universities it typically has precedence after Divinity, Laws or Civil Law, Medicine, and Letters, and above Music. The degree is conferred on a member of the university who has a proven record of internationally recognised scholarship. A candidate for the degree will usually be required to submit a selection of their publications that follow a consistent theme to the board of the appropriate faculty, which will decide if the candidate merits this accolade. Quite often they will need to be a doctoral graduate of at least ten years' standing and have a substantial research association with the awarding university.
The first university to institute a degree under this name was the University of London in 1860.Pages xiii and xiv of The University of London and the World of Learning, 1836–1986 by Francis Michael Longstreth Thompson. Published by Continuum International Publishing Group, 1990 However, this was a taught postgraduate degree and was not reconfigured into a research degree, the modern PhD, until 1885. Edinburgh also had an early DSc, which did have research elements, that became a fully research degree (again similar to the modern PhD) in 1895. The first DScs in their current form as higher doctorates were introduced by Durham University in 1882 and the University of Cambridge in 1883. In 1893 Maria Gordon (née Ogilvie) was the first woman to receive a research DSc, from the University of London, although Charlotte Scott received a taught DSc from the same university in 1885.
In former times the doctorate in science was regarded as a greater distinction than a professorial chair and hence a professor who was also a DSc would be known as Doctor. The Doctor of Science may also be awarded as an honorary degree, that is, given to individuals who have made extensive contributions to a particular field and not for specific academic accomplishments. It is usual to signify this by adding DSc h.c. (for honoris causa).
Other European Union countries In the Czech Republic and Slovakia "Doctor of Sciences" (DrSc behind the name), established in 1953, is equivalent to the degree of Doctor of Science in the sense in which the DSc is used in the Commonwealth. It is the highest academic qualification, different from both PhD and PhDr. titles. In the Czech Republic, DrSc has not been awarded since 2001; instead, since 2006, a "Doctor of Sciences" degree (DSc behind the name) has been awarded, not by universities but by the Czech Academy of Sciences mostly for research in the field of natural or formal science. In Slovakia, "Doctor of Sciences" (DrSc) is awarded by the Slovak Academy of Sciences.
In Hungary, "Doctor of Sciences" (DSc) is a higher doctoral degree awarded by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
In Finland, most doctoral degrees awarded in the fields of natural sciences, technology and economics are termed DSc degrees in English, with a suffix indicating the field of study. However, there is no translation of the term Doctor of Science to Finnish. For example, the proper translation for the doctorate in technology (tekniikan tohtori) would be DSc (Tech), whereas a doctorate in economics and business administration (kauppatieteiden tohtori) would be translated as DSc (Econ). When conversing or writing in English, the prefix Dr may be used to address a holder of a doctoral degree awarded in Finland. The degrees are equivalent to filosofian tohtori (FT, English: PhD), but FT is usually awarded only in general sciences, not in specializations like engineering, economics or medicine.
In France, the Doctor of Sciences degree (doctorat en sciences also called doctorat d'État) was a higher doctorate in the fields of experimental and natural sciences, superseded in 1984 by the habilitation.
In Denmark, Dr Scient. is a higher doctorate.