In Germany, Austria, and the German-speaking part of Switzerland, the most common doctoral degrees in Natural Sciences are the following:

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. nat.: Doktor der Naturwissenschaften, Doctor of Natural Sciences Dr. sc. nat. 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. Dr.-Ing.: Doktor der Ingenieurwissenschaften (Doctor of Engineering), awarded by German technical universities. Dr. mont.: Doctor rerum montanarum, awarded by the Montanuniversität Leoben instead of Dr. techn. Dr. techn.: Doctor technicae, awarded by Austrian technical universities.

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.sc.soc.: Doctor scientiae socialis, Doctor of Social Sciences

All these doctoral degrees are equivalent to the Ph.D. or Sc.D. 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 Ph.D. 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),[1] the University of Fribourg and the Department of Informatics of the University of Zurich.[2] The Swiss Dr. sc., like the D.Sc. in the US, is equivalent to the Ph.D. 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 École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne awards the degree Docteur ès sciences, abbreviated Dr ès sc.[3] The title is translated into English as PhD.[4]

Poland

In Poland "Doctor of Sciences" (pl doktor nauk) is the equivalent of Ph.D. degrees in Poland are similar to degrees awarded in Germany.

Doctorate is always translated into English as Ph.D. (or PhD). Just like in Germany and Austria�habilitation (doktor habilitowany or dr hab.) in Poland is the higher academic qualification, sometimes translated as D.Sc. (or DSc). The highest scientific degree in Poland is professorship (profesor), which is called a scientific title of professor.The United Kingdom, Ireland, India and the Commonwealth

In Ireland, the United Kingdom and the countries of the Commonwealth, such as India (in the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay), the degree of Doctor of Science 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 to the board of the appropriate faculty, which will decide if the candidate merits this accolade. It should be noted that the award or obtaining of a regular PhD degree is not in any way a pre-requisite for obtaining a DSc, as, for example, it can happen in the sciences that an academic who does a lot of publishing can be awarded a DSc without ever having done a PhD degree.

The degree is only exceptionally and rarely awarded to a scholar under the age of forty.[citation needed] However Marie Stopes obtained hers at the age of 25,[5] Alexander Aitken at the age of 31 (without first obtaining a PhD), and Kevin Warwick had been awarded two by the time he was 40.[6]

The first University to admit an individual to this degree was the University of London in 1860.[7] In 1893 Maria Ogilvie was the first woman to receive this degree. However, the University of London ceased awarding the degree more than ten years ago.[8]

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 D.Sc. 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 D.Sc. 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 D.Sc. is used in the Commonwealth. It is the highest academic qualification, different from both Ph.D. and PhDr. titles. In the Czech Republic, DrSc. is not awarded since 2001; instead, since 2006, a "Doctor of Sciences" degree (DSc. behind the name) is awarded not by universities but by the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic mostly for research in the field of natural or formal science. In Slovakia, "Doctor of Sciences" (Dr.Sc.) is awarded by the Slovak Academy of Sciences.

In Hungary, "Doctor of Sciences" (D.Sc.) is awarded by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

In the former Yugoslavia, (Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Slovenia, Macedonia),[9] title doktor nauka or doktor znanosti (literally "doctor of science") is used in a much broader sense than D.Sc., simply referring to a field of academic study � from art history (doktor znanosti/nauka povijesti umjet

nosti), philosophy (doktor znanosti/nauka filozofije), and literary studies (doktor znanosti/nauka knji�evnosti) to hard sciences such as molecular biology (doktor znanosti/nauka molekularne biologije). It is therefore formally recognized as a Ph.D. degree.

In Finland, most doctoral degrees awarded in the fields of natural sciences, technology and economics are termed D.Sc. 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 D.Sc. (Tech.), whereas a doctorate in economics and business administration (kauppatieteiden tohtori) would be translated as D.Sc. (Econ.). When conversing or writing in English, the prefix Dr. may be used to address a holder of a doctoral degree awarded in Finland