DSc



D.Sc., Sc.D., S.D., or Dr.Sc. are common abbreviations for the Latin Scientiæ Doctor, meaning Doctor of Science.

North America

In the United States, the Doctor of Science is a research based doctoral degree. The Sc.D. is recognized by both the United States Department of Education and the National Science Foundation to be equivalent to the more commonly used Ph.D.^[1][2]

The first North American Sc.D. was inaugurated by Harvard University in 1872 - when graduate studies first began at Harvard and the Ph.D. and Sc.D. degrees first introduced there in the same year^[3]. The Doctor of Science degree is earned with the 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, information systems, medical and health sciences, and neuro- and health economics^[1].

Although much rarer than the Doctor of Philosophy, the Doctor of Science degree has long been awarded by major institutions, such as Harvard University^[4], Johns Hopkins University^[5], Massachusetts Institute of Technology^[6], Tulane University^[7], Washington University in St. Louis^[8]. In effort to standardize doctoral degree conferral at these large research institutions, the Ph.D. has often replaced the Sc.D^[9]. For instance, the doctoral degree in biostatistics at Harvard recently changed from Sc.D. to Ph.D. - even though the doctoral-degree structure, requirements, and doctoral academic regalia have remained identical^[9]. As well, doctoral programs at Johns Hopkins University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology that offer the Sc.D degree also offer the Ph.D. degree - and requirements for obtaining the two degrees are identical. Currently, doctoral-level research programs that offer the Sc.D. but not the Ph.D. degree include several doctoral programs at Harvard University and Boston University, the engineering programs at the Washington University in St. Louis and The George Washington University, and Towson University.

In everyday lay usage, it is commonplace and acceptable to refer to an Sc.D. as a Ph.D.^[10][11][12] Distinction is usually made in formal academic settings.

In addition to its usage as academic or research degree, DSc has been awarded in some professional fields as a professional or "post-professional" doctoral degree. Examples include Doctor of Science in Dentistry (DSc or DScD) and Doctor of Science in Public Health (DSc) offered by Boston University, and Doctor of Science in Physical Therapy (DSc or DScPT) offered by Loma Linda University and University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences. Although both DSc degrees require dissertation research as the key component, "academic" DSc programs are more like PhD programs that traditionally train students for academic or research career, and in contrast, "professional" DSc programs prepare students to pursue professional or practice-oriented direction.

The Commonwealth of Nations and Ireland

In Ireland and the countries of the Commonwealth, such as the United Kingdom and India, 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. The degree will only exceptionally be awarded to a scholar under the age of forty. The first University to admit an individual to this degree was the University of London in 1860.^[13]

The status of the degree has declined because it is not widely understood, but 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 (h.c.) for honoris causa after D.Sc.

German language areas

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

• Dr. rer. nat. - Doctor rerum naturalium, literally "Doctor of the things of nature"
• Dr. sc. nat. - Doctor scientiae naturalis, Doctor of Natural Sciences (less often used)

In these countries there are some 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 Humanities
• 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 scientarium 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 but are considered to be separate degrees and should not be confused with the actual Dr.Sc.. Until German Reunification, universities in East Germany also awarded the Dr.Sc.. However, the East German Dr.Sc. wasn't equivalent to the Ph.D since it was adopted to replace the German Habilitation and therefore was equivalent to this German qualification. After reunification the Habilitation was reintroduced at universities in eastern Germany.

In Switzerland, the Dr.Sc. is a doctoral degree awarded by the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, only. The Swiss Dr.Sc., like the D.Sc. in the US, is equivalent to the Ph.D, 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 several different doctoral degrees, including Docteur ès sciences techniques and Docteur ès sciences, abbreviated dr. ès. sc. tech. and dr. ès. sc., respectively. However, all doctoral titles currently awarded by the EPFL are translated into English as Ph.D.^[14]

Other European Union countries

In Poland "Doctor of Sciences" is equivalent to Ph.D. Doctoral degrees in Poland are similar to degrees awarded in Germany (Doctor of Agricultural science, Doctor of Medical Sciences etc). Just like in Germany and Austria - habilitation in Poland is the highest academic qualification.

Brazil

Most doctorate titles given in Brazil can be classified into two large groups:

1. Doutor em (Doctor in) field studied such as: Doutor em Medicina (Doctor in Medicine), Doutor em Teologia (Doctor in Theology), Doutor em Farmácia (Doctor in Pharmacy).

2. Doctor in Science (D.Sc.) followed by the concentration area (program field).

Both kinds of doctorate are equivalent and 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).

Japan, South Korea, China

In these countries usually Dr. Sc. is equivalent to US Ph. D. degree in science and obtained in Graduate School after satisfactory evaluation of knowledge, research accomplishment and thesis defense.

Former USSR and some of the ex-Socialist Bloc countries

In the former Soviet Union and the various post-Soviet states and in some of the former Socialist Bloc countries, the status of Doktor nauk literally means "Doctor of Sciences", but is a post-doctoral degree and has no American equivalent but does have a Western equivalent in the degree of Doctor of Science in the sense in which the DSc is used in the Commonwealth.

Footnotes