Doctoral & Research Training

c. 1150

University of Paris awarded what is held to be the first doctoral degree

According to Keith Allan Noble, the first doctorate was conferred at Paris around the middle of the twelfth century. The doctorate began as a licentia docendi, a licence to teach Latin at a university, and so tied the highest degree to the reproduction of teachers.

1179

Third Council of the Lateran guaranteed free access to the licentia docendi for all able applicants

The right to grant the teaching licence was originally reserved to the Catholic Church, which required a test, an oath of allegiance and a fee. The council of 1179 opened access essentially free of charge to all qualified applicants, who were tested for aptitude, broadening the pool from which future teachers could be drawn.

1213

The papacy granted the University of Paris the licentia ubique docendi

The pope conferred on Paris the right to issue a universal licence to teach, valid everywhere. This moved control of doctoral licensing from church authorities towards the universities themselves and established the doctorate and master's as the accepted teaching qualifications, with the bachelor's reduced to an intermediate step.

1608

Juliana Morell became one of the first women granted a doctorate

University degrees, including doctorates, were originally restricted to men. Morell is recorded as receiving a doctorate at Lyons or Avignon in 1608, though claims of a canon law doctorate have been disputed; she had defended theses in 1606 or 1607.

17th century

German universities developed the doctorate of philosophy

The PhD emerged in Germany in the seventeenth century, probably around 1652, with 'philosophy' used in its broad Greek sense of love of wisdom rather than the discipline. Because the basic faculty of liberal arts was the faculty of philosophy, the degree covered history, mathematics and the natural sciences alike.

1678

Elena Cornaro Piscopia received a doctorate at the University of Padua

Piscopia was among the earliest women to be awarded a doctorate by a European university. Her degree is part of a slow sequence of exceptions that preceded the general admission of women to doctoral training.

1732

Laura Bassi was awarded a doctorate at Bologna University

Bassi's doctorate at Bologna followed Piscopia's as one of the rare early awards to a woman. Such cases remained isolated exceptions within a system otherwise restricted to men.

1754

Dorothea Erxleben was granted a doctorate at Halle University

Erxleben's award continued the thin line of women admitted to doctoral examination in early modern Europe. It is cited among the handful of pre-modern precedents before women's general access to research training.

1767

Kings College (now Columbia University) founded a medical school offering the first US professional doctorate, the MD

The MD was awarded for further study after the qualifying Bachelor of Medicine rather than as a qualifying degree. It established the template for American professional doctorates distinct from research degrees.

1785

Mar\u00eda Isidra de Guzm\u00e1n y de la Cerda received a doctorate at Complutense University, Madrid

Her award is the last of the recorded early exceptions to the exclusion of women from doctorates. It came two decades before the reinvention of the doctorate as a research degree in Germany.

1808

France introduced the State doctorate (doctorat d'\u00c9tat)

The doctorat d'\u00c9tat was the original French research doctorate, a long and demanding award. It dominated French academic careers until a shorter third-cycle doctorate was created in the 1950s and the whole structure was reformed in 1984.

1819

Russian Empire introduced the academic title Doctor of the Sciences

The Doctor of the Sciences marked the highest academic level achievable through a formal process in the Russian system. It was abolished with the end of the Empire in 1917 and revived by the USSR in 1934.

1847

American Medical Association was established to set standards for entry into medical practice

Founded in 1847 for this purpose, the AMA used the MD as the standard qualifying degree in medicine to raise entry standards for the profession. This linked a doctoral-titled award to professional licensing rather than to research training.

early 19th century

Humboldt University of Berlin reintroduced the Dr. phil. as a research degree

Chris Park notes that standardisation of formal education and degree programmes in the early nineteenth century allowed Germany to re-establish the doctorate of philosophy as a research qualification. Germany also differentiated doctorates in natural sciences (Dr. rer. nat.), social and political sciences (Dr. rer. pol.), medicine and law, creating the model later copied worldwide.

19th century

Germany developed the habilitation as a qualification beyond the doctorate

The habilitation arose when holding a doctorate seemed no longer sufficient to guarantee proficient transfer of knowledge to the next generation. It requires a second thesis or research portfolio and remains a requirement for appointment as Privatdozent or professor in Germany.

1857

Spain made Complutense University the only institution authorised to confer the doctorate

From 1857 Spanish doctoral training was centralised in a single university in Madrid. The monopoly lasted until Salamanca was added in 1954 and the right was extended to all Spanish universities in 1970.

1861

Yale University awarded the first German-style PhD in the United States

The modern research degree, modelled on the German doctorate, was first conferred at Yale's 1861 commencement. It differed from the MD in training students to generate knowledge rather than practise it, and became the foundation of American research training.

1871\u20131879

Pennsylvania, Cornell, Harvard, Michigan and Princeton followed Yale in establishing the PhD

The University of Pennsylvania adopted the PhD in 1871, followed by Cornell in 1872, Harvard in 1873, Michigan in 1876 and Princeton in 1879. The rapid diffusion across leading American universities created a national research-training system within two decades.

1882

Durham University introduced the first British higher doctorate, the Doctor of Science

Durham's DSc was the first research doctorate in the United Kingdom, soon matched by Cambridge's ScD in the same year. London converted its DSc from an advanced study course to a research degree in 1885 and Oxford added the DLitt in 1900.

1902

University of Chicago established the Juris Doctor

The JD was the second American professional doctorate after the MD, though it took until the 1960s to displace the Bachelor of Laws. Its curriculum was identical to the LLB, prompting criticism that it was not a true doctorate.

1917

British universities adopted the PhD by joint decision, with the first DPhil at Oxford

The PhD reached the UK from the United States via Canada and was instituted across British universities in 1917. Oxford awarded the first, titled DPhil, although the degree took much longer to become firmly established.

1923

France created the dipl\u00f4me de docteur-ing\u00e9nieur for technical research

The engineering doctorate was one of three French research doctorates existing before 1984, alongside the State doctorate and the third-cycle doctorate. It extended doctoral training into applied technical fields.

1927

Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa created Italy's first doctoral programme

Pisa established a programme under the historic name Diploma di Perfezionamento. Italy otherwise lacked a research doctorate until the dottorato di ricerca was introduced by law in 1980.

1930

United States established the MD as a graduate degree

The MD had become the standard first degree in medicine during the nineteenth century, but only as a three-year undergraduate award. Its move to graduate level in 1930 completed the American pattern of post-baccalaureate professional doctorates.

2024

Netherlands high court ruled that universities may revoke a degree obtained by conscious fraud

Deciding an appeal against a 2017 revocation, the court confirmed the granting university's power to withdraw a degree where the candidate knowingly committed fraud. The ruling clarified the enforceability of doctoral research integrity.

2023

Doctoral framework review set out revised principles for doctoral education

The revised framework specifies an original contribution to knowledge, a high-quality research environment, supervision and examination arrangements, and a final thesis of publishable quality. It codifies the minimum conditions under which doctoral training is recognised.

2023

Dutch universities of applied sciences began a professional doctoral programme pilot

The 2023 pilot focuses on applying knowledge to improve professional processes or products rather than on academic research. It extends doctoral-level training beyond research universities.

September 2022

Dutch universities of technology renamed the Professional Doctorate in Engineering EngD

Eindhoven, Delft, Twente and Wageningen award a two-year industry-oriented engineering doctorate, retitled EngD from September 2022. The degree does not confer the right to use the dr. abbreviation.

2016

France set new doctoral regulations abolishing distinctions

The 2016 framework governs French doctoral award, and does not grant honours distinctions. A guideline of good practice and legal analysis was published in 2018 by ANDès and the CJC with funding from the French Ministry of Research.

2013

Research Councils UK issued a Statement of Expectations for Postgraduate Training

The statement set out what research-council-funded PhDs must provide. The 2016 version, issued with Cancer Research UK, the Wellcome Trust and the British Heart Foundation, added careers advice, transferable skills, training in experimental design and statistics, research conduct and legal and ethical compliance.

2010

European Research Council ruled that German Dr. med. degrees do not meet PhD research standards

The ERC decision drew a line between research doctorates and medical doctorates awarded on lighter requirements. It shaped eligibility for European research funding and pressed national systems towards a common standard.

2007

United States created new professional doctorates such as the Doctor of Audiology

Professional doctorates spread into further health fields in the twenty-first century. Advanced Practice Registered Nurses were expected to transition fully to the Doctor of Nursing Practice by 2015 and physical therapists to the Doctor of Physical Therapy by 2020.

2005

Germany introduced Juniorprofessuren as an alternative route to a professorship

Around 2005 the Juniorprofessur created a tenure track that did not require habilitation. It ended the habilitation's monopoly over German academic career progression.

2005

Finland removed the mandatory doctoral coursework requirement

Before the Bologna process Finland required at least 42 credit weeks, about 1,800 hours, of formal coursework for a doctorate. The 2005 change devolved the decision to universities, faculties or individual professors.

2003

UK doctoral programmes became more structured, adding research-skills and development training

Since 2003 British PhDs have included courses in research skills and training for professional and personal development. This replaced the traditional master-apprentice model with a formalised training curriculum.

2000s

UK universities introduced integrated doctorates, originally 'New Route PhDs'

From 2000 onwards British institutions offered integrated doctoral programmes combining taught and research elements. The move marked a shift away from the pure master-apprentice model.

1998

Spain regulated doctoral degrees by Royal Decree 778/1998

R.D. 778/1998 set the legal framework for Spanish doctorates. It was later superseded by R.D. 99/2011, which from September 2012 introduced a three-point marking scale culminating in Cum Laude.

1994

Japan saw doctoral engineering research shift from industry to universities

Until the 1990s most Japanese natural science and engineering doctorates were earned by industrial researchers in companies. By 1994 more doctoral engineering degrees came from university laboratories (53%) than industrial ones (47%), relocating research training into the university system.

1994

Germany and Spain agreed reciprocal recognition of doctorate holders under the Bonn Agreement

The agreement of 14 November 1994 made all doctorate holders equivalent across the two countries. Such bilateral recognition underpins cross-border mobility of trained researchers.

1992

Denmark introduced the three-year ph.d., replacing the licentiat

The ph.d. was created as a title separate from the higher doctorate, which dated from 1479, as part of a transition to a new degree structure. The change was intended to give academics internationally recognisable qualifications, though the ph.d. does not grant the title dr.

1984

France replaced the State doctorate with a single doctorate plus the habilitation (HDR)

After 1984 only one doctoral degree remained, while the Habilitation \u00e0 diriger des recherches became the prerequisite for supervising PhDs and applying for full professorships. The reform rationalised a system that had carried three distinct research doctorates.

1980s\u20131990s

United Kingdom introduced professional doctorates as research degrees

British professional doctorates did not follow the US model; they were set up at the same level as PhDs but with taught components and a professional focus to the research. The number of programmes grew from 109 in 1998 to 308 in 2009, led by the EdD, DBA and EngD.

1980

Italy introduced the dottorato di ricerca by law and presidential decree

The reform of academic teaching, training and organisation created Italy's modern research doctorate. Until it took effect in the mid-1980s the laurea had generally been the highest academic degree obtainable in Italy.

1978

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science began providing tutorial and financial support for researchers in Asia and Africa

Since 1978 JSPS has funded promising researchers beyond Japan. The scheme exports doctoral-level research training capacity to other countries.

1970

Spain extended doctorate-awarding rights to all Spanish universities

The monopoly held by Complutense since 1857, broken only by Salamanca in 1954, ended in 1970. Spain thereby distributed doctoral training across its whole university system.

1969

Sweden abolished and then reintroduced the Licentiate in response to business demand

The intermediate research degree was removed in 1969 but brought back after employers pressed for it. The episode shows the pull of industry on the structure of research training.

1954\u20131958

France created the doctorat de troisi\u00e8me cycle on the American PhD model

Introduced for the sciences in 1954 and for letters and human sciences in 1958, the shorter third-cycle doctorate was intended to reduce the very long gap between the Dipl\u00f4me d'\u00e9tudes sup\u00e9rieures and the Doctorat d'\u00c9tat. It imported the American model of a time-bounded research degree into France.

1934

USSR revived the Doctor of Sciences and added the Candidate of Sciences degree

The Soviet state restored the imperial-era highest doctorate abolished in 1917 and introduced a lower complementary degree, the Candidate of Sciences. This two-tier structure defined research training across the Soviet sphere.