University of Western Australia
The university also offers the Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil) course for high-achieving new students. This is a research intensive degree which takes four years because the honours year is an integral part of the degree (most other degrees last three years with the honours year as a separate degree). Students studying the course choose disciplines from any of the four bachelor's degrees. Places are very limited with on average only about 30 places offered to students each year. Thus there is a lot of competition for places and the cut-off admission rank is very high.
Dottorato di ricerca
After 1999, the "Laurea" corresponds to a Bachelor's Degree while the "Laurea Magistrale" corresponds to a Master's Degree. Only the "Laurea Magistrale" grants access to third cycle programmes (Post-MA degrees, Doctorates or Specializing schools), that last 2 to 5 years (usually completing a PhD takes 3 years). However, it is now established that there is just a unique five-year degree "Laurea Magistrale a ciclo unico" ("Single cycle master's degree") for programmes such as Law (Facoltà di Giurisprudenza), Arts (Accademia di Belle Arti), Music (Conservatorio di Musica) and a few others, and six-years degree for Medicine and Surgery (Medicina e Chirurgia) and Dentistry (Odontoiatria e Protesi Dentaria). The title for MA/MSc/MFA/MD/MJur/MEd graduate students is "dottore" (abbreviation in "dott."/"dott.ssa" or "dr.", meaning Doctor). This title is not to be confused with the PhD and Post-MA graduates, whose title is "Dottore di Ricerca" ("Research Doctor" or "Philosophy Doctor").