Bachelor of Philosophy
The B.Phil.'s earliest form is as a University of Oxford graduate degree, first awarded in 1682. Originally, Oxford named its pre-doctoral graduate degrees the Bachelor of Philosophy (B.Phil.) (a two-year degree, partly taught and partly by research) and the Bachelor of Letters (B.Litt.) (a two-year research degree). After complaints, especially from overseas students, that this naming convention often meant that graduate degrees were not being recognised as such, the University renamed them Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) and Master of Letters (M.Litt.). However, the Philosophy Faculty (then a Sub-Faculty) argued that its B.Phil. degree had become so well known and respected in the philosophical world that it would be confusing to change the name. In philosophy, therefore, the degree continues to be called the B.Phil. Those who pass the degree are given the choice of taking a B.Phil. or an M.Phil.; few if any choose the latter. (Note that Oxford also offers a number of other graduate degrees labeled as baccalaureate degrees: the law faculty's BCL; and the music faculty's B.Mus)
Tampere University of Technology
All programs leading to M.Sc. also offer the possibility of continuing research until a doctoral degree. As usual in Finland, the completion of doctoral degree requires a certain amount of courses taught (worth at least 60 ECTS) and a dissertation containing original scientific research, usually published in international peer-reviewed journals. Depending on the prior education of the student, the doctoral degree is either "tekniikan tohtori" (Doctor of Science in Technology or Architecture) or "filosofian tohtori" (Doctor of Philosophy). As a general rule, the graduate students with a master's degree in Technology or Architecture will be awarded the Doctor of Science degree, while graduate students with a master's degree in other majors will be awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. A "tekniikan lisensiaatti" (Licentiate of Technology) is also available. Yearly, some 70 doctors graduate. The mean age of new doctors is 34.