Academic degree
Doctoral degrees or doctorates, such as the Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD or DPhil) or Doctor of Education (EdD or DEd) are awarded following a programme of original research that contributes new knowledge within the context of the student's discipline. Doctoral degrees usually take three years full-time. Therefore, in the UK it may only take seven years to progress from undergraduate to doctoral level – in some cases six, since having a Master's is not always a precondition for embarking on a doctoral degree. This contrasts with nine years in the United States, reflecting differences in the educational systems.
Doctor of Philosophy
A doctoral degree (Pol. "doktor"), abbreviated to Ph.D. (Pol. "dr") is an advanced academic degree awarded by universities in most fields as well as by the Polish Academy of Sciences, regulated by the Polish parliament acts and the government orders, in particular by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Poland. Commonly, students with a master's degree or equivalent are accepted to a doctoral entrance exam. The title of Ph.D. is awarded to a scientist who 1) completed a minimum of 3 years of Ph.D. studies (Pol. "studia doktoranckie"; not required to obtain Ph.D.), 2) finished his/her theoretical and/or laboratory's scientific work, 3) passed all Ph.D. examinations, 4) submitted his/her dissertation, a document presenting the author's research and findings, 5) successfully defended his/her doctoral thesis. Typically, upon completion, the candidate undergoes an oral examination, always public, by his/her supervisory committee with expertise in the given discipline.