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
Before 1984 three research doctorates existed in France: the State doctorate ("doctorat d'État", the old doctorate introduced in 1808), the third cycle doctorate ("doctorat de troisième cycle", created in 1954 and shorter than the State doctorate) and the diploma of doctor-engineer ("diplôme de docteur-ingénieur "created in 1923), for technical research. After 1984, only one type of doctoral degree remained, called "doctorate" ("Doctorat"). The latter is equivalent to the Ph.D.