Description
Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a dissertation. The degree, sometimes abbreviated Dr. habil. ( Doctor habilitatus ) or PD (for Privatdozent ) or D.Sc. ( Doctor of Sciences in some East- European and post-Soviet countries), is often a qualification for full professorship in those countries. The degree conferral is usually accompanied by a public oral defence event (a lecture or a colloquium) with one or more opponents. Habilitation is usually awarded 5–15 years after a PhD degree or its equivalent. Although in some countries Doctor of Sciences degree correlates with a position of Docent (i.e. Associate Professor), it is closer in practice to the position of a Full Professor in the USA.
