Habilitation

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, which usually includes a dissertation. The degree, sometimes abbreviated Dr. habil. (Doctor habilitatus), 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 US.