Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a person can achieve by their own pursuit in certain European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a doctorate, the habilitation requires the candidate to write a second dissertation, reviewed by and defended before an academic committee in a process similar to that for the doctoral dissertation. Sometimes a book publication is required for the defence to take place. Whereas in the United States, the United Kingdom and most other countries, the doctorate is sufficient qualification for a faculty position at a university, in other countries only the habilitation qualifies the holder to supervise doctoral candidates. Such a post is known in Germany as Privatdozent and there are similarly termed posts elsewhere. After service as a Privatdozent, one may be admitted to the faculty as a professor. The meaning of the word professor ( Latin: professor, person who professes to be an expert in some art or science teacher of highest rank) varies
This habilitation qualification exists in France ("Habilitation à diriger des recherches"), Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Poland, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, and countries of the former Soviet Union, such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, etc. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. The Czech Republic ( ˈt͡ʃɛskaː ˈrɛpuˌblɪka short form in Česko ˈt͡ʃɛskɔ also called Czechia, Slovakia (long form Slovak Republic; Slovak:, long form, is a Landlocked country in Central Europe with a population of over five million Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia (Republika Slovenija) is a Country in southern Central Europe bordering Italy to the west Armenia (Հայաստան transliterated: Hayastan,) officially the Republic of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն Hayastani Azerbaijan ( English; Azərbaycan officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan Respublikası is the largest and most populous country in the South Belarus ( Belarusian Беларусь / Biełaruś is a Landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east Latvia ( Latvija officially the Republic of Latvia (Latvijas Republika is a Country in Northern Europe in the Baltic region. Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublika is a Country in Eastern often referred to as Northern Europe or in the Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova ( Republica Moldova) is a Landlocked country in Eastern Europe, located between Romania Kyrgyzstan (ˈkɻ̩gɪztɑn (AmE or /'kɝgəztan/ (BrE Kyrgyz: Кыргызстан; Russian: Киргизия or Киргизстан or Кыргызстан Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan ( Қазақстан, Qazaqstan, qɑzɑqˈstɑn Казахстан, Kazakhstán,) officially the Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Uzbekistan, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( Uzbek: O‘zbekiston Respublikasi or Ўзбекистон Республикаси is a doubly Ukraine (Україна Ukrayina, /ukrɑˈjinɑ/ is a country in Eastern Europe. A similar qualification known as Livre-docência still exists also in public universities in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, but has disappeared in other parts of Brazil. ( is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld The habilitation, derived from the Latin habilitare, "to make able to" — developed in the eighteenth century.
The word habilitation can be used to describe the qualification itself, the process of earning that qualification or, incorrectly, the thesis written as part of that process (what is called Habilitationsschrift in German). A dissertation (also called thesis or disquisition) is a document that presents the author's Research and findings and is submitted in support of candidature A successful habilitation requires that the candidate (called Habilitand in German) be officially given the venia legendi, Latin for "permission for lecturing," or the ius docendi, "right of teaching" a specific academic subject at universities for a lifetime. This status is called Privatdozent (for males)/Privatdozentin (for females), abbreviated PD or Priv. -Doz. .
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Process
In order to hold the rank of professor within the German system, it is usually necessary to have attained the habilitation. It is thus a qualification at a higher level than the degree of Promotion (the German equivalent of the Ph.D.). A doctorate is an Academic degree that indicates the highest level of academic achievement "PhD" redirects here for other uses see PhD (disambiguation. It is usually earned after several years of research, either "internally" while working at a university in a position as a Wissenschaftlicher Assistent (academic assistant) or Akademischer Rat (academic councilor) or "externally" as a practitioner such as high school teacher, lawyer, etc. With the habilitation, the status of Privatdozent (university lecturer, PD or Priv. Private docent (abbreviates PD or Priv-Doz) is a title conferred in some European university systems especially in German -speaking countries -Doz. for short) is usually granted.
Although disciplines and countries vary in the typical number of years for obtaining habilitation after getting a doctorate, it usually takes longer than for the Anglo-Saxon tenure. Tenure commonly refers to life tenure in a job and specifically to a senior Academic 's Contractual right not to have their position terminated For example, in Poland, the statutory time for getting a habilitation (traditionally, although not obligatorily, relying on a book publication) is nine years. Theoretically, if an assistant professor does not succeed in obtaining habilitation in this time, s/he should be moved to a position of a lecturer, with a much higher teaching load and no research obligations. In practice, however, on many occasions schools extend the deadlines for habilitation for most scholars if they do not make it in time.
A habilitation thesis can be either cumulative (based on previous research, be it articles or monographs) or monographical, i. e. a specific, unpublished thesis, which then has the tendency to be very long. While cumulative habilitations are predominant in some fields (such as medicine), they have been, since about a century ago, almost unheard of in others (such as in law). Medicine is the art and science of healing It encompasses a range of Health care practices evolved to maintain and restore Human Health by the Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society The cumulative form of the habilitation can be well compared to the higher doctorates, such as the D. A doctorate is an Academic degree that indicates the highest level of academic achievement Sc. (Doctor of Science), Litt. D. (Doctor of Letters), LLD (Doctor of Laws) and D. D. (Doctor of Divinity) found in the UK and some Commonwealth countries, which are awarded on the basis of a career of published work, but differ from them in that it is not an additional academic degree.
Only those candidates receiving the highest or second-highest grade for their Ph. D. thesis are encouraged to proceed to the habilitation. Since 2006, in some federal states of Germany, there have been new restrictions by the federal laws regarding the degree of the Ph. D. thesis which allow only excellent candidates to enter the habilitation process.
The habilitation is awarded after a public lecture, to be held after the thesis has been accepted, and after which the venia legendi is bestowed. In some areas, such as law, philosophy, theology and sociology, the venia, and thus the habilitation, is only given for certain sub-fields (such as criminal law, civil law, or philosophy of science, practical philosophy etc. The term criminal law, sometimes called penal law, refers to any of various bodies of rules in different Jurisdictions whose common characteristic is the potential Civil law or Romano-Germanic law or Continental law is the predominant system of law in the world. Philosophy of science is the study of assumptions foundations and implications of Science. The division of philosophy into a practical and a theoretical discipline has its origin in Aristotle 's natural philosophy and moral philosophy categories ); in others, for the entire field.
Those who have achieved habilitation can denote the fact by placing the abbreviation "Dr hab. " or "Dr habil. " before their names, though this is only common for those who have not yet obtained or who have already relinquished a privatdozent position. Private docent (abbreviates PD or Priv-Doz) is a title conferred in some European university systems especially in German -speaking countries
It is possible to get a professorship without habilitation, if the search committee attests the candidate to have qualifications equaling those of a habilitation and the higher ranking bodies (the university's senate and the country's ministry of education) approve of that. A senate is a Deliberative body, often the Upper house or chamber of a Legislature or Parliament. In Political geography and International politics, a country is a Political division of a geographical entity A ministry is a specialised organisation responsible for a sector of Government Public administration, sometimes led by a minister, but usually a senior However, while some subjects make liberal use of this (e. g. the natural sciences in order to employ candidates from countries with different systems and the arts to employ active artists), in other subjects it is rarely done.
German debate about the habilitation
In 2004, the habilitation was the subject of a major political debate in Germany. The former Federal Minister for Education and Research, Edelgard Bulmahn, aimed to abolish the system of the habilitation and replace it by the alternative concept of the junior professor: A researcher should first be employed for up to six years as a "junior professor" (a non-tenured position roughly equivalent to assistant professor in the United States or lecturer in the United Kingdom) and so prove their suitability to hold a tenured professorship. Edelgard Bulmahn (born March 4 1951 in Minden, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German politician from the Social Democratic Party Tenure commonly refers to life tenure in a job and specifically to a senior Academic 's Contractual right not to have their position terminated The meaning of the word professor ( Latin: professor, person who professes to be an expert in some art or science teacher of highest rank) varies The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Lecturer is a term of Academic rank. In the United Kingdom lecturer is the name given to University Teachers in their first permanent The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located
Opinion split among German academia
Many, especially researchers in the natural sciences, as well as young researchers, have long demanded the abandonment of the habilitation as they feel it to be an unnecessary and time-consuming obstacle in a scientific career, which contributes to the brain drain of talented young researchers who feel their chances of getting a professorship at a reasonable age to be better abroad and hence move, for instance, to the USA. In Science, the term natural science refers to a naturalistic approach to the study of the Universe, which is understood as obeying rules or law of A brain drain or human capital flight is a large emigration of individuals with technical skills or knowledge, normally due to conflict, lack of opportunity Many feel overly dependent on their superior (the professor heading the research group) as superiors have the power to delay the process of completing the habilitation. Also, it is seen as part of the standardization process occurring across Europe in which schools are taking steps to conform to the American Baccalaureate style of education.
On the other hand, among senior researchers, especially in the humanities and the social sciences, the habilitation is regarded as a valuable instrument of quality control before giving somebody a tenured position for life. The humanities are academic disciplines which study the Human condition, using methods that are primarily Analytic, Critical, or Speculative The social sciences comprise academic disciplines concerned with the study of the social life of human groups and individuals including Anthropology, Communication studies
Bayern, Sachsen and Thüringen, three states with conservative governments, filed suit at the German Constitutional Court against the new law replacing the habilitation with the junior professor[1]. Germany (Deutschland is a Federal Republic consisting of sixteen States, known in German as Länder (singular The Federal Constitutional Court (in German: Bundesverfassungsgericht BVerfG) is a special Court established by the Basic Law for the Federal Republic The Court concurred with their argument that the Bundestag (the federal parliament) cannot pass such a law, because the German constitution explicitly states that affairs of education are the sole responsibility of the states and declared in July 2004 the law to be invalid. The Bundestag ("Federal Diet " or "Lower House of German Parliament" is the Parliament of Germany. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland is the Constitution of Germany. In reaction, a new federal law was passed, giving the states more freedom regarding habilitations and junior professors. The junior professor has since been legally established in all states, but it is still possible—and necessary for an academic career in many subjects—to get a habilitation.
Similarities in other countries
Universities in Sweden and Finland can appoint a researcher with a doctoral degree to an unpaid academic position called Docent after an independent scientific and educational review. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. In American English (but not in British English, where the word is not used a docent has two meanings A docent is allowed to lecture at a university. There is no separate notion of habilitation in Finland and Sweden. The status of docent, or an equivalent scientific qualitification, is also required to serve at doctoral committees and to serve as an opponent at a dissertation defense.
The degree of Docteur d'État formerly awarded by universities in France had a somewhat similar purpose. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. It is now replaced by the Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches. The award of the French Habilitation generally requires having assisted in the supervision of a number of Masters and PhD students, consistent research for typically 5-6 years after appointment, and (in the sciences) typically around 20 publications in peer reviewed journals. Contributions in administration, course organisation can compensate for a less substantial research dossier in some cases.
Belgium had a similar degree until 1995: it was called "Aggregatie voor het Hoger Onderwijs" (roughly: Higher Education Faculty Qualification) in Dutch and "Agrégation pour l'Enseignement Supérieur" in French. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people
Although these awards are at a higher level than the Ph. D. , they can only roughly be equated to the higher doctorates awarded by universities in the United Kingdom, the United States and the Commonwealth. A doctorate is an Academic degree that indicates the highest level of academic achievement The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The United States of America —commonly referred to as the They are not actually degrees, but more similar to a post-doctoral position that must yield a specific product.
References
- Habilitation procedure at the Technical University of Munich,Germany
- A short description of PhD and Habilitation at the Free University of Berlin,Germany
- Higher Education in Hungary at the Encyclopedia Britannica
- Germany tries to break its Habilitation Habit article in the science magazin of the AAAS
- Interview with a Swedish professor on habilitation
- Education in Austria at the European Education Directory