Doctor of Philosophy

==== Admission ====
In [[Germany]], admission to a doctoral program is generally on the basis of having an advanced degree (i.e., a [[master's degree]], ''[[diplom]]'', [[Magister (degree)|''magister'']], or ''[[staatsexamen]]''), mostly in a related field and having above-average grades. A candidate must also find a [[tenure]]d [[professor]] from a university to serve as the formal advisor and supervisor (''Betreuer'') of the [[dissertation]] throughout the doctoral program.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Requirements – Research in Germany |url=http://www.research-in-germany.org/en/jobs-and-careers/info-for-phd-students/language-requirements.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222123034/http://www.research-in-germany.org/en/jobs-and-careers/info-for-phd-students/language-requirements.html |archive-date=22 February 2020 |access-date=22 February 2020 |website=Research-in-Germany.org |publisher=(German) Federal Ministry of Education and Research}}</ref> This supervisor is informally referred to as ''Doktorvater'' or ''Doktormutter'', which literally translate to "doctor's father" and "doctor's mother" respectively. The formal admission is the beginning of the so-called ''Promotionsverfahren'', while the final granting of the degree is called ''Promotion''.

The duration of the doctorate depends on the field. A doctorate in medicine may take less than a full-time year to complete; those in other fields, two to six years. Most doctorates are awarded with specific Latin designations for the field of research (except for engineering, where the designation is German), instead of a general name for all fields (such as the [[Ph.D.]]). The most important degrees are:
* ''[[Dr. rer. nat.]]'' (''rerum naturalium''; [[Natural science|natural]] and [[Formal science|formal]] sciences, i.e. physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, computer science and information technology, or psychology);
* ''Dr. phil.'' (''philosophiae''; humanities such as philosophy, philology, history, and social sciences such as sociology, political science, or psychology as well);
* ''Dr. iur.'' (''iuris''; law);
* ''Dr. oec.'' (''oeconomiae''; economics);
* ''Dr. rer. pol.'' (''rerum politicarum''; economics, business administration, political science);
* ''Dr. theol.'' (''theologiae''; theology);
* ''Dr. med.'' (''medicinae''; medicine);
* ''Dr. med. dent.'' (''medicinae dentariae''; dentistry);
* ''Dr. med. vet.'' (''medicinae veterinariae''; veterinary medicine);
* ''[[Doktoringenieur|Dr.-Ing.]]'' (engineering).

Over fifty such designations exist, many of them rare or no longer in use. As a title, the degree is commonly written in front of the name in abbreviated form, e.g., ''Dr. rer. nat. Max Mustermann'' or ''Dr. Max Mustermann'', dropping the designation entirely. However, leaving out the designation is only allowed when the doctorate degree is not an honorary doctorate, which must be indicated by ''Dr. h.c.'' (from Latin honoris causa).

While most German doctorates are considered equivalent to the PhD, an exception is the medical doctorate, where "doctoral" dissertations are often written alongside undergraduate study. The [[European Research Council]] decided in 2010 that those doctorates do not meet the international standards of a PhD research degree.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sarah Schmidt |date=1 October 2015 |title=Kommt ein Doktor zum Arzt ... |work=[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]] |url=http://www.sueddeutsche.de/bildung/qualitaet-medizinischer-promotionen-kommt-ein-doktor-zum-arzt--1.2673150 |url-status=live |access-date=15 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180406172355/http://www.sueddeutsche.de/bildung/qualitaet-medizinischer-promotionen-kommt-ein-doktor-zum-arzt--1.2673150 |archive-date=6 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bernd Kramer |date=28 September 2015 |title=Akademische Ramschware |work=[[Der Spiegel]] |url=http://www.spiegel.de/lebenundlernen/uni/von-der-leyen-in-der-kritik-schlechte-promotionen-sind-in-der-medizin-ueblich-a-1055039.html |url-status=live |access-date=15 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624133658/http://www.spiegel.de/lebenundlernen/uni/von-der-leyen-in-der-kritik-schlechte-promotionen-sind-in-der-medizin-ueblich-a-1055039.html |archive-date=24 June 2018}}</ref> There are different forms of university-level institution in Germany, but only professors from "Universities" (Univ.-Prof.) can serve as doctoral supervisors – "Universities of Applied Sciences" ([[Fachhochschule]]n) are not entitled to award doctorates,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Higher Education in Germany: Hochschulen vs. Universities |url=http://www.topuniversities.com/blog/higher-education-germany-hochschulen-vs-universities |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210235135/http://www.topuniversities.com/blog/higher-education-germany-hochschulen-vs-universities |archive-date=10 February 2015 |access-date=2015-02-10 |publisher=Quacquarelli Symonds Limited}}</ref> although some exceptions apply to this rule.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ZEIT ONLINE &#124; Lesen Sie zeit.de mit Werbung oder imPUR-Abo. Sie haben die Wahl. |url=https://www.zeit.de/zustimmung?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zeit.de%2F2016%2F48%2Fpromotion-fachhochschule-pro-contra |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709014141/https://www.zeit.de/zustimmung?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zeit.de%2F2016%2F48%2Fpromotion-fachhochschule-pro-contra |archive-date=9 July 2020 |access-date=6 July 2020 |website=www.zeit.de}}</ref>