Doctor of Science

=== Austria, Germany, and Switzerland ===
In Germany, Austria, and the [[German-speaking Switzerland|German-speaking part]] of Switzerland, the most common doctoral degrees in [[Natural Sciences]] are the following:
* [[Dr. rer. nat.]]: Doctor rerum naturalium, literally "Doctor of the things of nature"
* Dr rer. medic.: Doctor rerum medicarum, Doctor of medical sciences
* Dr. sc. med.: Doctor scientiarum medicarum, Doctor of science in medicine
* Dr sc. nat.: Doktor der Naturwissenschaften, Doctor of [[Natural Sciences]]
* Dr sc. ETH: Doktor der Naturwissenschaften ETH, Doctor of Natural Sciences, awarded by [[ETH Zurich]], Switzerland.
* Dr phil. nat.: Doctor philosophiae naturalis, used only by [[Goethe University Frankfurt]] instead of Dr rer. nat; Doctor of Natural Sciences, awarded by Swiss universities.
* [[Dr.-Ing.]]: Doktor der Ingenieurwissenschaften (Doctor of Engineering), awarded by German universities in areas of technology and engineering.
* Dr mont.: Doctor rerum montanarum, awarded by the [[University of Leoben]] instead of Dr techn.
* Dr techn.: Doctor technicae, awarded by Austrian technical universities.
* Dr nat. techn.: Doctor rerum naturalium technicarum, awarded by the [[University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna]] instead of Dr techn.

In these countries there are some related doctoral degrees with very similar names, these are the:

* Dr sc. agr.: Doctor scientiarum agrariarum, Doctor of [[Agricultural science]]
* Dr sc. hum.: Doctor scientiarum humanarum, Doctor of [[Humanistic]] Sciences
* Dr sc. inf.: Doctor scientiarum informaticarum, Doctor of Science in [[Informatics (academic field)|Informatics]]
* Dr sc. inf.med.: Doctor scientiarum informaticarum medicæ, Doctor of Science in [[Medical Informatics]]
* Dr sc. inf.biomed.: Doctor scientiarum informaticarum biomedicæ, Doctor of Science in [[Biomedicine|Biomedical]] Informatics
* Dr sc. math.: Doctor scientiarum mathematicarum, Doctor of [[Mathematics]]
* Dr scient. med.: Doctor scientiæ medicæ, Doctor of [[Medicine|Medical]] Sciences
* Dr sc. mus.: Doctor scientiae musicae, Doctor of [[Musicology]]
* Dr sc. oec.: Doctor scientiarum oeconomicarum, Doctor of [[Economics]]
* Dr sc. pol.: Doctor scientiarum politicarum, Doctor of [[Political Sciences]]
* Dr rer. pol.: Doctor rerum politicarum, Doctor of economics, business administration, or political science
* Dr sc. soc.: Doctor scientiae socialis, Doctor of [[Social Sciences]]

All of these doctoral degrees are equivalent to the PhD or ScD of the American system. Until [[German Reunification]], universities in East Germany also awarded the DrSc. However, the East German DrSc was not equivalent to the PhD since it was adopted to replace the German [[Habilitation]] and therefore was equivalent to this higher-level qualification. After reunification the Habilitation was reintroduced at universities in Eastern Germany.

The procedure of [[habilitation]] is normally required to receive officially the "venia docendi", which entitles the candidate to lecture at universities (''[[Privatdozent]]'', for men, or ''Privatdozentin'', for women). The academic degree after the successful habilitation is e.g. Dr. rer.nat. habil., by adding the suffix "habil." to the earlier received Doctors degree.

In Switzerland, the Dr sc. is a doctoral degree awarded only by the two [[Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Domain|Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology]] ([[Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne|EPFL]] and [[Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich|ETHZ]]),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archiv.ethlife.ethz.ch/articles/news/DoktortitelNeu.html|title=News: ETH Life - das tägliche Webjournal|website=archiv.ethlife.ethz.ch|access-date=28 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20120425155756/http://archiv.ethlife.ethz.ch/articles/news/DoktortitelNeu.html|archive-date=25 April 2012}}</ref> the [[University of Fribourg]] and the Department of Informatics of the [[University of Zurich]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ifi.uzh.ch/teaching/studiengaenge/phd/red-tape/PVO_DInf08.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2012-04-03 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029190722/http://www.ifi.uzh.ch/teaching/studiengaenge/phd/red-tape/PVO_DInf08.pdf |archive-date=2013-10-29 }}</ref> The Swiss Dr sc., like the DSc in the US, is equivalent to the PhD. It is earned with the approval of a committee on the basis of original research, publications, and extensive applied professional contributions and is awarded in doctoral level science and technology programs. Since 2004 the Dr sc. is the only doctoral degree awarded by the [[ETH Zurich]]. The {{Lang|fr|[[École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne]]|italic=no}} awards the degree ''Docteur ès sciences'', abbreviated ''Dr ès sc.''and translated into English as PhD.<ref>[https://www.admin.ch/opc/fr/classified-compilation/19994202/index.html Ordinance on the doctorate conferred by the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114212448/https://www.admin.ch/opc/fr/classified-compilation/19994202/index.html |date=2018-01-14 }} ([https://polylex.epfl.ch/files/content/sites/polylex/files/recueil_pdf/ENG/2.4.0.1_ordinance%20EDOC%20final_ANGL.pdf English translation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180428003645/https://polylex.epfl.ch/files/content/sites/polylex/files/recueil_pdf/ENG/2.4.0.1_ordinance%20EDOC%20final_ANGL.pdf |date=2018-04-28 }}), [[Federal Chancellery of Switzerland]], 1 September 2008 (page visited on 5 July 2017).</ref>