Scientific titles and degrees in ascending order. Academic degrees and titles

We have already written about what there are, what is the structure of titles and their awarding to applicants. Let's talk about the peculiarity of the Russian structure of academic degrees.

Why are they needed at all? This is a system of qualifications and ranking of researchers, their career ladder, so to speak, signs of reaching certain heights in science and / or teaching. Having a degree can raise credibility and affect wages even in business enterprises, which can, thanks to such employees, raise a business reputation.

Academic degrees

Now a mixed system has developed in Russia. Of course, the country strives to integrate into the international system, therefore, the system of the Bologna Process was partially introduced, according to which universities graduate bachelors and masters(4- and 6-year course, respectively), and partly sataraya remained with certified specialists(5-year course). A bachelor's degree is already a certificate of receipt higher education, and also gives the right to obtain a PhD degree.

However, until the full adherence to the Bologna process, the bachelor's and master's degrees are not academic degrees, as in Europe and the United States, but the qualifications of university graduates along with the degree (qualification) of a specialist.

Instead of a single highest scientific degree of doctor in Russia, two degrees are awarded

• PhD
• Ph.D

according to the German system inherited from the USSR. Both degrees are awarded to scientists by the Higher Attestation Commission and approved by the order of the Ministry of Education and Science.

To obtain a candidate's or doctor's degree, it is necessary to defend a thesis at a meeting of a special council, which is created at the university or other scientific institution. At the same time, you can become a doctor only after receiving a candidate's degree. Although there is no prohibition on obtaining a higher degree in another branch of science or specialty (for example, a chemist can become a doctor economic sciences, only for medical and veterinary sciences a higher medical education is required).

Academic titles

In Russia, titles are divided into 2 categories, which in turn can be by the department of the university and by specialty, that is:

• academic rank professors by specialty;
• academic rank associate professor by specialty;
• academic rank professors by the department;
• academic rank associate professor in the department.

All titles are awarded by orders of the Minister of Education and Science on the proposal of the Higher Attestation Commission. At the same time, different requirements are imposed on each category for obtaining.

To be awarded the academic title of professor in the department, you must be at least a candidate of sciences, for the title of associate professor you may not have an academic degree, but then other qualification requirements will be tougher.

The title of professor in the department implies the authorship (co-authorship) of textbooks or manuals, and for a professor in the specialty, the main criterion is the number of Ph.D. theses defended under his supervision (at least 5, for a professor in the department, 2 is enough). In addition, the title of professor in the department can be awarded to major specialists who have made a recognized contribution to world and Russian science; it is not necessary to go through the level of associate professor in Russian law.

This is the structure of academic degrees and titles for researchers and specialists in the current Russian legislation. As a rule, students, or rather graduates, who want to obtain a scientific degree, need to attend a course, at the end of which they pass the appropriate exams and defend their candidate dissertation. If your goal is not to enrich the world piggy bank of scientific knowledge, such a degree will still be a big plus, it will introduce you as a specialist with deep theoretical knowledge who will be in demand on the labor market. At the same time, many combine postgraduate studies, writing a dissertation and work in a commercial organization. By the way, this is the question of why and who needs academic titles and degrees.

The word "scientist", like many others in our aging vocabulary, which does not have time to transform and follow the life changes in society, has long lost its original meaning. Logically, “scientist” means “trained”, “rich in knowledge”. According to the "Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language" by Vladimir Dahl, a scientist is the one "who was taught, learned", and scholarship is "a state, a quality of a scientist, a thorough knowledge of sciences, a complete study of them."

Now, when we say “scientist,” we mean by this a person who creates science, creates, discovers new knowledge and scientific truths, has a scientific degree, and defended a thesis. By by and large the meaning of the word "scientist" becomes more intelligible when it is supplemented with the epithets "established", "well-known", "outstanding", "with a worldwide reputation."

Such epithets inevitably inspire fear, surround the term "scientist" with an aura of inaccessibility for an ordinary mortal who studied "something and somehow". One should not despair and take, say, the meaning of the phrase "famous scientist" literally, as known to the whole country, or even the world. After all, one can have fame on a much smaller scale, for example, within an institute, a university, or even a faculty. Or you can generally be guided by a common behavioral recipe: "The main thing is not to be, but to seem!" It seems much easier to be called a scientist than to be one in essence. This is widely used by people who wear the mantle of a scientist in the form of a degree and title is much more important than being a true scientist.

From the standpoint of statistics, any citizen who works creatively in science has the right to be called a scientist. But do not forget one more important truth: "You are an insect without a piece of paper, but a person with a piece of paper." All the more so in a society that does not occupy the last place in the world in terms of formalism and bureaucracy. So, if you want to be considered a scientist, present a certificate stating that you are a scientist. Such certificates are diplomas and certificates confirming the availability of an academic degree or title. So, first you have to understand these very degrees and titles, the presence of which is confirmed by documents authorized by the scientific authorities.

Let's talk about the system of academic degrees and titles. According to the approved unified register of academic degrees and titles, two academic degrees have been introduced in Russia: primary - candidate of sciences and higher - doctor of sciences. Each candidate of sciences can be considered, following the apt expression of V. Vysotsky, “a candidate for doctor”. But unlike the candidates for membership in the CPSU, who in a year all became members, not every candidate of sciences then becomes a doctor. Only about one in ten. The rest remain candidates for life. And the period of the candidate's experience is not a year, but usually from 5 to 25 years. Candidates, like wine, must certain time to withstand, therefore, those of them who seek to obtain a doctorate degree without having been a candidate of science for several years are viewed askance by the aged doctors of science who have been candidates for many years deciding their scientific fate.

In principle, an academic degree is awarded on the basis of a public defense of a dissertation to applicants for the relevant degree. What is a dissertation and what its defense is, it is said in the following presentation.

Formally, in accordance with the established rules, the academic degree of candidate of sciences is awarded dissertation council, that is, a specialized council, which has the right to accept theses for the defense of the corresponding academic degree. But the academic degree of Doctor of Science is awarded only Higher Attestation Commission (HAC) on the basis of a petition of the dissertation council, adopted after the successful defense of a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Science at a dissertation council authorized to accept doctoral dissertations (doctoral council). Doctoral councils have the right to accept both doctoral and master's theses for defense. But even in the process of obtaining the academic degree of candidate of sciences, the Higher Attestation Commission cannot be bypassed. The coveted candidate's diploma can be obtained only after a control check at the Higher Attestation Commission of the attestation file submitted there for consideration by the dissertation council after the defense.

So, an academic degree and a dissertation are closely related. To obtain the academic degree of a candidate or doctor of sciences, one must first prepare and defend a thesis, and this is, after all, a voluminous scientific work containing from 100 to 350 pages of text. Is it possible not to write a multifaceted dissertation and still get a degree on a legal basis? It turns out that it is possible, although not entirely simple. According to the regulation on awarding academic degrees, a doctoral dissertation can be performed in the form scientific report, presenting a summary of the results of the research and development carried out by the applicant. The provision on such a possibility says as follows: “The dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Science in the form of a scientific report is a brief summary of the results of research and development, known a wide range of specialists ". The report should be supported by a set of previously published by the applicant in the relevant field of knowledge of scientific works that are of great importance for science and practice. Few of the applicants follow such a non-trivial path. You have to have a lot of publications, be famous even before the award of an academic degree, and go the unbeaten, and therefore more risky, path.

Having received some initial information about academic degrees, let's move on to academic titles. In Russia, according to the unified register of academic degrees and titles, approved in 2002, the following titles are provided:

a) associate professor in the specialty according to the nomenclature of specialties of scientific workers or in the department of an educational institution;

b) professor by specialty or by department.

The title system is more confusing than the degree system. And not only because they distinguish between titles by specialty and by department, but also because the degrees are, as it were, only scientific, and the titles are both scientific and pedagogical, teaching. Academic degrees are awarded essentially only by the Higher Attestation Commission, and all sorts of scientific titles are awarded by the Higher Attestation Commission, the Ministry of Education, and the Russian Academy of Sciences. Not aiming to systematize information about academic titles, which is also prone to change, we touch them only in an effort to distinguish between the concepts of "academic degree" and "academic title", to prevent the often observed confusion in this regard.

Speaking about academic titles, one should distinguish title by position or simply a position held from an academic title that can be held without holding a similar position. So, you can hold the position of professor or assistant professor without having the appropriate title, confirmed by the presence of a certificate. But you can hold the title of professor or associate professor, have an appropriate official certificate and work as a house manager, or even not work at all. One has to write about this not only out of a feeling of regret for professors with titles, who, alas, are not working as professors, but in a slightly lower position. The point is also that it is common for those working as a professor who do not have such an academic title to call themselves professors, although in reality they only hold a professorship. It is curious that the military are more modest in this respect - a colonel holding a general's post does not call himself a general until he receives a general's rank.

It is necessary to know that along with the titles "Associate Professor", "Professor", supported by certificates, there are purely official titles that are not directly related to the conferring of an academic title. At the same time, to borrow in research or educational institution the position of a research assistant (junior, simply scientific, senior, leading, chief), it is desirable, and sometimes necessary, to have academic degrees and titles. Academic titles are established for scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel according to the criteria of the state certification system.

Academic title of associate professor assigned to employees of scientific organizations for research activities and employees of higher educational institutions for scientific and pedagogical activities.

Academic title of professor awarded to employees of higher educational institutions and scientific organizations for scientific and pedagogical activities and the training of graduate students.

Individuals who have been awarded academic titles are issued appropriate certificates, which, by analogy with diploma of candidate or doctor of sciences present official "certificates" about the involvement of scientists in the world.

A legitimate question arises: "Why and who needs these cunning double signs, a double measurement of scholarship: by degrees and titles?" The most natural answer sounds, in our opinion, like this: “Everything that exists in the world is reasonable. So it should be so. As for tricks, in science you cannot do without tricks. Sometimes you can do it without knowledge, but you can't do it without tricks. "

So it is better not to waste mental energy, but to finally figure out how academic degrees differ from academic titles. For in general, as is clear from the previous presentation, the system of academic degrees and titles is so confused that, trying to figure out all the details, you get even more confused.

1. Academic degrees are awarded as a result of the defense of dissertations, and academic titles are awarded based on the results of scientific and pedagogical activities. The order and procedure for "award" and "assignment" are different. Anyone wishing to receive an academic degree of an applicant proves that he has grounds for this at a “trial” in the form of a dissertation council, which makes the initial decision on awarding the required degree based on the defense of the dissertation. The academic title is awarded by the authorized bodies on the basis of a petition, attesting that the applicant for the academic title has fulfilled the conditions necessary for this.

It is highly desirable, I would say, not even obligatory not to confuse the word "awarded", attributable only to academic degrees, with the word "Assigned", attributable only to academic titles. This is a common mistake, inherent, alas, even to those who have already become scientists. Such an error indicates either linguistic inaccuracy or low scientific culture. In everyday life, the words "present" and "provide", which have different meanings, are mixed in the same way. By the way, if a petition for conferring an academic title is filed against a scientist, then it is customary to say that he is presented for an academic title. But they do not represent a scientific degree, it, as is clear from the previous presentation, is awarded by authorized dissertation councils or special commissions based on the results of the defense of dissertations.

2. The presence of an academic degree is evidenced by the diploma of a candidate or doctor of sciences, and the existence of an academic title is evidenced by the certificate of an associate professor, professor. So the references are named differently.

3. Usually, the award of the academic title of senior associate professor is preceded by the award of the academic degree of candidate of sciences, and the award of the title of professor is preceded by the award of the academic degree of doctor of sciences, that is, it is necessary first to obtain degrees, and then titles adequate to them, in connection with which it is often more difficult to acquire a degree rather than a title, which is relatively easy to obtain with a degree in a few years.

Hence, it is clear that in order to obtain a title, it is desirable to have a degree. It is desirable but not required. There is an opportunity to get a title without a degree, for this you need to be, as the regulations on academic titles say, a highly qualified specialist and hold a corresponding scientific position for some time. In the modern scientific unofficial vocabulary of a scientific worker, a teacher who is awarded the title of professor in the absence of a doctorate degree, it is customary to call a "cold" professor. Such a professor is not deprived of the opportunity to defend a thesis and turn into a "hot" one.

We emphasize once again that, when speaking of academic titles, one should distinguish them from a position. You can hold the position of assistant professor, professor, without having the appropriate academic title. The difference between a ranked and an incumbent is roughly the same as between permanent owner vehicle and non-owner driver. The title is given forever, for life, and the position is given for a certain period. True, there are often cases when you have, and the position is occupied by a person without a title, even though you are an associate professor, but is forced to work as an assistant. Science is a tricky thing; much is possible in it. Rank is one such opportunity.

The range of scientific positions is wider than the range of academic titles. So, two academic titles have a whole set of positions. In higher educational institutions it is an assistant, teacher, senior teacher, associate professor, professor. In scientific organizations - a junior (for me), just a scientific, senior (in a dream), a leading, a chief researcher (the latter are jokingly called gnuses). In addition, there are high positions of heads of departments, departments, laboratories, sectors and even higher ones - rectors, vice-rectors, directors. In general, something, but we have enough scientific positions. Anyone holding such a position is entitled to be considered a scientist.

Mention should be made of scientists, more precisely, scientific titles beginning with the words "honored", "honorary", but they are intended not for novice scientists, but for those completing their scientific path. Honored scientists and honorary doctors of dissertations usually do not need them, they either have them, or they do not really need them.

You can't go past the titles corresponding member and full member (academician) of the Academy of Sciences... At first glance, it seems that this is also not for young people, although Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov became a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences at the age of 28, and an academician at the age of 32. In general, a soldier who does not dream of becoming a general is bad, as is a graduate student who does not dream of becoming an academician. The chances are approximately equal, but in the future, they are higher for graduate students, because the number of academic vacancies in last years began to increase sharply due to the growth in the number of the academies themselves.

Again, to understand this issue, additional clarification is needed. Nowadays, scientific academies in Russia form a whole pyramid, at the top of which there is a pyramid created by Peter the Great in 1724. Russian Academy Sciences, which includes about a thousand corresponding members and full members (academicians). This is the holy of holies of science. Even the great transformer N.S. Khrushchev did not succeed in replacing the Academy of Sciences with a set of branch academies. They say that the then president of the Academy of Sciences A.N. Nesmeyanov said to Khrushchev: "Nikita Sergeevich, the Academy was created by Peter the Great himself and it is not for you to close it." And L.I. Brezhnev and others like him could not achieve exclusion from the Academy of Sciences of the free-thinker A.D. Sakharov.

The greatness of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) is determined by the fact that it includes the most outstanding scientists, generals and even marshals from science. But the fact of receiving life annuity in the form of "scholarships" also plays a role. Before the market reforms, academicians were paid 500 rubles in addition to income from work. per month, and for corresponding members - 300 rubles., which is approximately twice the average wage in the Soviet Union. In the conditions of the quasi-market Russian economy, academic “scholarships” at first sharply “lost weight”, but, starting in 2002, they again increased significantly and reached two or three times the average monthly wage of an ordinary Russian worker. Not so hot, taking into account inflation, but the stream of people striving to become corresponding members and full members of the Russian Academy of Sciences does not dry up. After all, there are some other incentives besides cash feeding.

At the second level of the academic pyramid are state sectoral academies, such as the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences, the Academy of Architecture and Construction, the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Academy of Arts and, to some extent, the Academy of Natural Sciences (RANS). They also include full members (academicians) and corresponding members, but their state "scholarships" are one and a half, or even two times lower, and only the Academy itself has the right to pay money to RANS.

Well, and at the third level, in the so-called transition period from the administrative-administrative to the market economy, so many non-state, public academies, academicians and corresponding members have emerged in Russia that they are beyond numbers. He himself became an academician of two academies at once. But in these academies they do not pay the state money, and even, on the contrary, in order to become their participant, one must pay an entrance fee as a kind of payment for the right to bear the title of corresponding member of the Academy or a full member.

So if you want to understand the real greatness of the title of academician, then you must first of all find out which Academy he belongs to. The newly baked academicians of numerous man-made academies are reluctant to talk about this, calling themselves with pathos academicians, corresponding members without specifying which academy is meant.

Getting into the topmost layer of the elite requires special skill and luck. Although formally elected as Corresponding Members and Academicians, in order to become one, one must be elected in a different sense of the word. Correspondents and academicians have their own Masonic lodge, their own laws of advancement, which, perhaps, are only known to them. Neither dissertations nor scientific works play a decisive role here, although an academic degree is needed. It is much more important to get "in the stream" and get support from the members of the lodge. The higher the level of the Academy, the naturally more difficult it is to get into it.

There is no doubt that the fierce competition (ten or more doctors of sciences apply for one place of the corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences), the desire to get a scientific apartment on the highest floor, closer to the sun, are due to some super-powerful incentive. Long tongues gossip about the life annuity earned out of the public pocket by holding an academic title in addition to other income. And then about the opportunity to get a new position. Those who strive to the top claim that they do it out of pure love for science, so that their undoubted scientific merits will receive public recognition, and they themselves will receive economic independence, freedom of scientific creativity.

And one more interesting detail. Many non-state educational academies, universities, institutes have appeared in Russia, at which there are sometimes dissertation councils. The most "brave" of them sometimes dare to completely separate from the state in the person of the Higher Attestation Commission, awarding academic degrees not only to a candidate, but even a doctor of sciences without the participation of the Higher Attestation Commission, as is customary abroad in completely different conditions. After the defense, such quickly "baked" scientists are immediately issued sealed diplomas, called "crusts", the forms of which are not difficult to make or buy. It remains only to say to the candidates and doctors of sciences certified in this way: "Take a walk, Vasya, along the scientific path, and, of course, get a reward for services."

This is one of the consequences of the hasty liberalization of Russian science and education. I would like to remind the "craftsmen" that according to the Government Decree Russian Federation dated January 30, 2002 No. 74, as documents on the award of academic degrees provided for by the state certification system, only diplomas issued by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation or other authorized state bodies are valid.

Having got acquainted with the Russian system of academic degrees and titles, the curious reader has the right to ask how they are doing, "over the hill", that is, abroad, in this regard. You yourself understand that they cannot have such a strict and harmonious system as we do. There, after all, who wants what, then does. And the government does not interfere in this matter, and there is no Higher State Attestation Commission, and regulations and instructions are smaller than ours. True, self-discipline there, as a rule, is higher and self-responsibility too. Universities, having the ability to independently award "their own" academic degrees, do not scatter them to the right and left, do not turn them into an object of purchase and sale, nepotism. At least they rarely do it, as an exception.

As a result, it is too simple with degrees and titles, not what we have. Sheer primitivism, even boring. No candidates, no associate professors. True, there are doctors and professors. But their doctor is something like a domestic candidate. Therefore, our candidates, having escaped abroad or entering into contacts with foreign scientists in their native land, immediately call themselves doctors. Although they call the novice scientists there bachelors and masters, the latter even have to prepare a dissertation.

Our attempts to reproduce the training of bachelors and masters in Russia have not yet been crowned with resounding success.

Again, they do not have a complete set of our scientific titles. But professors come in different ranks: junior, just professors and senior or full (not in complexion, of course, but in the completeness of knowledge and recognition of merits).

Why do people need degrees and titles

The problem of the purpose of life, human aspirations and needs, their distribution according to the degree of significance, importance has occupied and will forever occupy the minds of people. It is equally obvious that, despite all the efforts of philosophers and sociologists, no one will ever be able to solve this problem completely. Accordingly, one does not have to look for an exhaustive answer to the question: "Why and why do people strive to acquire academic degrees and titles, spending a lot of time, effort and money on this?" In the end, since a person is looking for something, it means that he needs it. The need is what people need, and one should think more not about the nature of such a need, but about how to satisfy it more fully at lower, limited costs. But nevertheless, it is necessary and possible, even necessary, to understand the meaning of the desires of those who suffer to acquire an academic degree, because the measure of zeal with which the applicant achieves his goal depends on the desires.

According to the views of the American sociologist and psychologist Abraham Maslow, hierarchically built human needs form a kind of "pyramid" consisting of five steps, levels. Ranked requirements form the following structure.

1. The need for self-realization, self-affirmation.
2. The need for respect from others and for self-respect.
3. The need for communication, friendship, love.
4. The need for security and assistance.
5. Physiological needs.

Let us consider how the satisfaction of the listed needs is related to the presence of a person's academic degree and academic title. A scientist can satisfy his physiological needs more fully if, after successfully defending a dissertation, awarding an academic degree or conferring an academic title, income and access to material benefits increase.

The safety of a scientist is somewhat higher than that of an ordinary citizen; due to the historical veneration of scientists in Russia, they are less killed by bandits and criminal groups. Young male graduate students are given a respite from being drafted into the army as they are studying. Candidates of science are not drafted into the army at all. More or less eminent scientists are assigned to special clinics, the state cares about their health a little more than non-gradual ones, although in quasi-market Russia this opportunity has faded.

Joining a club of scientists undoubtedly develops communication and friendship; additional contacts arise between scientists, they form a kind of clans, they meet at conferences, seminars, events held by scientists' homes, all sorts of scientific societies and foundations. Scientists often travel abroad and communicate with foreign colleagues. With the satisfaction of the needs for love, the problem is not solved so unambiguously, but, in any case, the love of graduate students for their scientific leaders is an ordinary event.

Respect for scientists on the part of others, as already mentioned, stems from historical Russian traditions and although recently such respect has somewhat faded against the background of reverence for businessmen who know how to make money, to a certain extent it is still observed. But the need for self-respect after receiving academic degrees and titles is certainly satisfied to a high degree. You yourself do not notice how you begin to truly respect yourself, treat yourself with dignity.

And, of course, writing and defending a dissertation, the acquisition and further use of academic degrees and titles is one of the higher forms self-realization, self-expression. In this respect, scientists are surpassed only by actors and politicians.

Scientists live for a relatively long time, at least longer than people engaged in many other kinds of purposeful activities. According to expert estimates, a candidate's degree and the title of associate professor extend life by two to three years in comparison with non-graduate ones, doctors and professors live longer by about five to seven years, corresponding members and academicians - by eight to ten. The lack of detailed and reliable statistics does not allow confirming the stated hypothesis with more reliable figures. And scientists find it easier to attach their children than to successfully prolong the life of their children. This should be taken into account when striving for the first form of happiness - increasing life expectancy, extending it in your offspring and ensuring a good life for your offspring.

When it comes to the happiness of enrichment, scientists are also not the last people. Of course, in terms of income and material well-being, they cannot be compared with successful entrepreneurs, oligarchs, and the highest nomenclature. Even an academician is unlikely to win the competition. But a candidate of sciences can compete with a worker, office worker, engineer, doctor, teacher. And in terms of income, and money savings, and property. A car and a garden plot, sometimes even a modest dacha, an academic degree is able to provide. Not right away, of course.

In monetary terms, academic degrees and titles bring additional income, both due to a slightly increased wage rate, and due to the receipt of allowances and additional earnings. Alas, the time when the candidate, associate professor received a guaranteed increase in salary in the amount of 50 to 200 rubles. per month, Doctor of Science - from 100 to 400 rubles. (and the ruble was close to the dollar in value) is a thing of the past. However, little by little, it seems to be returning. Much depends on the ability to use degrees and titles as a tool for earning money and material goods, acting according to the formula: "academic degree - promotion in the position - gaining a position that allows you to earn income - getting the income itself."

There is no need to hide the fact that the demand for a scientific and intellectual product observed in the former Soviet Union has dropped significantly; often a scientific, spiritual product remains unclaimed by the system and society. In the same time certain types scientific, educational, informational product are highly valued in the modern Russian market of goods and services. There is an opportunity to sell them abroad at an affordable price.

We will not make hasty, hasty, one-sided conclusions about the failure of the idea of ​​material, monetary happiness on scientific grounds. After all, they do pay. Free time, which a scientist has much more than other workers, also costs money, it can be used for additional commercial activities. And in the end, if you decide to grow and sell flowers, trade in imported cigarettes, and maybe even oil, gas or metals, then an academic degree and title will not interfere in any way, and will help in some other way. Academic degrees and the scientific image they generate are a wonderful, extremely useful addition to the art of commerce, if not reinforcement.

Even if science is not the best, not the most effective method material enrichment, but this is a reliable path to spiritual wealth. It should be recognized that science, like art, provides inexhaustible opportunities in this area. The knowledge of the innermost secrets of the universe and the very introduction to the world of people who create science, erect a majestic, never completed Building of Knowledge, gives extraordinary, incomparable sensations, special feelings. Personal involvement in the replenishment of the treasury of the Eternal Science exalts a person, serves as a powerful source of self-affirmation, achieving fame, approaching glory. No wonder one hundred members of the Paris Academy of Natural Sciences are considered immortal.

Among the people of scientists, by analogy with writers, painters, actors, many consider noble, intelligent, intellectually gifted or even the most smart people... I recall with what deep reverence my mother treated scientists. In the remote Ukrainian village where I spent my childhood, of course, they had no idea about academic degrees and titles, they had never heard of it. The word "scientist" was associated with the concept of "educated." Mother, who by some miracle graduated from high school in Odessa, was considered almost the most scientist in the village. His father, who barely finished two classes of the parish school, in spite of his mother liked to say: "If everyone becomes literate, who will herd the pigs?"

Let us now try to understand the driving forces prompting to write and defend dissertations of Russians living in the conditions of a prolonged transition period from the Soviet socialist to the capitalist market economy. Life testifies to the existence of such stimuli. After an obvious recession in the late 90s of the XX century. in Russia from the very beginning of the XI century. there is a rise in interest in the defense of dissertations and the acquisition of academic titles. What is it conditioned by and to whom did it spread its effect?

The number of young pragmatists who do not consider science to be the best, profitable field of activity in the conditions of modern life, but who understand that a stock of scientific knowledge, supported by a scientific degree, not only does not hurt, but may well be useful. Engaging in entrepreneurship, participating in a more or less profitable business, or planning such participation, striving to establish themselves in the middle class, such young men and women understand at the same time that enrolling in extramural graduate school, becoming a candidate, defending a thesis is useful for strengthening their status, position in society, in life. They do not expect immediate benefits and advantages from an academic degree, but they believe that all this will come over time. Well, this cohort of degree-seekers is far-sighted.

Another category of persons seeking to acquire an academic degree is a part of the "new Russians" who have acquired a decent financial condition and position, who have been honored to become worthy members of the middle class of Russians and at the same time looking for a way and ways to strengthen your position for a secure future. These energetic people are looking for additional areas for their efforts and investments of the funds available to them. One of these areas is science, or rather, obtaining an academic degree. A simple calculation or purely intuitive ideas convince such applicants for a scientific degree that investments in scientific business, which represent a not so significant part of their resource potential, strength, energy, time, money, will certainly pay off. And even if they do not pay off in monetary terms, the losses are not so significant, quite bearable. Even the very fact of a long-term, or even lifelong, introduction to science through acquiring an academic degree serves as a worthy reward for such people, pays for the resources spent.

The next group of Russians who are eager to join the academic degrees of candidate and doctor of sciences, and then, if possible, become a professor, are eminent and wealthy middle-aged citizens who emerged on the wave of market reforms and took a very decent, sometimes even very high position in society. These are active, dynamic, intelligent, knowledgeable people who, however, have a very indirect relationship to science, who, as political economists like to say, are in indirect communication with it. Being sane representatives of their class, they understand that under the moon, nothing lasts forever, the sun has a custom to go behind the clouds, at any moment a warm place can become hot and you have to leave it. It is then that an academic degree and even a title can be very useful, and a decent position at a university department or in a reputable research institute is not shameful, but even worthy for a career at the end of years and strength.

The main difficulty for these respected people is to write and defend a thesis. They have few scientific works, or even none at all, except perhaps for articles in newspapers, which are not considered scientific works. There's no time to write a dissertation, and I don't really want to, besides, even the most talkative of them are not so hot writers. We have to resort to the services of consultants and specialists. In the conditions of the Russian semi-market economy, when even in newspapers it is not difficult to find an advertisement for a "turnkey thesis", the problem is not difficult to solve - there would be, as they say, money. In addition, since the customers are most often people who know the business well, they can easily attach to a dissertation written with the other hand, more or less freely defend it after some preparation and intensive training. And then it is difficult to catch them at the Higher Attestation Commission, although in recent years attempts have been made to put slingshots and barriers in the way of these courageous people striving for science. Their attestation cases, abstracts, and even dissertations are monitored by the expert councils of the Higher Attestation Commission with special care. The "martyrs" themselves are often called "on the carpet" at the Higher Attestation Commission, where they must appear face to face with qualified experts and prove their personal participation, the novelty of their research, the validity and applicability of the results of their work.

And finally, about one more category of applicants who deserve the deepest respect, who have suffered their dissertation for years of persistent waiting for their hour and painstaking work. We are talking about those teachers of institutes and universities, workers of research and design organizations who, not possessing powerful talent and penetrating power, drop by drop lay off grains of their own developments or ideas found in scientific literature and for years, or even decades, build his modest dissertation house. Most of these applicants are satisfied with a candidate's degree, but there are also more restless ones who, by the age of 50, are thinking about a doctoral dissertation, and closer to 60 they even defend it, having created almost entirely with their own hands.

We needed to resort to brief analysis and the classification of different categories of applicants, not only to convince you that the gunpowder has not dried up in the gunpowder of hunters for academic degrees and titles. The point is that by defining his own classification group, the applicant will greatly facilitate the solution of the problem of choosing a rational (in the limit even optimal) way to achieve the goal. And in our multipolar and multivariate world, the implementation of a reasonable, correct choice of a course of action is already half the battle, or even more. Even if your choice is connected with the need to rely on others, there is nothing wrong with that. Even the great Newton wrote that he was able to achieve success in science only by relying on the achievements of his predecessors, meaning, for example, Galileo. And we, simple sinners, can’t do without assistance.

Continuing the topic raised in the article "Profession, specialty, specialization ... Let's figure it out!"

Academic degree

Academic degree - a title that is assigned to an applicant by the scientific community and certifies his competence in a particular scientific field. Most of the CIS countries have inherited the system of academic degrees from the USSR (Ukraine is among them), so today a representative of domestic science can become:

• Ph.D.
• Doctor of Science

An academic degree is awarded to an applicant by an authorized state body. In the USSR, it was called the Higher Attestation Commission (Higher Attestation Commission). As a rule, in the CIS countries the name of this body has not changed. The decision to award the academic degree of candidate or doctor of sciences is taken by the Higher Attestation Commission based on the results of the defense of the dissertation (respectively, candidate's or doctoral degree).

The defense of the dissertation takes place in a specialized scientific council - a community of respected scientists who are engaged in the science of a certain topic, and can give a competent assessment of the work of the applicant. As a rule, specialized scientific councils are opened in universities or research institutes so that the cadres working in them can defend themselves "without leaving home." If there is no council for your specialty in your home institution, you can go to the next one.

PhD

Postgraduate studies are a starting "incubator" for training young scientific personnel. As a rule, full-time post-graduate students become, as a rule, immediately after graduation from the university. You can become a part-time postgraduate student (or just an applicant) without reference to the date of graduation, but having a diploma of higher education is almost a prerequisite for admission to graduate school.

With a successful combination of circumstances, the main of which is the defense of a candidate's dissertation, the graduate student becomes a candidate of sciences. Although there are exceptions, and a degree is awarded without defending a dissertation, one can imagine how powerful a scientist's contribution to science should be in this case.

The candidate of sciences is the most common academic degree among the scientific and pedagogical staff of universities and employees of various research institutes. As a rule, a candidate's degree gives the right to a small increase in salary (in Ukraine - about 15%), and also opens up prospects for obtaining the position of an assistant professor (see below) or similar.

Ph.D

The candidate of sciences who has decided to finally conquer the scientific pedestal becomes a doctoral student. To do this, you can enroll in doctoral studies, which, in theory, will allow you to get rid of some job responsibilities(for example, to reduce the teaching load at the university). But you can be a doctoral student and "in absentia" - just write a doctoral dissertation without any changes in your work.

It is believed that the degree of Doctor of Science is the highest criterion for the competence and consistency of a scientist, therefore, the requirements for the preparation of a doctoral dissertation (and its defense) are significantly higher than for a candidate's. Although formally, there are no significant differences between these processes.

Doctor of Sciences is a much less common academic degree, since not all candidates of sciences want (aspire, can) become doctors. In terms of preferences, a doctoral degree allows a scientist to qualify for the position of professor (subject to some other conditions), as well as expect a higher salary increase.

Positions for candidates and doctors of sciences

It is important to understand that an academic degree is not automatically associated with the position held by the scientist. Usually, the "alignment" of the positions that scientists occupy in the university (and for which they apply) is as follows.

Without a position

A postgraduate student may not have any position and only engage in scientific work at the department. The position is also not needed by a correspondence student or a job seeker.

Assistant

An assistant can be a graduate student or even a PhD student.

Senior Lecturer

Former postgraduate students (who did not become candidates, but have accumulated some experience), or candidates of science can work as a senior teacher. This position is considered to be a kind of "transitional", when a person without a degree just needs to be morally supported and promoted from assistants.

Assistant professor

As a rule, candidates of sciences work at the position of associate professor. Sometimes doctors.

Professor

Professorships are usually awarded to doctors of sciences. PhDs work as professors very rarely (this position is for highly respected scientists).

The real picture of the distribution of posts

It should be said that a candidate or doctor of sciences can apply for any position, but this position is not always "available". In reality, the situation often develops in such a way that candidates work for a long time as assistants or senior teachers, and doctors of sciences - as associate professors, since the university does not allocate new staff units in departments. This process is highly bureaucratic, and the struggle for a "place in the sun" among scientific and pedagogical workers is a common thing.

It is a widespread practice when, after defending a Ph.D. thesis, a young scientist automatically "opens" the position of an associate professor. Usually this is the prerogative of the educational institution. But such temporary position is not permanent, and in order to gain a foothold in this position, a young candidate of sciences should take care of obtaining the academic title of "Associate Professor".

Academic title

Academic titles are consonant with some positions in the higher education system, so they are often confused or considered the same. An academic title is awarded to a person with a certain scientific degree some time after defending a dissertation, if he has fulfilled a number of requirements (for example, he published a series of scientific papers, wrote teaching aids, prepared textbooks, etc.).

Assistant professor

The academic title "Associate Professor" is not the position of an Associate Professor. The academic title "Associate Professor" is usually awarded to candidates of science. This title gives a scientist the right to heaven O the largest increase in wages (in Ukraine it is 15 ... 25%).

Professor

The academic title "professor" is not a professor's position. As a rule, the academic title "professor" is awarded to doctors of sciences. Accordingly, with obtaining the title of "professor", the salary of a scientist also rises.

I hope that this information shed at least a little light on how the system of state science and education works. Of course, in this system there are still many "intermediate" concepts, positions, titles. Whenever possible, Dystlab will endeavor to explain them in new publications.

Many people are confused about the positions, degrees and titles of teachers and researchers working at the university. And this is not surprising ...

Let's figure this out.

The fact is that university employees are characterized immediately by four directions :

1. Academic position.

2. Administrative position.

3. Academic degree.

4. Academic title.

Table 1

List of academic positions

Posts are listed alphabetically. They give different rights and obligations to participate in the educational (academic) process. For example, a student can learn but cannot teach. The assistant can teach, but cannot independently design his own curriculum, etc.

table 2

List of administrative positions

Posts are listed alphabetically. It is in accordance with administrative positions that university employees receive a salary, or rather, an official salary. The higher the position, the higher the salary. These positions are of particular importance to the HR and accounting departments. They also build all employees into a hierarchy of bosses and subordinates.

List of academic degrees

Two academic degrees:

1. PhD - primary. For example, Candidate of Medical Sciences - Candidate of Medical Sciences - Ph.D.

2. Ph.D- higher ... For example, Doctor of Biological Sciences - Doctor of Biological Sciences - Doctor of Biological Sciences

In order to obtain such a degree, it is required to create a special scientific work called "dissertation for the degree of candidate of such and such sciences" or "dissertation for the degree of doctor of such and such sciences". In addition, this dissertation still needs to be "defended" in a specially designated place - the Dissertation Council. Specialists in a related scientific field there will decide whether the dissertation presented corresponds to the desired degree. So a degree may or may not be awarded. Writing and defending a thesis is not an easy and difficult job, therefore, the scientific and organizational value of candidates and doctors of sciences is clearly higher than theirs, but before defending their academic degree.

True, we are threatened by the emergence of several more degrees, modeled on Western ones, but, naturally, in a Russian way.

Bachelor- in fact, this is the same graduate of our technical school or a dropout student of a university with an "incomplete higher", but who has defended his thesis, for which he receives a "bachelor's degree". This is the lowest possible degree.

master- in the recent past, it was just a university graduate who defended his thesis, and not just passed state exams. But now the student's thesis has become known as the WRC ("final qualifying work") and has ceased to give a master's level. Now 2 years will have to additionally (for additional money) to serve in the university and to do, in essence, the second thesis, now the master's. Only then will it be possible to be called a "master". And this work will be called "master's thesis", like the candidate's or doctoral dissertation. A master's degree is an academic degree that reflects the appropriate educational level of the graduate, readiness for research and scientific-pedagogical activity. A master's degree is awarded based on the results of defending a master's thesis.

"Doctor of Philosophy" or "pee-hi-di" (PhD)- a popular degree abroad, in terms of scientific weight, it is something intermediate between the graduation thesis and the classic Soviet Ph.D. thesis. True, pessimists fear that over time they will demand a hybrid for more high level- a cross between a candidate's and doctoral dissertations. Life will show what will actually hatch from this gilded egg: a chicken or a crocodile ...

The Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) degree is an approximate analogue of the academic degree of Doctor of Science in countries with a "one-stage" system of academic degrees, while in countries with a "two-stage" system (for example, in Germany) - a habitated (habilitated) doctor. After undergoing the habilitation procedure, i.e. defense of the second doctoral dissertation (more significant than the first), the applicant is awarded the title of habilitated doctor (doctor habilitatus, Dr. habil.)

There is also a system of degrees for "professional" rather than scientific research work. For example, Doctor of Law (DL), Medicine (DM), Business Administration (DBA) degrees, etc., are considered in many countries as constituting a professional rather than academic / research doctoral system, that is, it is assumed that the holder of such a degree is engaged in relevant practice, not science. Since obtaining such degrees does not require independent scientific research, a professional doctorate is usually not considered an academic degree. Whether a degree is classified as a professional or research doctorate depends on the country and even on the specific university. For example, in the United States and Canada, the medical degree is professional, and in the UK, Ireland and many countries of the British Commonwealth, it is research.

Honorary degree
There is also a workaround for getting a degree without any scientific work. This is the so-called "honorary degree" of Doctor of Science (Honor Doctor or Honor degree or Doctor honoris causa). It is issued by universities, academies or the Ministry of Education without taking a course of study and without taking into account mandatory requirements(for publications, defense, etc.), but who have achieved great success in business and gained fame in any field of knowledge (artists, law, religious figures, businessmen, writers and poets, artists, etc.). Such people are involved in teaching and lecturing in the best universities in many countries of the world. An honorary doctorate is not awarded in medicine. An honorary degree can be awarded or removed.

So, an academic degree confirms the scientific qualifications of its owner and his ability to fruitful scientific activity.

List of academic titles

In Russia, according to the unified register of academic degrees and titles, approved in 2002, the following are provided.academic titles:

1. Assistant professor by specialty according to the nomenclature of specialties of scientific workers or by the department of an educational institution.Academic title of associate professor assigned to employees of scientific organizations for research activities, and employees of higher educational institutions - for scientific and pedagogical activities.

2. Professor by specialty or by department.Academic title of professor awarded to employees of higher educational institutions and scientific organizations for scientific and pedagogical activities and the training of graduate students.

3. Corresponding member(Corresponding Member) of the Academy of Sciences.

4. Full member (academician) of the Academy of Sciences.

System academic titles more confusing than the system academic degrees ... So, there are titles by specialty and by department... In addition, degrees are, as it were, only scientific (scientists), and titles - both scientific and pedagogical (teaching). Academic degrees are officially registered only by the Higher Attestation Commission (Higher Attestation Commission), and all sorts of academic titles - by the Higher Attestation Commission, the Ministry of Education, and the Russian Academy of Sciences.

How do we differentiate between degrees and degrees in order to reduce the often observed confusion in this regard?

Speaking about academic titles, one should distinguish title by position or just the current position from academic rank, which you can have without holding a similar position. So, you can borrow position professor or assistant professor, but not have the same rank, confirmed by the presence of a certificate. Or, on the contrary, you can possess rank professor or associate professor, have the appropriate official certificate, but work not as a professor, but, for example, as a house manager, or even not work at all. So professors with the title of professors can work, alas, not at all as professors.

The matter is further complicated by the fact that people who work as a professor, but do not have the same academic title, tend to call themselves professors, although in reality they only occupy professorship... It is curious that the military is more modest in this respect: for example, a colonel occupying a general's position, does not call himself a general until he receives a general rank.

So, rank "Associate professor" or "professor"supported by official certificates... Purely official titles "Associate professor" or "professor"are not associated with the official conferment of the same academic title.

At the same time, in order to occupy a decent position at a university or in a research institution, it is desirable (and sometimes necessary) to have academic degree... The presence of a scientific degree, position and the prescribed activities in this position give the right to receive academic rank.

Academic degrees awarded as a result of the defense of dissertations, and academic titles assigned based on the results of scientific and pedagogical activities.

About availability academic degree testifies diploma candidate or doctor of science, but about the availability academic rank - certificate associate professor, professor. So the official supporting documents for degree and rank are called differently.

Non-state degrees and titles

And you should definitely know about one more curious detail. There are many non-state educational institutions: academies, universities, institutes, which sometimes have their own non-state dissertation councils. Some of them dare to completely separate from the state in the person of the Higher Attestation Commission and begin to award academic degrees, not just a candidate, but even a doctor of sciences. without the participation of the Higher Attestation Commission , in the same way as it is accepted abroad, but in completely different conditions. After being protected by such "Non-state" scientists are immediately issued sealed diplomas, popularly called "crusts", the forms of which are not difficult to make or buy. The question of their legal force raises reasonable doubts ...

According to the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 74 of January 30, 2002, only diplomas issued by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation or other authorized state bodies are valid as documents for the award of academic degrees provided for by the state certification system.

Academicians and Corresponding Members

Now in Russia scientific academies with their academicians and corresponding members form a whole pyramid.

On first level, at the top of this academic pyramid is created by Peter the Great in 1724. Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) , which includes about a thousand corresponding members and full members (academicians). This is the holy of holies of Russian science.

On second level academic pyramid are state branch academies , such as the Academy of Medical Sciences (RAMS), the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences, the Academy of Architecture and Construction, the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Academy of Arts and, to some extent, the Academy of Natural Sciences (RANS). They also include full members (academicians) and corresponding members, but their state academic "scholarships" are one and a half, or even two times lower than in the Russian Academy of Sciences, and in general, only the Academy itself has the right to pay money to the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, without state support.

On third level so many non-state , public academies , and in them"Public" academicians and corresponding members, which is not easy to count. But in these"Academies" the state academic scholarship is not paid at all, and even, on the contrary, in order to become their participant, an entrance fee must be paid - as a kind of payment for the right to bear the title of a corresponding member or full member of such a non-state public Academy.

Similar « public academies»Were also organized quite quickly abroad our former compatriots. They briskly trade titles, diplomas and certificates, making money on this, and not on science. And in Russia, the number of"Foreign academics "Having beautiful"Candy wrappers ", With records on foreign language, as if confirming their mythical international scientific status ...

The terms "academic degree" and "academic title" are associated with people who are engaged in scientific professional activities. Most often these are teachers at universities, institutes, technical schools.

Types of degrees

An academic degree reflects the qualifications of a scientist in scientific field... There are two types of degrees:

1. PhD.
2. Ph.D.

An academic degree can be awarded only if there is a dissertation work (candidate and doctoral, respectively), which must be written during postgraduate or doctoral studies. At the same time, the conditions must be met that confirm the active scientific activity of the candidate and the approbation of his work. These include the publication of scientific articles in special journals and participation in scientific conferences, including foreign ones.

In addition, the awarding of an academic degree is preceded by the process of public defense of the written scientific work at a meeting of a specialized academic council, which is created at a higher educational institution. In the process of transition of education to the European level, the degree "Doctor of Philosophy" (Ph.D) is introduced, which is equal to the traditional "Candidate of Science".

Anyone with higher education... But only a candidate of sciences who has already taken place can enroll in doctoral studies. At the same time, it is not at all necessary that the specialization of the candidate's and doctoral dissertations coincides. So, the first can be written in technical sciences, and the second in philosophical, or vice versa. Confirmation of the fulfillment of a huge and painstaking work, its recognition is carried out by obtaining an appropriate diploma.

The highest degree of professionalism and competence is considered to be a doctorate, but it is less common than a candidate of sciences. This is due to the increased requirements for the preparation and defense of doctoral dissertation work. In other words, it is much easier to write and defend a candidate's work than a doctoral one. Therefore, not all scientists, having received the opportunity to work at a university, decide to write a doctoral dissertation. But those who decided and successfully coped with this task receive many privileges. These include obtaining a higher position in an educational institution, providing a place of work, receiving a salary increase, the ability to lead leadership positions and participate in the meeting of specialized candidate or doctoral dissertation councils, not to mention the status and respect that surrounds doctors of sciences.

Types of academic titles

After fulfilling certain conditions related to scientific activity, with a certain experience, the teacher is assigned one of the titles:

1. Assistant professor.
2. Professor.

The title of associate professor can be obtained by an accomplished candidate of sciences who is actively engaged in scientific activities after defending a dissertation, publishes his scientific articles in specialized journals, methodical literature, takes part in scientific conferences, and also has a certain teaching experience, of which one is an associate professor. Hence, it is clear that there is some confusion, since academic titles are consonant with some positions of scientific workers, so they will be discussed below.

The title of professor can be obtained by a doctor of sciences, who, like a candidate, is engaged in improving his qualifications, scientific works, their approbation, printing his own teaching aids and has deep knowledge in a particular field of science. It is desirable that scientific work Doctor of Sciences was also manifested in the leadership of graduate students. A prerequisite is also the presence of work experience, including the position of a professor. The supporting document is the certificate of conferring the corresponding academic titles.

The advantages of being a professor are closely related to those of obtaining a doctorate.

Job types

Teachers in higher educational institutions can work in the following positions:

• Assistant.
• Senior Lecturer.
• Assistant professor.
• Professor.

The assistants are young scientists who do not have a scientific degree, graduate students who are writing a Ph.D. thesis, or applicants after defending it.

The position of a senior teacher can be held by a candidate of sciences without work experience and scientific achievements. After fulfilling these conditions, the candidate of sciences has the right to hold the position of associate professor, without having this title! And only after working as an associate professor for a certain period, having written the required number of scientific papers at this time, the candidate of sciences receives the title of associate professor.

In this case, the assistant professor works in the same position. At the same time, he has the right to hold the position of professor, has a certain scientific experience and merit in scientific research. Doctor of Science always holds the position of professor, even if he has not yet received such a title.

From the information provided, it follows that the concepts under consideration are closely related to each other and obtaining the latter directly depends on the diploma, confirming the degree. But there are still differences between them: a dissertation work is a necessary condition for the awarding of an academic degree, and titles are the assignment of an academic degree. That is, in order to obtain an academic title, it is also necessary to write and defend a thesis.