ABOUT DOCTORATE

SAI INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HOTEL MANAGEMENT

DOCTORATE:

A doctorate or doctor's degree (from Latin doctor, "teacher") or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities that is, in most countries, a research degree that qualifies the holder to teach at the university level in the degree's field, or to work in a specific profession. There are a variety of doctoral degrees, with the most common being the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), which is awarded in many different fields, ranging from the humanities to the scientific disciplines. Many universities also award honorary doctorates to individuals who have been deemed worthy of special recognition, either for scholarly work or for other contributions to the university or to society.

The doctorate appeared in medieval Europe as a license to teach Latin at a university. Its roots can be traced to the early church in which the term "doctor" referred to the Apostles, church fathers, and other Christian authorities who taught and interpreted the Bible.

The right to grant a licentia docendi (i.e. the doctorate) was originally reserved to the Catholic Church, which required the applicant to pass a test, to take an oath of allegiance and pay a fee. The Third Council of the Lateran of 1179 guaranteed the access—at that time largely free of charge—of all able applicants. Applicants were tested for aptitude. This right remained a bone of contention between the church authorities and universities that were slowly distancing themselves from the Church. The right was granted by the pope to the University of Paris in 1213 where it became a universal license to teach. However, while the licentia continued to hold a higher prestige than the bachelor's degree baccalaureus, the latter was ultimately reduced to an intermediate step to the magister and doctorate, both of which now became the exclusive teaching qualification. According to Keith Allan Noble (1994), the first doctoral degree was awarded in medieval Paris around 1150.

The so-called "professional, vocational, or technical curriculum" (in contrast to liberal arts) of the middle Ages included only theology, law, and medicine.

                        Since the middle Ages, the number and types of doctorates awarded by universities has proliferated throughout the world. Practice varies from one country to another. While a doctorate usually entitles one to be addressed as "doctor", use of the title varies widely, depending on the type and the associated occupation.

 In the US, professional doctorates (formally "doctor's degree – professional practice" in government classifications) are degrees that require a minimum of six years of university-level study (including any pre-professional bachelor's or associate degree) and meet the academic requirements for professional licensure. Unlike research doctorates ("doctor's degree – research/scholarship"), they do not require a dissertation or study beyond master's level. There is also a category of "doctor's degree – other" for doctorates that do not fall into either research or professional categories. All of these are considered doctoral degrees.

 “The aim of a PhD's to ensure that no one, including your advisor, understands what you're doing after the first couple of years.”

                                                             DR.CHEF VINOTH KUMAR