Can a psychologist become a candidate of biological sciences? What privileges does an academic degree provide?
It has become noticeably more complicated. The requirements for future scientists have become significantly stricter. Because May 15th was introduced new order awarding academic degrees and obtaining scientific titles.
Recently, the ratio of specialties in the structure of scientific personnel has changed. If in 1987 the share of technical sciences in dissertations was 45%, and the humanities - 21%, then by 2000 it was the humanists who began to defend dissertations more. But now it will be more difficult for both physicists and lyricists to do this. Over the past two years, the number of refusals to confer academic titles has increased almost 3 times.
Komsomolskaya Pravda published an interview with the head of the Department of State Certification of Scientific and Scientific-Pedagogical Workers of the Ministry of Education, Viktor Vyskub. According to him, previously in our country there were two parallel systems for awarding academic titles. One is for university teachers, the other is for employees of scientific organizations, but now the Hierarchical ladders have become symmetrical. And they look like 2 steps: associate professor and professor. Moreover, in order to be awarded the academic title of “Associate Professor in a Specialty,” the applicant must have not only scientific achievements, but also teaching experience. As a result of this innovation, there should be more scientists in higher education.
Previously, one could become a Doctor of Science without going through a candidate's academic degree. And to obtain a candidate's degree it was necessary to prepare a handwritten dissertation, monograph, or scientific report. Now protection doctoral dissertation without preliminary defense of the candidate's thesis is excluded.
Previously, before defending a scientific degree, an applicant was required to submit a list of publications, but where exactly was not specified. Therefore, the works of future luminaries of science were published in the most exotic magazines and even in newspapers. There is now a limited list of leading scientific publications where doctoral candidates are allowed to publish their work. These are peer-reviewed journals known to the scientific community, which are registered, and their legal copies are supplied to libraries.
IN last years dissertation councils began to be created even in public academies that do not have state accreditation. There they churned out doctors and candidates of science according to unknown criteria. Now only the Higher Attestation Commission deals with this.
And the Deputy Minister of Education of the Russian Federation, chief scientific secretary of the Higher Attestation Commission, Professor Vladimir Nevolin, in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, says: “Now it is impossible to apply for a candidate of sciences degree by submitting only a scientific report for defense, as was previously possible. A novice applicant for a scientific degree now has There is only one way - to sit down with a dissertation. You can defend your doctorate based on a scientific report, if you have a candidate’s thesis, but only with the special permission of the Higher Attestation Commission (the Higher Attestation Commission is an expert structure, social-scientific in essence, interdepartmental in form, integrated in content. Its main task today is to ensure an optimal combination of the role of the scientific community, on the one hand, and state control, on the other, in the process of certification of scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel).
The old position allowed for the theoretical possibility of immediately applying for a doctorate. Now this is no longer the case - only after defending my Ph.D. dissertation."
If the members of the dissertation committee consider that the work immediately leads to a doctoral dissertation, even in this case these two stages should be separated in time. First, the candidate's dissertation is defended, and then, no earlier than two months later, a doctoral dissertation defense is scheduled for the same work.
Well, the latest innovation is that previously it was possible to defend a dissertation in 580 specialties. Now the number of specialties has been reduced to 412. However, all scientific fields have been preserved. It’s just that some narrow specialties have been merged into one direction. Plus, new specialties have appeared, for example, “geoecology” and “geoinformatics”, “ecology”, “life support in extreme conditions” and others.
Regulations on the procedure for awarding academic degreesApproved
Government Decree Russian Federation
dated January 30, 2002 No. 74
1. These Regulations define the legal basis for assessing the qualifications of scientific and scientific-pedagogical workers and the criteria that dissertations - scientific and qualifying works submitted for an academic degree - must meet.
2. In order to ensure a unified state policy in the field of state certification of scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel and the awarding of academic degrees, the Higher Attestation Commission of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation operates, the composition of which is approved by the Government of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Higher Attestation Commission). To promptly resolve current certification issues, the Higher Attestation Commission forms the presidium of the Higher Attestation Commission from members of the Commission.
3. The Higher Attestation Commission and dissertation councils assess the qualifications of scientific and scientific-pedagogical workers and determine the compliance of the dissertations submitted by them for an academic degree with the criteria established by these Regulations.
4. Dissertation councils are created by decision of the Higher Attestation Commission in the prescribed manner at higher educational institutions widely known for their achievements in the relevant field of knowledge that have received state accreditation from the federal governing body for higher education, scientific organizations that have received state accreditation from the federal governing body for scientific and (or) scientific -technical activities, on the basis of requests from these organizations (for organizations that have the form of establishment, in agreement with the founder).
Dissertation councils work under the guidance of the Higher Attestation Commission, which controls their activities and revises the network of dissertation councils for each scientific specialty, taking into account changes made to the Nomenclature of Specialties of Scientific Workers. Dissertation councils are created to review doctoral or candidate dissertations, usually in several, but not more than five specialties. Dissertation councils created to review doctoral dissertations accept candidate's dissertations in relevant specialties for defense. Dissertation councils are responsible for the quality and objectivity of the examination of dissertations, for the validity of decisions made, and are designed to ensure a high level of requirements when determining whether dissertations comply with the criteria established by these Regulations.
In case of violation of the procedure for submitting and defending dissertations established by these Regulations, the Presidium of the Higher Attestation Commission has the right to suspend the activities of dissertation councils and submit recommendations for the termination of the activities of dissertation councils for consideration by the Higher Attestation Commission. Members of dissertation councils perform their duties on a voluntary basis. The procedure for forming and organizing the work of the dissertation council, the corresponding rights and obligations of the organization under which the dissertation council is created, are determined by the Regulations on the dissertation council, approved by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation in agreement with the Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology of the Russian Federation and the Russian Academy of Sciences.
5. The academic degree of Doctor of Science is awarded by the Presidium of the Higher Attestation Commission on the basis of a petition from the dissertation council, accepted based on the results of the public defense of the dissertation by an applicant who has the academic degree of Candidate of Science, taking into account the conclusion of the relevant expert council of the Higher Attestation Commission. The scientific degree of Candidate of Sciences is awarded by the dissertation council based on the results of the public defense of the dissertation by an applicant who has a higher professional education. The Higher Attestation Commission has the right to selectively check certification files and dissertations of candidates for the scientific degree of Candidate of Sciences, make a decision on issuing a diploma of Candidate of Sciences, and cancel decisions made by dissertation councils in case of violation of the established procedure for submitting and defending dissertations.
6. The Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation develops and approves state-issued forms of Doctor of Sciences and Candidate of Sciences diplomas, establishes the procedure for issuing them and, based on the decision of the Higher Attestation Commission, issues state-issued diplomas to Doctors of Sciences and Candidates of Sciences.
7. The specifics of the procedure for awarding academic degrees to persons who use information constituting a state secret in their work are determined by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.
II. Criteria that dissertations submitted for an academic degree must meet8. A dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Science must be a scientifically qualified work in which, on the basis of the research carried out by the author, theoretical principles have been developed, the totality of which can be qualified as a new major scientific achievement, or a major scientific problem of significant socio-cultural or economic importance has been solved. significance, or scientifically based technical, economic or technological solutions are outlined, the implementation of which makes a significant contribution to the development of the country’s economy and increasing its defense capability. A dissertation for the scientific degree of Candidate of Sciences must be a scientifically qualified work that contains a solution to a problem that is significant for the relevant field of knowledge, or sets out scientifically sound technical, economic or technological developments that are significant for the economy or ensuring the defense capability of the country.
9. An applicant for the academic degree of Doctor of Science submits a dissertation in the form of a specially prepared manuscript, scientific report or published monograph. An applicant for the academic degree of Candidate of Sciences submits a dissertation in the form of a specially prepared manuscript or a published monograph.
The dissertation must be written individually, contain a set of new scientific results and provisions put forward by the author for public defense, have internal unity and testify to the author’s personal contribution to science. The new solutions proposed by the author must be strictly reasoned and critically evaluated in comparison with other known solutions. A dissertation of applied significance must provide information on the practical use of the scientific results obtained by the author, and a dissertation of theoretical significance must provide recommendations for the use of scientific findings.
The formatting of the dissertation must comply with the requirements established by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation. The dissertation is usually written in Russian. To resolve the issue of the possibility of submitting a dissertation written in a language other than Russian, the dissertation council sends a reasoned petition to the Higher Attestation Commission.
10. A dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Science in the form of a scientific report, prepared by the applicant on the basis of a set of scientific and experimental design works previously published by him in the relevant field of knowledge, having great importance for science and practice, is a brief summary of the results of his research and development, known to a wide range of specialists. Defense of a doctoral dissertation in the form of a scientific report is carried out with the permission of the expert council of the Higher Attestation Commission on the basis of a petition from the dissertation council. The procedure for submitting such a petition is established in the Regulations on the Dissertation Council. A dissertation in the form of a monograph is a scientific book publication containing a complete and comprehensive study of the topic, which has undergone scientific peer review and meets the criteria established by these Regulations.
11. The main scientific results of the dissertation must be published in scientific publications. The main scientific results of the doctoral dissertation must be published in leading peer-reviewed scientific journals and publications. The list of these journals and publications is determined by the Higher Attestation Commission. Diplomas for discoveries and copyright certificates for inventions issued by State Committee Council of Ministers of the USSR for Inventions and Discoveries, patents for inventions; utility model certificates; industrial design patents; programs for electronic computers; Database; topologies of integrated circuits registered in accordance with the established procedure; deposited in organizations state system scientific and technical information, manuscripts of works annotated in scientific journals; works published in the materials of all-Union, all-Russian and international conferences and symposia; information cards for new materials included in the state data bank; publications in electronic scientific publications registered in the Informregister in the manner agreed with the Higher Attestation Commission.
12. When writing a dissertation, the applicant is obliged to provide references to the author and the source from which he borrows materials or individual results. When using ideas or developments in a dissertation that belong to co-authors with whom scientific works were jointly written, the applicant must note this in the dissertation. These references must also be made in relation to the scientific works of the applicant, performed by him both in co-authorship and individually. If borrowed material is used without reference to the author and source of borrowing, the dissertation is withdrawn from consideration, regardless of the stage of its consideration, without the right to re-defend.
13. An applicant for the academic degree of Candidate of Sciences must pass the appropriate candidate exams, the list of which is established by the Higher Attestation Commission and approved by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation. A candidate for the scientific degree of Candidate of Sciences, having higher education, which does not correspond to the branch of science in which the dissertation was prepared, by decision of the relevant dissertation council, passes an additional candidate exam in a general scientific discipline applied to this branch of science. Persons with a higher medical education are allowed to defend dissertations in medical sciences, and persons with a higher veterinary education in veterinary sciences. Candidate examination programs are approved by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.
A third of graduates of Russian universities make a “second attempt,” citing mistakes in choosing their first profession. More than a quarter of master's students, moving to the second stage of education, partially or completely change their profile. Why?
It is difficult for a person to find a path, to decide on the future direction of career and professional development, without plunging into the practice of the chosen specialties. But at the 1st or 2nd stage of preparation this is not a big deal: there is a system of second higher education, a mode of changing a major through a master’s program, and preparatory business courses.
The situation is different with the third level of education – scientific. Here, full-fledged work is already being prepared, which can become the work of a person’s entire life. A mistake can lead a talented scientist away from the right field into a boring field that is personally uninteresting to him.
Choose a training program
How can you get a PhD degree?The Russian education system takes this risk factor into account – it is built into the application format. De facto, competition is a constant state young specialist: he is looking for a profile (bachelor's degree), tools for development ( research activities master's degree), area of application of accumulated knowledge (postgraduate studies).
But in the legally established concept of obtaining a scientific degree, only 2 paths are provided:
- a claim to the scientific field with mastery of a postgraduate program;
- application without undergoing postgraduate training.
In the first case, the student completes a master's degree, passes entrance exams, undergoes 3–4 years of preparation with involvement in the direct work of the department ( pedagogical activity, development of methodological documentation), defends his thesis and receives a diploma.
The other path is more difficult, but may be more interesting for those who have not yet decided on a specific area of interest. The competition is an opportunity to obtain a PhD without postgraduate study. Implemented by Federal Law-273, enshrined in Order of the Ministry of Education (Ministry of Education and Science) No. 248.
What is a job application?The applicant, along with future graduate students, takes candidate exams (special discipline, philosophy and history of science, foreign language). After which he gains access to scientific research, can choose a leader (consultant, if his treatise has an embodiment - it is patented, it works, all that remains is to put it into the format of a dissertation).
Requirements for the student applicant:
- obligatory specialist diploma, master's degree;
- publications in publications different levels, conference papers;
- attachment to a scientific institution that trains graduate students (there must be a department of the relevant profile).
Attachment with us is carried out for a period of up to six months. The maximum period regulated by law is 3 years. The student devotes this time to finalizing the work and pre-defense/defense of the dissertation. He defends himself as an applicant, receives a candidate of science degree, and can apply for doctoral studies.
Who is suitable for applying?Differences between applicants and postgraduate studies:
- takes longer (up to 5 years);
- the cost of training the applicant is significantly lower;
- The applicant does not have the right to a deferment from the army, but, having received an academic degree (candidate), he has the right to refuse to serve.
This format of preparation determines the advantage of applications for representatives of the fair sex, serious specialists with work experience who have come to the desire to engage in scientific practice. Often young scientists who have not finally decided on a profile prefer to apply for a job. The format is very convenient for employees of research institutes and universities who have already accumulated a huge amount of scientific information and ready to move to a new level (including earnings level).
Suppose that, either under the influence of your own beliefs and interests, the agitation of your parents, relatives and friends, and having become convinced of the benefits of scientific happiness, you are obsessed with the desire to increase your social status with the help of scientific degrees and titles. However, you are held back by lack of confidence in your abilities and capabilities. Or, due to ignorance of the methodology and technology of completing graduate and doctoral studies, preparing and defending a dissertation, you doubt that scientific peaks are available to you, and you are afraid of unknown paths.
Cast away such harmful doubts. It is not gods who burn pots and not geniuses who write dissertations. This is done by ordinary ordinary people of average and sometimes below average abilities. Abilities are distributed more or less evenly, almost everyone is born equally talented. It's not all about natural ability, but about diligence. It is diligence and perseverance that is ability. No wonder they say: “One percent talent and ninety-nine percent patience - that’s genius.” And almost everyone has one percent of talent. As for talents and geniuses, who sometimes, although extremely rarely, do occur, they stand out so much from the general mass of applicants for an academic degree that they have no need to prove their exclusivity with dissertations. Talented people still defend their dissertations, but more often than not they have already become recognized scientists or are close to being so.
Well, what about the deep-rooted ideas, the essence of which is expressed in populist slogans: “The path to science is only for the gifted,” “We are looking for talents”? The presence of such statements is the inevitable cost of scientific embellishment, characteristic not only of scientists, but also of many simply ignorant people. It is possible that the scientists themselves, who have already broken into science, vigorously propagate such “horror stories” in order to exalt themselves and emphasize their own dignity. We must also keep in mind: bravura exclamations about the fact that science is an abode only for exceptional, chosen people are borrowed mainly from the arsenal of journalists, television reporters and all sorts of publicists who are extremely far from science and have a vague idea of its true appearance, springs and action mechanism of scientific advancement. Who needs exclusivity in the country and in the system? main principle which - egalitarianism?
Let us also note that talent often manifests itself unexpectedly; some brilliant scientists did poorly at school and in college. Why not proceed from the assumption that you belong to this cohort?
Let's move on to the officialdom, which clearly defines who is awarded an academic degree and for what. The regulation on the procedure for awarding academic degrees to scientific and scientific-pedagogical workers and assigning academic titles to scientific workers states: “The academic degree of Candidate of Sciences is awarded by the dissertation council based on the results of the public defense of the dissertation by an applicant who has a higher professional education. The academic degree of Doctor of Science is awarded by the Presidium of the Higher Attestation Commission on the basis of a petition from the dissertation council, accepted based on the results of the public defense of the dissertation by an applicant who has the academic degree of Candidate of Science, taking into account the conclusion of the relevant expert council of the Higher Attestation Commission.”
As follows from the Regulations, the only thing required of an applicant for an academic degree is to have a higher education, then to write and successfully defend a dissertation.
In reality, there is a lot behind these seemingly modest conditions. First of all, the need to have professional knowledge for passing candidate exams and writing a dissertation. Secondly, the ability to defend a dissertation.
The Regulations say nothing about the quality of education. Whether your diploma is honors or regular, whether you got A's or C's in it, whether you received full-time, evening, or correspondence education or graduated from an educational institution as an external student - it doesn't matter whether you have a higher education. The situation with vocational education is more complicated. According to the Regulations, an applicant for the academic degree of Candidate of Sciences, who has a higher education that does not correspond to the branch of science in which the dissertation was prepared, by decision of the dissertation council, takes an additional candidate exam in a general scientific discipline applied to this branch of science.
In addition, if the applicant really wanted to defend a dissertation in a completely different profession compared to what he received at the end of one higher educational institution, he can graduate from another higher educational institution. Nowadays, people everywhere receive a second higher education. The question remains open whether in this situation it is possible to acquire the desired profession by undergoing training, say, in postgraduate advanced training courses, in advanced training institutes that issue diplomas of a certain type. Apparently it is possible.
There is, however, one more point of the Regulations, according to which the dissertation must contain a set of new scientific results and provisions, have internal unity and testify to the author’s personal contribution to science. However, this point should in no way be perceived as an initial barrier on the path to science, blocking the way for persons who do not initially have deep knowledge. After all, such knowledge can be acquired in the process of preparing a dissertation, at the time of its defense, and it is precisely this point that the cited paragraph of the Regulations refers to. In addition, the professionalism of an applicant for the academic degree of Candidate of Sciences is confirmed by the mandatory passing of a candidate exam in the specialty in which the dissertation work was completed.
So the most important condition for successful advancement towards an academic degree is the ability to write and defend a dissertation.
Advantages of graduate and doctoral studies
The simplest, most confident, proven way to obtain a primary academic degree is to enroll in graduate school. There is an alternative option - contact a higher education institution or research institute that has a dissertation council that has the right to accept dissertations in your chosen specialty for defense, with a request to be attached as an applicant. It’s even easier, because you don’t have to take entrance exams for graduate school. But, as many years of experience testify, graduate school, if available, is much better, approximately like a vacation organized in the south or abroad on a tourist voucher, compared to the same vacation, but savage, without a voucher.
The rules for admission to and study in postgraduate and doctoral studies are set out in “Regulations on the training of scientific, pedagogical and scientific personnel in the postgraduate system vocational education In Russian federation".
Postgraduate studies can be full-time (with a break from the main work) and part-time (without a break).
The main advantage of full-time graduate school is the availability of a colossal amount of free time, which the graduate student can use at his own discretion. Serious restrictions are associated with low level the profitability of graduate students whose scholarship, due to market reforms and high inflation, cannot provide a decent living during the three years allotted for their stay in graduate school. True, no one is stopping graduate students from earning extra money, which many of them do successfully, making a living in the field of teaching, or even in more profitable fields of activity. But, again, it’s a double-edged sword: working part-time or earning extra money in another way, you lose the advantage of having free time. The widespread introduction of tuition fees for full-time postgraduate studies has further undermined its advantages.
Effective reception to avoid paying tuition for full-time postgraduate study at a scientific and educational institution is that the graduate student gets a part-time job in the same institution as a laboratory assistant or junior researcher. In this way, the graduate student can avoid the costs associated with training, since fees are usually not charged to their employees.
Part-time postgraduate study is deprived of the main advantages of full-time postgraduate study in the sense that it does not bring either a meager postgraduate income or free time. Theoretically, according to the law, a correspondence graduate student has the right to additional study leave, which in market conditions is not always possible to implement without conflict. The main employer, the employer of a part-time graduate student, is rarely interested in his employee receiving additional paid or even unpaid leave, and to quarrel with the owner when high level There is no unemployment in the country. True, tuition fees for part-time postgraduate studies, which have become almost inevitable, are significantly lower than for full-time ones.
An applicant for an academic degree attached to a scientific organization merely secures his status, and in addition to that, the organization can assign him a scientific supervisor and approve the topic of his dissertation. Alas, the expansion of the market for paid scientific services in Russia led to the fact that initially non-state educational institutions, and after them state scientific and educational institutions, began to introduce fees for joining an applicant and remaining in this capacity.
To increase the confidence of the very first steps into big science, it is advisable to have a leader (consultant) at the beginning of the journey and act according to his advice and instructions. But here a situation of logical dead end arises. To decide on a leader, it is necessary to choose the profile of future scientific activity, because the leader is a specialist in a certain field of knowledge. And in order to choose an area of scientific research, it is advisable to consult with a leader who is not yet available. You can, of course, choose a direction of research “under a supervisor” if he himself has invited you to become his graduate student or if a potential supervisor has clear preferences over others. And yet, it is better to first choose the field of scientific activity yourself, especially since it is still connected with the presence of professional education and with established scientific interests, accumulated experience in scientific and practical activities.
In principle, you should enroll in graduate school and defend a dissertation in a specialty previously obtained at a higher educational institution. But it’s not at all necessary. And although the path to science is not easy everywhere, it is still to varying degrees. Most take the easier road. You can reproach them with the words of the eminent troubadour of socialism: “Where, when, which great one chose the path to be more trodden and easier?” But these are the great ones, and we mean the medium and small ones, who do not need to strive for heights, but choose a simpler, more accessible scientific peak for their assault. To this end, we will try to understand a little about the diversity of sciences, which corresponds to a certain extent to an adequate diversity of academic degrees.
The paths to the heights of knowledge differ significantly in difficulty and in the nature of the method of ascent, depending on the type of chosen science in which the academic degree is awarded.
On choosing a “dissertation” branch of science and specialty
Let us first make a few general comments about the characteristics and preferences of different branches of science, without excluding their controversial nature and debatability.
Everything in the world of science is divided into natural and social. There are sciences that are at the intersection of both, and these include the humanities, which study man and society. However, sometimes the humanities are classified as social sciences. The natural sciences, to which “exact” ones in the form of mathematics gravitate, are the natural sciences and sciences based on the principles of formal logic, as well as technical sciences. Social sciences are the sciences about society, its development, public interests and relationships. It is difficult to draw a clear line between the natural and social (humanities) sciences, but the dividing line still exists.
Strictly speaking, natural sciences should be classified as sciences in the full sense of the word, since only in nature, given to us by God, are there laws given from the outside, independent of the will of people, objective, knowable, amenable to practical verification based on measurements. Mathematical sciences are also worthy of this name, since they are based on clear axiomatics and laws of formal logic that are unambiguously interpreted by everyone. The situation is worse with the social (humanitarian) sciences, which undoubtedly represent areas of scientific knowledge, a set of empirically established patterns, but do not reach the title of genuine sciences. Social processes are weakly subject to objective laws independent of people. They reveal private rules, norms, patterns inherent in one or another social formation, or generally imposed by the beliefs of people from science and politics. If in the exact, natural and part of the humanities there are objective grounds for asserting “this position is true, correct, and this is incorrect, erroneous,” then in the social sciences proper this is rarely possible; here it is more correct to state: “With my (our, accepted) point of view, this judgment should be considered as convincing, generally accepted, consistent with the observed facts.”
It is clear that social sciences are muddier waters than natural sciences, and therefore it is easier to catch dissertation fish in it. They require less precise, clear, specific knowledge; instead, you can make do with general reasoning. The high level of uncertainty, unpredictability, uncontrollability of social processes, and inconsistency of judgments about them make it easier to pass off any judgment as a scientific truth. However, it is much more difficult to defend the legitimacy of one’s judgment in the social sciences than in the exact and natural sciences. The weapon of argument and defense of one’s rightness here is often demagoguery, or even the right of the strong, higher in the scientific or even in the administrative hierarchy.
In accordance with the complex, multicomponent structure of the branches of science in which academic degrees are awarded, and the branches that characterize specialties and types of scientific activity, one has to make a double choice, choosing both branches at the same time. First, the type of science on which the dissertation is being defended is usually selected (“dissertation” branch), based on the above list of branches. Then, within this branch of science, you must choose a specific specialty in which you intend to defend your dissertation, guided by the approved nomenclature of specialties for each branch of science. That is, you need to solve an equation with two unknowns, determining as a result of the decision in which branch of science you will defend your dissertation and in which specialty within this field.
Let's illustrate the algorithm with an example. Let's assume that you intend to defend a dissertation for the degree of candidate of philosophical sciences. The philosophical sciences, represented in the nomenclature list of specialties with the code 09.00.00, correspond to eight specialties, for each of which one can apply for the required degree of Candidate of Philosophical Sciences. From this list, let the specialty 09.00.11 be the closest to your education and interests. Social philosophy", which you can choose. But there is an opportunity to choose another specialty. Thus, in section 22.00.00 “Sociological Sciences” another specialty close to the specialty 09.00.11 is indicated 22.00.04 “ Social structure, social institutions and processes”, on which you can also defend a dissertation for the degree of candidate of philosophical sciences.
At first glance, the freedom to choose the branch (type) of science in which an academic degree is awarded, and a specific specialty within this science, is quite large, especially in relation to such widespread sciences as technical, economic, medical, pedagogical, which most attract applicants for academic degrees. It should, however, be borne in mind that you will defend your dissertation work in a specific dissertation council, which is granted the right to accept for defense only candidate or candidate and doctoral dissertations in a clearly established type of science and a limited number of specialties. The simple truth does not require proof, according to which it is not the dissertation council that will adapt to your desires, but you will have to adapt to the capabilities of the council. If the dissertation council in which the defense will take place is known in advance, then one must clearly take this council as a guide when choosing a “dissertation” branch of science and specialty. This is a severe limitation that narrows the range of choices. If the scientific organization in which you are doing work has advice of the wrong profile, you can look for another dissertation council that will accept the work of your desired field or specialty for defense, but at the same time, you understand, many other problems arise.
In connection with integration processes in science, quite often there is a situation where the topic of a dissertation ends up at the intersection of sciences and specialties. It is not practiced to award an academic degree to an applicant in several sciences at once based on the defense of one dissertation; dissertations in different sciences can be defended sequentially. But the defense of dissertations on one science at the intersection of different specialties corresponding to it is allowed, provided that the dissertation council includes scientists representing these specialties. The regulations on the dissertation council provide for the possibility of conducting one-time defenses of dissertations at the intersection of specialties by introducing into the council for one defense the missing number of doctors of science in related specialties. So you should not be overly afraid that your work will go beyond the boundaries of your intended specialty and “invade” a related specialty of the same “dissertation” branch of science. However, certain “extra” troubles cannot be avoided; this is the “price” of choosing a specialty at the intersection of sciences.
In the previous presentation, we proceeded from the premise that the future dissertation candidate first chooses a branch of science, and then the specialty in which the dissertation will be defended, or the choice is made simultaneously, which is most desirable, but is not always possible to do. A different selection procedure is also possible, when a specialty is first selected, and only then the branch of science in which the academic degree will be awarded is determined. This approach is non-trivial. It is acceptable if the organization where you are doing your dissertation work has one or more dissertation councils that accept dissertations in various fields of science for defense, and you can submit a dissertation in your chosen field and specialty to the appropriate council for defense. Or you will have to look for another dissertation council that will agree to accept the work for defense for the reason that the council of your organization does not consider dissertation works of this industry profile.
It does not at all follow from this that dissertations in the field of social sciences are complete hackwork; such an opinion is deeply erroneous. In any field of knowledge there is innovative research and at the same time there is empty grinding of known truths. Completing a dissertation and successfully defending it is difficult in any field of knowledge. Sometimes the labor intensity of research in the field of social sciences turns out to be higher than in the field of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and medicine. But, as a rule, dissertation streams flow more easily through the social sciences, and the flow, as is known from hydrodynamics, rushes to where the passage is wider and there is less resistance to the flow.
On the connection between the area of dissertation research and the topic of the dissertation and the practical activities of the applicant
Speaking above about the choice of science and field of research within which it is advisable to carry out dissertation work, we paid attention primarily to whether the graduate student or applicant has the appropriate education and to the specific conditions and requirements for dissertation research arising from the profile of the science in which the field of research is located . Mention was also made of such a significant factor as the presence in the “portfolio” of specialties of the dissertation council, in which you intend to defend your work, of a specialty corresponding to this work.
There is one more circumstance of a determining nature, which has the most significant impact on the choice of the area of dissertation research, the topic and the specific topic of the dissertation work, regardless of whether it is a candidate’s or doctoral dissertation. This is the degree of correspondence of the problems, topics of the dissertation work to the area, profile, nature, content of practical activities, work, more or less constantly performed or performed by a candidate for an academic degree, a dissertation candidate. The presence of such compliance is one of the main factors, the primary condition for the successful defense of a dissertation.
Heads of a number of scientific and educational institutions of applied profile, who are in charge of issues of admission to graduate school and attachment as applicants for an academic degree, tend to take into account the presence of practical work experience in the chosen scientific specialty and the topic of dissertation research. With doctoral students, the situation is much simpler, since those entering doctoral studies or assigned to prepare and defend a doctoral dissertation have experience in practical work.
Including the experience of practical work of an applicant for an academic degree, a graduate student, a doctoral student in his chosen area of dissertation research among the most important indicators that predetermine the future successful defense of a dissertation, we will list the factors that have a significant impact on the achievement ultimate goal, in the following sequence:
Ideally, all these factors should be present, which is what we should strive for. But, alas, this does not always work out this way. Therefore, we arrange these very factors in order corresponding to their importance and significance, priorities.
Now we have come close to the first, main, in our opinion, condition, requirement, which is not possible to circumvent. After all, without working for a significant time in this field of science, where the topic of the dissertation lies, without having his own practical experience in solving the problems that the dissertation research is connected with, the dissertation candidate will feel like he has found himself on a desert island, he will take every step with uncertainty, apprehensively. Such a situation is easily grasped and discovered by a long line of scientists and specialists through whose hands the dissertation candidate is forced to pass. Failure to fulfill the first condition obviously leads to the following obstacles and blockages at various stages of preparation and defense of the dissertation work:
There is no doubt that an active applicant with intelligence and skill, a certain set of ideas about the subject and object of dissertation research, in cash, is capable, both himself and with the help of consultants, of catching enough material in the boundless sea of scientific information with the help of libraries and the Internet to prepare a dissertation of decent content. But if such an applicant is far from the problems studied in the dissertation by the nature of his activity, by practical participation in the work, the dissertation research will turn out to be “alien” for him, “not his own.”
It is possible to submit such a dissertation for consideration, but how to present it to a knowledgeable audience, how to present its contents, and answer puzzling questions with the required degree of knowledge and confidence? After all, even the most skilled craftsmen had not yet thought of how to replace themselves in pre-defenses, defenses, calls to the Higher Attestation Commission with “doubles” who know a lot and have experience in the field of research presented in the dissertation work.
This leads to a simple conclusion. There are better and worse prepared dissertations, because there are no methods for unambiguously determining the level of its quality. The degree of external participation of consultants and assistants of the applicant, the degree of borrowing of dissertation materials from various information sources is difficult to establish with high degree accuracy, even after studying the work in detail. But it is not so difficult to determine to what extent the applicant is imbued with the ideas of the work, how he knows and understands the subject of research, and what elements of the dissertation he is involved in the creation of thanks to his personal activities in this field, in the process of discussing the work with the participation of its author.
So the minimum necessary condition for the successful completion of the dissertation work, solving the problem of the applicant’s personal contribution to the research, is the direct participation of the nominal author of the dissertation in practical activities related to the topic of the dissertation work and its problems. Fulfilling this requirement is not sufficient to achieve ultimate success, but it instills confidence in the reality of success and significantly increases the reliability of the dissertation process. Only geniuses of abstract thought, of which there are only a few in the sublunary world, are capable of creating a dissertation while being outside the objects, processes, phenomena, and relationships studied in it, discovering the truth “at the tip of the pen.”
Scientific supervisor - a key figure
After choosing the branch of knowledge in which you intend to defend your dissertation, you should decide on a supervisor, if you have not already solved this most important problem and have not connected or agreed upon the chosen branch of knowledge, the area of your dissertation research, with a potential supervisor of your work.
The need for a scientific supervisor is predetermined by at least the fact that the number of documents in the certification file for awarding an academic degree includes a review of the scientific supervisor. Information about the scientific supervisor must be indicated on title page dissertation work and on the reverse side of the cover of the abstract of the dissertation for the degree of candidate of science. But the need for a supervisor for graduate students arises much earlier. In accordance with paragraph 39 of the Regulations on the training of scientific, pedagogical and scientific personnel (Appendix 1): “Applicants to graduate school undergo an interview with the proposed supervisor, who reports the result of the interview to the admissions committee. The admission committee makes a decision on admission to the entrance exams to graduate school taking into account the interview of the applicant with the proposed supervisor.” By the way, the applicant’s abstract is usually reviewed by the same future supervisor.
The supervisor is appointed by the organization in which the dissertation work is being carried out, usually in the process of enrolling an applicant for a scientific degree in graduate school or registering it as an applicant. The procedure for agreeing on the candidacy of a scientific supervisor with a graduate student or applicant is not formally provided for, but this does not mean at all that, being a registered graduate student or applicant, you need to calmly wait until a supervisor is selected and assigned to you. You should think about your supervisor even before enrolling; you should take care of it in advance, immediately after making the decision to enter graduate school and choosing the science in the field of which your scientific happiness grows.
Since we are talking about the scientific supervisor, let’s say a few more words about him, however, not the last, for he is the central figure, the main character on the stage of events of progress towards an academic degree. The leader can be called a traffic controller for graduate students. The supervisor is the calling card of both the dissertation author and the dissertation. A skillful choice of a scientific supervisor is the key to success. The word “choice” suggests that there are options to choose from. There aren't always options. It is not always the graduate students and applicants who choose; often the supervisor chooses them or someone chooses the supervisor for the graduate student. There’s nothing you can do about it, you have to come to terms with it, that’s life.
But if you have a choice, go for it!
When searching for a manager, one must be guided by a complex, ambiguous list of criteria and priorities. If you proceed from the criterion of weight, significance, and influence of the scientific supervisor, then the following options are preferable.
Keep in mind, however, that the higher the scientific rating of your supervisor, the less likely it is that he will be able and willing to devote much time and attention to you. Typically, such managers have too many graduate students and even more other things to do, as a result of which it is not possible to count on 50 hours of annual contacts; even 5 hours would be considered good. If a supervisor is needed more for form than for substance, if a graduate student is able to cope with scientific tasks on his own or has smart consultants or implicit scientific supervisors in stock, then the listed options are quite acceptable. In other cases, you need to take into account the manager’s ability and desire to work closely with you.
When choosing options, you should keep in mind that the scientific supervisor must, strictly speaking, be a doctor of science in this field of knowledge. The Regulations on the Training of Scientific Personnel provide for:
“A scientific supervisor from among doctors of science or professors is approved by the rector of a higher educational institution or the head of a scientific institution or organization for each graduate student simultaneously with his enrollment. In some cases, by decision of the academic councils of higher educational institutions or scientific and technical councils of scientific institutions and organizations, candidates of sciences in the relevant specialty, usually holding the academic title of associate professor (senior researcher), may be involved in the scientific supervision of the preparation of graduate students. Graduate students performing Scientific research at the intersection of related specialties, it is allowed to have two scientific supervisors or a supervisor and a consultant, one of whom may be a candidate of science.”
A candidate of sciences can become a leader, acting in tandem with a doctor of sciences. This “paired” option, although it represents an exception to the rule, deserves attention. A doctor of sciences performs a representative mission, and a young, progressive, “doctoral” candidate will be happy to involve you in his own research, if only for the simple reason that your candidate’s research can become part of his future doctoral dissertation.
For enterprising graduate students and applicants who find a supervisor at a time when the idea of a dissertation has already been conceived and realized, the main criterion for choosing a supervisor is his flexibility, understood as humanity, humaneness and compatibility with the graduate student. Alas, cases are not so rare when a supervisor does not help a graduate student so much as creates interference. After all, the cooperation between a graduate student and a supervisor is unequal; the relationship between them is not sealed by an official agreement between the interacting parties, which sets out mutual obligations and rights. The graduate student is forced to be a submissive, powerless creature, following the instructions of the supervisor. In the event of a conflict, the scientific supervisor obviously wins the fight; he simply will not release the work for defense. Under these conditions, nothing prevents a picky supervisor from constantly demanding that the dissertation be completed and reworked in his own way, regardless of the consent of the author of the work. Therefore, the moral and human qualities of a scientific supervisor may be more important than his status as a scientist.
And finally, one more important warning - your supervisor should not be in hostile relationship with members of the dissertation council in which the work will be defended. Remember that the first victims of the scientific struggle of scientists have always been and will be the graduate students of their enemies; after all, it is easiest to get even and take out the anger on poor graduate students!
How to please the desired scientific supervisor and achieve his consent to scientific supervision? It’s impossible to list all the recipes, but we’ll mention the main ones.
Material incentives do not at all mean crude bribery, which has become widespread in Russia in connection with the emergence of market relations in their unattractive forms. The manager, as already mentioned, will already receive financial remuneration for scientific leadership. Whether a potential manager should be given a souvenir gift or not depends on the circumstances and the personalities. There are no universal recipes. Since graduate students and applicants for an academic degree, alas, have to deal with this kind of problem right up to the final banquet on the occasion of a successful defense, we will express our opinions on this matter, without pretending to be indisputable.
It is immoral to give bribes, but giving gifts is even noble. Let the hand of the giver never fail! Know how to choose and present a gift so that it is a gift, not a handout. There are standards for scientific donations that have been developed and tested by life. They are, of course, conditional and change over time, but they still exist. It is awkward and unethical to present a candidate of sciences with less than a bottle of champagne or a couple of bottles of vintage wine (or special vodka). Women should be given flowers and perfume. A doctor of science or professor is given cognac aged for at least five years (five stars or vintage, preferably in a set). Antiques are most suitable for academics. These tips, as you understand, are laced with humor. And yet, the art of giving what is needed, when it is appropriate and does not exceed the permissible limits of ethics and morality, should be mastered not only by flatterers and sycophants.
It’s not even about the form of the gift itself, which reflects the purely external side of the relationship of gratitude. The essence is in the internal side of the process, which should be clean, frank, not causing annoyance to either the giver or the recipient of the gift.
A short instructive story on this matter, told to me by a famous economics professor. I’m not sure about the authenticity of the described case; as they say, what I bought for is what I sell for. That’s why I changed the names of the characters, it’s not the names that matter.
The prominent professor Dyakov, naturally wanting to advance to become a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, instructed his laboratory assistant to take to the house of a very high-ranking and equally mediocre academician Fedotov, from whom support was required, a small gift in the form of a basket with ten bottles of champagne. It would seem that the gift is original and impressive. But it was not there. The academician was terribly indignant, did not accept the gift and ordered it to be taken back to the donor. Even worse, he called Professor Dyakov’s place of work and said: “Your Dyakov wanted to buy me for fifty rubles (this was in ancient times, when a bottle of champagne cost only five rubles).” As a result, Dyakov’s case was examined at a meeting of the party committee.
Please note that the academician was indignant not about bribery, but in connection with a cheap gift that does not lend itself to bribery. That's the whole point. The academician protested that he had been underestimated and thus insulted. And he was right in his own way. It is not proper for an academician to accept such a small handout on such an important occasion. And the professor should know what he is supposed to present to eminent people, on whom the outcome of their own business depends. A gold watch, a video recorder, Khokhloma, Gzhel, paintings would be much more appropriate for the given moment. It is clear that the speech in in this case This is not about graduate students, whose supervisors are rarely academics and who do not have the opportunity to bring such gifts.
It is interesting that, by the will of fate, Professor Dyakov subsequently gained well-deserved fame, and Academician Fedotov faded into oblivion. This is how life and its restructuring were decided. But the laws of donation are not being restructured.
About the essay and entrance exams
So, you yourself (yourself) managed to come to an agreement with the future scientific supervisor, secure his consent to scientific supervision, or you were helped in this. It doesn't matter how, it's the result that matters. Next, start preparing everyone. necessary documents for admission to graduate school or registration by an applicant.
Accustom yourself to patience and endurance. I hope that you have already learned the fundamental rule. We remind you: “Without a piece of paper you are a bug, but with a piece of paper you are a person.” So it was, is and will be, especially in those social systems, where a person is represented not by his essence, not by individual qualities, but by a personal profile, personnel records. They are primary, and you are secondary. So learn the ability to fill out, collect, compile, and redo all sorts of papers in the form of applications, questionnaires, autobiographies, copies, certificates, certificates, lists, curricula, programs, reports, reviews, conclusions, transcripts. Please note that without mastering this craft, scientific success will not be seen. In conditions of clerical and bureaucratic orders, which are more stable than bedbugs and cockroaches combined, the art of handling paper is much more important than knowledge, talents, and scientific abilities.
The number of documents and materials that must be submitted upon admission to graduate school usually includes an introductory essay on the chosen specialty. You need to jot down about 10-20 pages of review text, preferably about the state of the problem that you are going to study. With the modern abundance of information and taking into account your accumulated experience in composing school essays and completing coursework and diploma projects at a university, it will not be difficult to compile an essay from several sources and glue it together. If you admire scientific research so much that even before entering graduate school you became the author or co-author of scientific reports and articles, then they will do just fine instead of an abstract. It’s not a sin to use the Internet for help, where, as you know, you can scrape together any information, including scientific information.
There is no need to be particularly concerned about the quality of the abstract. It is most likely that it will only be shown to a future supervisor. So, if reliable contacts have been established with the manager, then the abstract will also meet the requirements, about which the manager will sign the one-page conclusion you prepared.
Now about the entrance exams. I would not like to stop and focus attention on them, especially since below we will discuss the problem of candidate exams in more detail. Exams are like exams. Some of it is a lottery, some of it is luck, some of it is skill. Didn’t you take exams at school and at college or university? How are entrance exams for graduate school different? Yes, perhaps, nothing except pathos and scientific framing. If in 15 years of school and institute you have not learned to pass exams (at universities alone they are taken at least fifty times), then, excuse me, there is no place for you in graduate school, and even less so among scientists.
I'm ready to reveal another little secret. In the absence of competition, the examination committee will award you a positive mark for any answer - just do not remain silent, taking water into your mouth out of fear. Well, during the competition, the postgraduate admissions committee to some extent thought through and predetermined in advance who would get the green light. So try or don’t try, but the outcome is practically a foregone conclusion, although you have to fight to the end, because you can surprise the commission and tip the scales in your favor. There is always some chance of success; there are people everywhere. And even representatives of the notorious bureaucratic system are sometimes guided by human feelings along with instructions, instructions from superiors, and pre-planned decisions.
An early preliminary selection of a dissertation topic can help to successfully pass the entrance examination barrier. At this stage, what is needed is not a topic, but a conditional topic that you can and should flaunt in front of the examiners, illustrating your awareness and readiness to write a dissertation. By naming the topic, you psychologically influence those taking the exams, creating in them the illusion that the examinee has already stepped foot into the scientific dissertation environment and has taken part in it. And this creates a predisposition towards you, arouses sympathy. So, before writing the introductory essay and passing the exams, I advise you to discuss with your supervisor and accept as a sign a symbolic guideline topic, under the flag of which you will speak until the official topic is approved. It personifies your intentions and does not particularly oblige you to anything; subsequently, you can modify the outline in any way, choose a different topic.
Let's get back to the exams. One more tip. It is very good if by the time you enter graduate school you have already passed at least one candidate exam, for example in a foreign language. Usually, in organizations that have postgraduate courses, there are groups to prepare for candidate exams in philosophy and language. By joining such a group in advance and passing the exam, you, firstly, get rid of the need to pass the corresponding entrance exam and, secondly, increase your rating as an applicant applying for a postgraduate position, because passed candidate exams indicate a certain level of scientific maturity.
Expert Boris Abramovich Raizberg,
Doctor of Technical and Economic Sciences, Professor,
Chief Researcher at the Institute of Macroeconomic Research under the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation
Date: November 01, 2010
In order to become a top-class professional and build a successful career, many strive to obtain a candidate's and even a doctor's degree.
This gives a high level of authority in the chosen professional field and allows you to occupy higher positions in large companies compared to other candidates. In the case of conducting private activities (for example, consulting), candidates and doctors of science a priori have more clients compared to competitors who do not have an academic degree.
Obtaining an academic degree is always associated with scientific work, and constant scientific activity supports a professional at a very high level, helps his development, stimulates constant intellectual work.
In government agencies, employees with an academic degree receive a higher wages, have the right to apply for additional living space and have other benefits.
The advantages of the chosen direction of development can be listed endlessly.
How to become a candidate or doctor of science?Requirements for applicants for an academic degree and stages of obtaining it:
1. Higher education (preferably in the specialty chosen to defend the dissertation);
2. It is advisable, but not necessary, to enroll in graduate/adjunct school (you need to pass entrance exams), or secure your status as an applicant. As a result, your dissertation writing plan is approved and you receive a supervisor;
3. Passing three candidate minimums:
- Speciality;
- History and philosophy of science (previously there was an exam in philosophy, which was valid until 01/01/2009);
- Foreign language.
An additional exam may be held for applicants (not for graduate students). Thus, according to the established provisions, an applicant for the academic degree of Candidate of Sciences, who has a higher education that does not correspond to the branch of science in which the dissertation was prepared, takes an additional candidate exam in a general scientific discipline applied to this branch of science.
A certificate of passing the candidate exam is issued. At the place where the last candidate exam was taken, previously issued certificates are replaced with a single certificate.
An applicant for the academic degree of Candidate of Sciences submits at the place of defense two copies of the certificate (previously one copy was needed) about passing the candidate exams, one of which is sent to the Higher Attestation Commission. He must submit to the dissertation council the original certificate and its certified copy, which is placed in the first copy of the certification file and sent to the Higher Attestation Commission. The original is placed in the second copy of the certification file and stored in the dissertation council.
It is allowed to take exams in one organization and defend a dissertation in another.
New List of leading Russian peer-reviewed scientific journals and publications in which the main scientific results of a dissertation for the scientific degree of Doctor and Candidate of Sciences should be published as of October 22, 2010.
List of foreign publications.
5. For your defense, you must write a dissertation and an abstract of the dissertation.
6. Defend your dissertation. As a result, you will receive a document certifying that you are a candidate or doctor of science.
In order to become a Doctor of Science, you must first obtain an academic degree of Candidate of Science.
Standard list of documents required for admission to graduate schools:
1. Application addressed to the rector of a higher educational institution;
2. Copies of the diploma and insert with grades, certified by the HR department;
3. Personal sheet for personnel records (questionnaire);
4. Two photographs size 3x4;
5. Autobiography;
6. Characteristics from the place of work (study);
7. List of published scientific works, inventions, research reports.
8. Persons who do not have published scientific works submit scientific reports (abstracts) on their chosen specialty with feedback from the proposed supervisor;
9. Copy of passport;
10. A copy of the military ID or registration certificate (for full-time graduate school);
11. Certified copy work book(for correspondence postgraduate studies);
12. Certificate in form 2.2 (for persons who previously studied in graduate school);
13. Medical certificate indicating the absence of contraindications for studying in Russia with a mandatory indication of an AIDS test (only for foreign citizens!)
Invention can be identified as an effective and interesting direction of scientific work.
How to become an inventor?
It's easy and everyone can do it.
In essence, any person who is able to even minimally improve any mechanism or technology is already an inventor and can legally patent his innovation as an invention.
Inventions vary in value and practical feasibility.
And how to become one
Candidate of Sciences is the first degree in the Russian nomenclature of academic titles, which was established more than eighty years ago by a resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and precedes the title of Doctor of Sciences.
Requirements for applicants to obtain a degree
For university graduates planning to continue their professional activity in the scientific field, an academic degree is a kind of indicator of achievements in this field, and also determines the status of a specialist. A young professional considering how to become a PhD candidate needs to know that the following educational background is needed:
university specialist diploma;
positive result when passing the candidate minimum examinations;
presence of a number research work in the field of dissertation published in publications supervised by the Higher Attestation Commission (HAC);
proof of the priority and value of your scientific ideas;
successful defense of a dissertation in accordance with established legislation.
Candidate examinations determine whether the applicant’s level of knowledge corresponds to the chosen scientific topic. Before starting research on the topic of work, an applicant for the academic degree of Candidate of Sciences must decide in what way it is more convenient for him to obtain the title. At the moment there are options:
postgraduate study - (full-time - 3 years, part-time - 5 years) - the applicant first passes exams, then undergoes training in philosophy and a foreign language, and also attends classes in the chosen specialty.
competition is a freer form, in which permanent presence within the walls of the university is not necessary; independent preparation under the supervision of a supervisor is sufficient.
Academic degrees in world practice
Degrees and titles awarded around the world vary in name, requirements and award procedure. In a number of European countries - representatives of the Bologna list, three hierarchical levels are established in each branch of knowledge: bachelor - master - Ph.D. In Russia, the German system of order is used, in which the academic degree of Candidate of Sciences is identical to the title of Doctor of Philosophy used in Western countries.
The title of the Candidate of Science degree is supplemented depending on the activity in which the applicant specializes. In the Russian Federation there are 23 industries for which this title is awarded.
US 895: Should I go to graduate school? What will I get from this? How do they treat PhDs in the USA?
