What is the difference between doctorate or Ph.D. degrees?

HK CBMA
3 min readJun 9, 2022

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A doctorate or Ph.D. is awarded to someone for their outstanding contribution to their field.

It is the名譽博士 in the academic system to earn a Ph.D., and it the hardest degrees to receive. The student who is looking for Ph.D. degree has to sacrifice a lot and overcome many problems, hurdles, and obstacles.

Admission to a doctorate is tough, but getting a Ph.D. honor is harder. So imagine the disappointment when you learn that universities can directly award a doctorate to someone in no time and without writing a thesis.

It’s true.

The honorary Ph.D. or名譽博士學位 is a doctorate honor granted to scholars directly without examination, thesis, synopsis, course work, or article publication.

What is an honorary doctorate or Ph.D. degree?

Universities confer the honorary Ph.D. to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to a nation or world.

Among the categories of people who can be honored with an honorary doctorate are politicians, musicians, authors, philanthropists, actors, scientists, and freedom fighters.

In Latin, the abbreviation H.C means “Honoris cause,” which literally translates as “for the sake of the honor” in our language. Technically speaking, this is more of an award than a degree, so it is abbreviated as “H.C,” not “Dr.” Thus, you cannot use “Dr.” in your name if you have an honorary award.

An honorary award session is typically held during the university’s annual ceremony. So the honorary recipient gets the award along with the other students. And the recipient gives a small speech as a motivational speech to the students (this is the typical process).

Most universities have a policy not to award honorary PhDs to those associated with the institution. Therefore, universities will not honor their trustees or employees with honorary PhDs.

Criteria to award honorary doctorate:

There are many universities accept applications for an honorary doctorate given by third parties rather than according to university criteria. However, a person chosen for this honor must meet certain requirements.

  1. Face of National Notoriety
  2. You must have made a significant contribution to their area or country.
  3. You must have accomplished something spectacular.

Who is significant for the country or the world?

Moreover, universities look for candidates who do not have any criminal records or involvement with crimes. If they do, the award can be revoked. A recipient may receive more than two or many honors but must never receive multiple awards.

In addition, the present honor cannot be given to university employees, professors, or family members. Instead, the honor is presented to the individual, not a group or an organization.

Conclusion:

It is humbling and honoring for both the university and the person to grant an honorary doctorate to someone who has a well-known face. Therefore, to maintain the dignity of the utmost academic honor- the Ph.D., universities must have specific rules and regulations to award the honorary Ph.D. degree.

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HK CBMA
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