Hello again guys, Just wondering, when do Czechs get the "Ing." in front of their name after graduating college? What I am getting at is... does one need a bachelor's degree or a master's to achieve an "Ing."? Also, since my wife is getting a bachelor's at an American university, will she be able to officially put an "Ing." in front of her name once back in the Czech Republic, or does she need to graduate from a Czech university exclussively for such a title? Thanks a bunch!
Oh, and on another note, if I come to the Czech Republic with a bachelor's in History, will that mean much??? ... how about a Masters? ... and how how about a PhD. in Law? (all American) :]
My opinion: "B.Sc." is similar to czech "Bc." (3 years of study) ("B.A." is similar czech "BcA.") "M.Sc." is similar czech "Mgr." or "Ing." (5 years of study, or "Bc."+2 years of study) Why "Mgr." or "Ing."? I do not know, it depends on field of study - Ing. is for more "technical" field of study, Mgr. is more for "humanities" field of study. But not always: I am studying "Information Systems" and (hopefuly) I'll be Mgr. one day. Bc. is "bakalář" (bachelor) Mgr. is "magistr" (master) Ing. is "inženýr" (engineer) "Ph.D." is "Ph.D." as well in here. You can find more in wikipedia, but in czech only (if you try to switch to english, you will get angloamerican system of titles.
another list of academic titles is here: http://www.vejska.cz/vysoka-skola/vysok ... y-a-pojmy/ but again only in czech - basically the same as what dj put - but it does have a bit more explanation for some of them as far as u.s. degrees are cocnerned, i think that if you want to use a czech title you have to go through what is called 'nostrifikace" - this is something i found that pertains to persons wishing to study at a czech uni., but i read somewhere else that in order to legally use a title, you also need it... i know i read more about it on the minsitry of education website (www.msmt.cz) - unfortunately i can't find the exact link right now - i also don't remember whether it was in czech or in english... Establishing the equivalence of your bachelor's (or master's) degree NB: The Czech Republic is currently reviewing its rules regarding recognition of diplomas issued in other EU states. They are expected to become far less complicated. Before students with degrees issued abroad can register for a degree program at a Czech university, they are required to obtain an official document confirming that their degree can be recognised in the Czech Republic. This document is called an osvědčení o uznání vysokoąkolského vzdělání a kvalifikace v České republice, commonly known as nostrifikace. The Czech Republic has signed a number of international agreements on the mutual recognition of education. If you have a degree from one of the countries listed at the bottom of this page, please contact the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic. Student wishing to obtain nostrifikace must find a Czech university which teaches the same, or similar, subject as their degree is in, and then apply to the relevant Czech university for recognition of their diploma. (Nostrifikace of the student's earlier studies does not have to be carried out by the same faculty or university where the student wishes to study.) The request must contain the following: * A formal written request, including the student's current contact information, in which the student asks for his/her diploma to be recognised (see application form below). * A certified copy of the student's diploma. * Official university course transcripts. * Official Czech translations of both documents. * An apostille is required in some cases. (An apostille is an official document issued in the country of origin, which certifies that a document is authentic).
Wow, so complex! This is all very good information though! The process you mentioned (Meluzina) will probably be one I must complete someday. Hopefully you are right and they will make it easier! DjAvatar, thanks for clearing that up about the titles. My wife wants to have a title in front of her name someday and the title to the height of education was not clear to us. This is great... in 1/2 a year I'll be a BcA of History :-D! Oh yeah, my wife said that for Czechs, bachelor degrees do not mean that much. Was she just brought up as an elitist, or do Czechs not think much of them? Also, she said that competition was so high for jobs, that mostly PhD. holder recieve positions over bachelor degree holders. So, many bachelor degree holders have jobs as if they never went to college! Is this true? To je pravda? (the little Czech I know :])
This is all fascinating and just shows that the Czechs will have the same healthy disdain for my BA(Hons) in Politics as most people do in the UK! And BMoody, I'm looking forward to following your move to the Czech Republic and what you make of living here. I really can't think of two places more different than Las Vegas and Prague!
DjAvatar wrote: The kind of title depends on the type of school you graduate from - universities give the title Magister (Mgr.) and technical universities give the title Inženýr (Ing. or Ing. arch. - the latter one to architects).
It will be interesting to go from Vegas to Prague living, and I very well might go from Vegas to Brussels, the Netherlands, or Germany instead. I need to follow the $$$, and I know I want to follow it in Europe. The main goal is to settle in the Czech Rep though. Good luck, right? :] When we finally make the jump over to Europe for good, I should have either a J.D. (PhD.) in Law, or a PhD. in History, and my wife should have a PhD. in Communications. We will be prepared education wise, but I also like to know what would happen if we had to pick up and move right now. One never knows. I wouldn't mind it... I mean, my wife is from the countryside and I could deal with roosters and spring festivals :].
Both Bc. and Mgr. (MSc.) titles are quite new here. Prior to 1990 there were no Mgr./Bc. in the Czech Republic (Czechoslovakia). To many older people Mgr. (read "Magister") is still someone who sells and prepares medicines in pharmacy. Even by some people who know what it is, the Mgr. title is often considered inferior to Dr. titles - Mgr. can be viewed as inferior to JUDr./RNDr./PhDr. etc. ("You don't have JUDr. before your name, are you really a full-fledged lawyer?"). As far as I know these Dr. titles were not even given in early 1990's anymore, but they were resurrected and you can still apply for them after finishing Mgr., though most people don't bother (as you have to write thesis and defend it, but I heard that sometimes it's easy to get it as a byproduct of one's PhD. graduation). And when it comes to Bc. specifically, up till very recently, vast majority of people did a full 5-year MSc. course at university, often studying only 3 years for Bc. degree wasn't even an option.
I see what you mean about some not having the option of a Bc. and having to go straight for the Msc.. Charles University's website for English speaking students has some programs that are, start to finish, 5 years long toward an Msc., but no Bc. will be earned in the middle. Very interesting! Also, I'm Glad that U.S. universities only give PhD.s in law, so that my J.D. wil be respected in Europe. If I only earned a Bc. in law, maybe I would end up with a stigma. Another question for yall. My wife also said that when you get a degree in something, you work in that field alone. For instance: History degree= Historian Education degree= Teacher Biology degree= Biologist Public Administration degree= Public Servant etc. This is interesting to me, because in the U.S. a degree in itself is important: History degree= Historian, Archivist, Database manager, Prelaw, Researcher, High School Teacher, Manager, Analyst. Journalist, Editor Education degee= Teacher, Human Resources, Manager, Social Worker Biology degee= Biologist, High School Teacher, Premed, Manager (my Uncle is a manager of huge big business Warehous with a Masters in Biology) Public Administration degee= Pre Masters in Business/Admin, Public Servant, Administrator of any company's departments What do you think? Are degrees more versatile in the U.S.?
I do not think so. In the past, education (and degree) in a specific field led to a corresponding job in Czechoslovakia - I even remember the times when graduates had to take a job assigned by the authorities (e.g. teachers were sent to schools, quite often somewhere in the middle of nowhere). However, it has changed recently together with the labor market; e.g., I got a degree in linguistics, and during the years, I worked as teacher of languages, librarian, medical researcher, editor-in-chief of a periodical, database administrator, information science teacher, translator and proofreader (not speaking about homemaker and mother of three )...[/quote]
Wow! A true Jack of All Trades! It's good to hear that the degree can provide diverse job oppurtunities!
Just a nitpicky note... The JD degree is a type of doctorate (like MD, EdD, PhD) and there are varying levels of "status" for these doctorates in the US. (This status difference is typically only recognized in an academic setting, and then usually informally.) So, it doesn't really make sense to say you'll get a PhD in law -- I don't think there is such a thing in the US. You would get a JD if your academic field is law, just like you would get an MD if your field is medicine, but these are not the same as a PhD. I'd recommend not saying you're planning to go to law school to get a PhD or you may come off as uninformed with those to whom it matters (and that group might include people who could help you get into law school!). Susan
There actually is a PhD. in Law. After one completes their J.D., then their Masters of Law, and then one can pursue a Scientific Study of Law, or something of the sort. There are very very few who go beyond the masters. I equated the JD to a PhD because it essentially is a PhD in Law, and definately graduate coursework. (as you noted) It even takes 3 years after a bachelor's, just like a PhD. JDs are funny though because you can actually go on for master's degrees which essentially is a Masters of a PhD. Then, if one goes for the PhD of Law itself, one is attaining a PhD of a PhD. lol. It is not that a JD is a PhD, as it is "professional doctorate degree really," but it is like one with quite a unique furtherence of education beyond it. So when talking about a JD, I often choose to say PhD., because European law degrees are bachelor degrees, whereas U.S. degrees are definately not. My wife's family had a hard time understanding why I needed a bachelor's degree to get a law degree and saying PhD. was the best explanation for them, thus why I used it here. (Most civil law countries offer bachelor's in law and then masters and PhD. programs respectively, but the US JD system is unique in that it offers it's law degree as graduate coursework comparable to a PhD.)
this describes the process for receiving a JUDr. degree at charles university - The basic legal education at the Faculty takes five years and the curriculum is taught entirely in Czech. The first year provides students with a thorough background in Czech and European legal history, Roman law, legal theory and national economics. During the following four years, students are offered an in-depth study in all fields and aspects of law. Students who have completed this curriculum graduate as Master of Law (Mgr.). Those who pass successfully the rigorosum-exam are awarded the academic title JUDr. The Faculty also offers advanced studies within a three-year post-graduate curriculum, leading to the doctoral degree of PhD.
There must be significant differences among academic fields as far as how long it takes to get certain degrees. In those I"m familiar with, a PhD follows a master's, so it takes three years after the master's degree is completed, not three after the bachelor's. So, you're looking at 4 years for the bachelor's (theoretically, anyway), 2 years for the master's, then 3 more for the PhD. I have never heard of a school in the US offering a PhD in law. Are there many that do? And do those people go on to teach at law schools? I'm curious about this. I know a few folks who have both an MD and a PhD, but they're doing medical research and/or teaching at medical schools. The differences just within countries is enough to make one's head spin; trying to figure country-to-country differences is a maze!
:shock: Which Ph.D. program is only 3 years after bachelor's?! All the Ph.D. programs I know of consist of about 3 years of formal classwork, followed by dissertation work. Usually the dissertation work is started before classwork is finished, but still it is a RARE occurrence for someone to get a Ph.D. in three years after a bachelor's degree. The median time-to-degree following a bachelor's is 6 to 7 years for a Ph.D. (mine took 6-1/2). This median value obviously varies from field to field and program to program, but I seriously doubt any accredited program graduates all (or even a majority) of its students in 3 years (even in law). The fastest I know of any student in my physics program was a Byelorussian who finished in 3-1/2 years; however, he tested out of the first year of coursework, got an advisor in his first year, had a dissertation topic already picked out from the very beginning, not to mention was extremely talented. In principle, his "bachelor's" coursework in Byelorussia was likely 6 years as well. And this was only one such instance out of around 150 Ph.D. students I've seen graduate (I've seen some take as long as 10 to 11 years, or just not finish at all). In short, a J.D. is not the same as a Ph.D., as there is no original research performed--only classwork, research of existing case law, and probably an internship. Many (perhaps most) Ph.D. programs do not require a master's degree (none of the schools I or my former undergraduate friends looked at in Physics/Engineering did). Many programs actually would rather their incoming Ph.D. students NOT have a master's, believe it or not. Some Ph.D. programs grant master's degrees along the way to completion of the Ph.D., e.g. my program granted an M.A. (non-thesis) following a written preliminary/qualifying exam.
As far as I know, standard length of PhD. study here in CZ is 3 years. Or, more precisely, you're supposed to finish it after 3 years, and you can get scholarship (assuming you're a student in "prezenční forma") only during these 3 years. Having master's degree is a mandatory prerequisite, with just a bachelor's degree, going for PhD. is not allowed. This might differ among universities, but I don't think so as academic titles are supposed to gradate: Bc. (= BA/BSc) -> Mgr. (= MS/MSc) -> Ph.D. (= PhD.). -> Doc. -> Prof.
Ok, just to clarify my statements above, those comments were meant in the context of Ph.D. programs in the U.S. Petr_B, what is the usual time to master's degree in the Czech Republic (that is after bachelor's)?
