Research students

A Little Academic Dictionary

1. 
   Degree means a qualification awarded by a university which is widely recognized and is, in some sense, similar to other degrees with the same title, even if the courses are quite different. Despite this official explanation, we know very well that a degree from a high-ranking university will not be the same as a degree from a low-ranking university.
   
2. 
   An undergraduate means a student working for his or her first degree. This usually takes three years of full-time study in England and successful students are normally awarded either a B.A. or a B.Sc. (Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science). There are other, less common, types of first degree.
   
3. 
   A graduate means a person who has completed a university degree course, esp. for a first degree. In AmE. it is a person who has completed a course at college, school, etc.: a high school graduate.
   
4. 
   A post-graduate is someone studying for a second or further degree.
   
5. 
   PhD is an approximate equivalent to the Russian kandidatsky degree. Someone with a PhD is entitled to call himself or herself Doctor. However, PhDs are now so common that many people do not bother to use the title.
   
6. 
   A university teacher is usually called a lecturer. More experienced teachers may be promoted to senior lecturer. We have no assistant or associate professors as in America – for us, a Professor is a Professor and you have to be both good and experienced to become one. We have no special professorial degree like the Russian doktorat.
   
7. 
   Faculty is used in the same sense as in Russia – факультет (not as in America).
   
8. 
   Department is what Russians call kafedra. We do not use the word chair – this is a standard error in Russia – and the reason is that a chair in English means the position of a particular Professor. We can say, “Professor Smith holds the chair of Modern History.” The implication is that if Professor Smith retires someone else must be appointed to sit in that Chair.
   
9. 
   Thesis is the usual British English equivalent of диссертация which is applied to both the Master’s degree and the doctorate. Dissertation is used either as a general term, to denote any extended written treatment of a subject, or more specifically, to denote something of a lower academic standard than a thesis, for example what students write for graduation in some institutions. In American English, however, dissertation is used for a doctorate, whereas thesis denotes something of a lower standard.
   

(from “Understanding Britain Today”
by Karen Hewitt,
“An English Teacher’s Handbook”,
by J.Povey, I.Wailshe)
Before you read the texts below say what you know about postgraduate systems of education in the U.K., the USA and Belarus. What is “further” or “continuing” education? Do many young people, graduates of Universities, undertake further study in the above-mentioned countries?