title: Academic degree

text: The degrees awarded by the universities and polytechnics are at par by law, but the content and orientation of studies is different. A master's degree obtained at a polytechnic gives the same academic right to continue studies at doctoral level as a master's degree obtained at a university.


title: Academic degree

text: The French national education system makes a distinction between a "diplôme national" ("national degree") and "diplôme universitaire" ("university degree"). The former, which are considered higher status, are controlled by the state and issued by universities on behalf of the responsible ministry; the latter are controlled and granted by the universities themselves. Additionally, private universities and schools may be recognised by the state with a "diplôme visé" ("recognised degree") and then, after five years of recognition, have their degrees validated by the state, the validation having to be renewed every six years.


title: Academic degree

text: Historically, academic degrees were orientated towards research and the vocational education system awarded only diplomas. Since the implementation of the Bologna Process in France, things are going towards a simplification: schools continue to deliver their own diplomas, but the State recognition and degree awarding is far more ranged than before.


title: Academic degree

text: Diploma courses such as the University Bachelor of Technology's Diploma ("bachelor universitaire de technologie"; BUT) is recognised as "professionnal bachelor cycle" qualifications worth 180 ECTS credits; the Technologist's Certificate ("brevet de technician supérieur"; BTS) is now recognised as "short cycle" qualifications worth 120 ECTS credits, allowing progression from these to academic qualifications. Nonetheless, there are diplomas in France with no degree recognition, e.g. specific diplomas designed by various institutions with no recognition from the Ministry of Education, such as the mastère spécialisé or the Sciences Po "Bachelor".


title: Academic degree

text: The recognised degrees fall in three levels, following the Qualifications Framework of the European Higher Education Area. These are the "licence" (first cycle), "master" (second cycle) and "doctorat" (third cycle). All licence degrees are 3 years (180 ECTS credits) in length and all master's degrees are 2 years (120 ECTS credits) in length. There are also 5 year (300 ECTS credits) engineer's degrees, which are master's degree. In addition to the doctorate, which is always a research degree, the "Diplôme d'Etat de docteur en médicine" and the "Diplôme d'Etat de docteur vétérinaire" are also considered third cycle qualifications.


title: Academic degree

text: Traditionally in Germany, students graduated after four to six years either with a "Magister" degree in social sciences, humanities, linguistics and the arts or with a "Diplom" degree in natural sciences, economics, business administration, political science, sociology, theology and engineering. Those degrees were the first and at the same time highest non-PhD/Doctorate-title in many disciplines before its gradual replacement by other Anglo-Saxon-inspired master's and bachelor's degrees under the Bologna process. The "Magister" and "Diplom" awarded by universities, both of which require a final thesis, are considered equivalent to a master's degree, although the "Diplom" awarded by a "Fachhochschule" (university of applied sciences) is at bachelor's degree level.


title: Academic degree

text: A special kind of examination is the "Staatsexamen" (State Examination). It is not an academic degree but a government licensing examination that future doctors, dentists, teachers, lawyers (solicitors), judges, public prosecutors, patent attorneys and pharmacists have to pass in order to be eligible to work in their profession. Students usually study at university for three to six years, depending on the field, before they take the first Staatsexamen. While this is normally at master's level, a few courses (e.g. primary and lower secondary level teaching), which have a standard study period of three years, are assigned to bachelor's level. After the first Staatsexamen, teachers and lawyers go through a form of pupillage, the "Vorbereitungsdienst", for two years, before they are able to take the second Staatsexamen, which tests their practical abilities in their jobs. At some institutions pharmacists and jurists can choose whether to be awarded the first Staatsexamen or a master's degree (or formerly the "Diplom").


title: Academic degree

text: Since 1999, the traditional degrees have been replaced by bachelor's ("Bachelor") and master's ("Master") degrees as part of the Bologna process. The main reasons for this change are to make degrees internationally comparable and to introduce degrees to the German system which take less time to complete (German students typically took five years or more to earn a "Magister" or "Diplom"). Some universities were initially resistant to this change, considering it a displacement of a venerable tradition for the pure sake of globalization. However, universities had to fulfill the new standard by the end of 2007. Enrollment into "Diplom" and "Magister" programs is no longer possible at most universities, with a few exceptions. Programs leading to "Staatsexamen" did usually not make the transition to Bologna degrees.


title: Academic degree

text: Doctorates are issued with various designations, depending on the faculty: e.g., Doktor der Naturwissenschaften (Doctor of Natural Science); Doktor der Rechtswissenschaften (Doctor of Law); Doktor der Medizin (Doctor of Medicine); Doktor der Philosophie (Doctor of Philosophy), to name just a few. Multiple doctorates and honorary doctorates are often listed and even used in forms of address in German-speaking countries. A Diplom, Magister, Master's or Staatsexamen student can proceed to a doctorate. Well qualified bachelor's graduates can also enrol directly into PhD programs after a procedure to determine their aptitude administered by the admitting university. The doctoral degree (e.g., Dr. rer. nat., Dr. phil. and others) is the highest academic degree in Germany and generally a research degree. The degree "Dr. med." for medical doctors has to be viewed differently; medical students usually write their doctoral theses right after they have completed studies, without any previous conducted scientific research, just as students in other disciplines write a "Diplom", "Magister" or "Master's" thesis. Higher doctorates, such as the D.Sc. degree in the UK, are not present in the German system.


title: Academic degree

text: However, sometimes incorrectly regarded as a degree, the Habilitation is a higher academic qualification in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic that allows further teaching and research endorsement after a doctorate. It is earned by writing a second thesis (the "Habilitationsschrift") or presenting a portfolio of first-author publications in an advanced topic. The exact requirements for satisfying a Habilitation depend on individual universities. The "habil.", as it is abbreviated to represent that a habilitation has been awarded after the doctorate, was traditionally the conventional qualification for serving at least as a "Privatdozent" (e.g. "PD Dr. habil.") (senior lecturer) in an academic professorship. Some German universities no longer require the Habilitation, although preference may still be given to applicants who have this credential, for academic posts in the more traditional fields.


title: Academic degree

text: The school leaving qualification attained by students is called the Leaving Certificate. It is considered Level 4–5 on the framework. This qualification is the traditional route of entry into third level education. There are also Level 5 qualifications in certain vocational subjects (e.g. Level 5 Certificate in Restaurant Operations) awarded by the Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC). Advanced Certificates at level 6 are also awarded by FETAC.


title: Academic degree

text: In Italy access to university is possible after gaining the "Diploma di Maturità" at 19 years of age, following 5 years of study in a specific high school focused on certain subjects (e.g. "liceo classico" focused on classical subjects, including philosophy, ancient Greek and Latin; "liceo scientifico" focused on scientific subjects such as Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Physics but also including philosophy, ancient Latin and Italian Literature; "liceo linguistico" focused on Foreign Languages and Literature; "istituto tecnico" focused on practical and theoretical subjects such as Mechanics, Aerospace, Shipbuilding, Electronics, Computer science, Telecommunications, Chemistry, Biology, Fashion industry, Food industry, Building technology, Law and Economy).


title: Academic degree

text: After gaining the diploma one can enter university and enrol in any curriculum (e.g. physics, medicine, chemistry, engineering, architecture): all high school diplomas allow access to any university curriculum, although most universities have pre-admission tests.


title: Academic degree

text: In 2011, Italy introduced a qualifications framework, known as the "Quadro dei Titoli Italiani" (QTI), tied to the three cycles of the Bologna Process. This tied together in a three-level system both the new qualifications introduced as part of the Bologna process and the older, pre-Bologna qualifications and covers qualifications from university institutions and higher education institutions for fine arts, music and dance (AFAM institutions). In addition to academic degrees, many professional qualifications are tied to the QTI at the different levels.


title: Academic degree

text: The first level, tied to the first cycle of the Bologna Process, covers the "laurea" (bachelor's degree) in universities and the "Diploma accademico di primo livello" in AFAM institutions. The older qualifications mapped to this level are the "Diploma universitario" and the "Diploma di scuole dirette a fini speciali (SDAFS)" from universities and the "Diploma di Conservatorio", "Diploma di Istituto Musicale Pareggiato", "Diploma dell'Accademia di Belle Arti", "Diploma dell'Istituto Superiore delle Industrie Artistiche (ISIA)", "Diploma dell'Accademia Nazionale di Danza" and "Diploma dell'Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica" from AFAM institutions. The "laurea" is obtained after three years of study (180 ECTS credits) and gives the academic title of "dottore"; the older university qualifications at this level took two to three years, with three year courses granting the title of "dottore".


title: Academic degree

text: The second level, tied to the second cycle of the Bologna Process, covers the "Laurea magistrale" and the "laurea specialistica" in university institutions and the "Diploma accademico di secondo livello" in AFAM institutions. The old "Diploma di laurea" is mapped to this level. The "Laurea magistrale" and the "laurea specialistica" are obtained after two further years of study (120 ECTS credits) and give the academic title of "dottore magistrale". The old "Diploma di laurea" took four to six years but was accessed directly from school, with a possible reduction by one year for those with a related "diploma" and also granted the title of "dottore magistrale".


title: Academic degree

text: The third level, tied to the third cycle of the Bologna Process, covers the "Dottorato di ricerca" in university institutions and the "Diploma accademico di formazione alla ricerca" in AFAM institutions. The old "Dottorato di ricerca" and "Diploma di specializzazione" are tied to this level. The "Dottorato di ricerca", under both new and old systems, takes a minimum of three years after the "laurea magistralie/specialistica" and gives the academic titles of "Dottore di Ricerca (Dott. Ric.)" and PhD. The old "Diploma di specializzazione" took two to six years and gave the academic title of "Specialista".


title: Academic degree

text: Universities in Italy offer a number of other qualifications including the "Master universitario di primo livello" (1 year/60 ECTS credits, 2nd cycle qualification) and the "Master universitario di secondo livello" (1 year/60 ECTS credits, 3rd cycle qualification), following on from the "laurea" and the "laurea magistrale/specialistica" respectively. These do not give access to the PhD. The "Diploma di specializzazione", which is offered in a few specific professions, takes two to six years and gives the title of "specialista". The "Diploma di perfezionamento" is a university certificate, aimed at professional training or in specific study fields, which usually takes one year; it is not allocated a level on the framework.


title: Academic degree

text: AFAM institutions may offer "Diploma di perfezionamento o Master" and "Diploma accademico di specializzazione". These are one year and two year qualifications respectively and may be offered at second cycle or third cycle level, distinguished by adding "(I)" or "(II)" after the qualification name. Higher Schools for Language Mediators offer the "Diploma di mediatore linguistico", a first cycle degree taking three years (180 ECTS credits), which gives access to the "laurea specialistica". Specialisation Institutes/Schools in Psychoterapy offer the "Diploma di specializzazione in psicoterapia", a third cycle qualification taking at least four years and requiring a "laurea magistrale/specialistica" in either Psychology or Medicine and Surgery, along with professional registration.


title: Academic degree

text: In the Netherlands, the structure of academic studies was altered significantly in 1982 when the "" (Two Phase Structure) was introduced by the Dutch Minister of Education, . With this two phase structure an attempt was made to standardise all the different studies and structure them to an identical timetable. Additional effect was that students would be persuaded stringently to produce results within a preset time-frame or otherwise discontinue their studies. The two phase structure has been adapted to a bachelor-master structure as a result of the Bologna process.


title: Academic degree

text: In order for a Dutch student to get access to a university education, the student must complete a six-year pre-university secondary education called ""voorbereidend wetenschappelijk onderwijs"" (vwo). There are other routes possible, but only if the end level of the applicant is comparable to the two levels is access to university education is granted. For some studies, specific end levels or disciplines are required, e.g., graduating without physics, biology and chemistry will make it impossible to study medicine. People 21 years old or older who do not have the required entrance diplomas may opt for an entrance exam for being admitted to a higher education curriculum. In this exam, they have to prove their command of disciplines considered necessary for pursuing such study. After 1 September 2002, they would be thus admitted to a Bachelor's curriculum, not to a Master's curriculum.


title: Academic degree

text: For some studies in the Netherlands, a governmental determined limited access is in place (although under political review for abolishment, February 2011). This is a limitation of the number of applicants to a specific study, thus trying to control the eventual number of graduates. The most renowned studies for their numerus clausus are medicine and dentistry. Every year a combination of the highest pre-university graduation grades and some additional conditions determine who can start such a numerus clausus study and who can not.


title: Academic degree

text: Almost all Dutch universities are government supported universities, with only very few privately owned universities in existence (i.e. one in business and all others in theology). Leiden University is the oldest, founded in 1575.


title: Academic degree

text: Before the introduction of the bachelor-master structure, almost all academic studies in the Netherlands had the same length of four years and had two phases:


title: Academic degree

text: For medical students the "" degree is not equivalent to the European Anglo Saxon postgraduate research degree in medicine of MD (Medical Doctor). Besides the title doctorandus, the graduates of the Curius curriculum may also bear the title "arts" (physician). The doctorandus in medicine title is granted after four years (nominal time) of the Curius curriculum, while the title physician is granted after six years (nominal time) of that curriculum. The Dutch physician title is equal to a MSc degree according to the Bologna process and can be compared with the MBBS in the UK degree system and the North American MD, but not the UK MD degree, which is a research degree. One-on-one equivalence or interchangeability of the Dutch medical title and MD is often suggested. However, officially the MD title is not known, nor legal to use in the Netherlands. The correct notation for a Dutch physician who completed his or her medical studies, but did not pursue a doctor (PhD-like) study is "drs." (e.g. "drs. Jansen, arts") and not "dr." in medicine, as often used incorrectly. However, like in the United Kingdom, physicians holding these degrees are referred to as 'Doctor' by courtesy.


title: Academic degree

text: In the Netherlands, there is the informal title "dokter" for physicians, but not "doctor" (dr.), unless they also earn such degree by completing a PhD curriculum. Furthermore, the "" degree does not give a medical student the right to treat patients; for this a minimum of two years additional study (internships) is required. After obtaining a Medical Board registration, Dutch physicians must work an additional two to six years in a field of expertise to become a registered medical specialist. Dutch surgeons commonly are only granted access to surgeon training and positions after obtaining a doctorate (PhD) successfully. In recent years, the six-year (nominal time) old Curius curriculum (which offered the titles doctorandus and physician) has been replaced with a three-year (nominal time) Bachelor Curius+ followed by a three-year (nominal time) Master Curius+. Those who had already begun their old-style Curius curriculum before that will still have to complete it as a six-year study (nominal time).


title: Academic degree

text: A in law uses the title ""meester"" (master, abbreviated as "mr. Jansen") instead of drs. and some studies like for example technique and agriculture grant the title ""ingenieur"" (engineer, noted as "ir. Jansen") instead of drs. These titles as equivalent to an LL.M (the title mr.) and to a MSc (the title ir.) and if got before 1 September 2002, from a recognized Dutch university, may be rendered as M (from Master) behind one's name, instead of using the typical Dutch shortcuts before one's name. Since 1 September 2002, Dutch universities offer specific BSc, BA or LLB studies followed by MSc, MA or LLM studies, thus integrating into and merging with the international scientific community, offering lectures, other classes, seminars or complete curricula in English instead of Dutch. According to their field of study, MSc graduates may use either ir. or drs. before their names, MA graduates may use drs. before their name and LLM graduates may use mr. before their names, but only if they received such degrees from recognized Dutch universities.


title: Academic degree

text: Not uncommonly, the Dutch "drs." abbreviation can cause much confusion in other countries, since it is perceived as a person who has a PhD in multiple disciplines. In the Netherlands, the degree MPhil is not legally recognised.


title: Academic degree

text: After successfully obtaining a "drs.", "ir." or "mr." degree, a student has the opportunity to follow a promotion study (informally called PhD) to eventually obtain a doctorate and subsequently the title "doctor". Promotion studies are structured ideally according to a preset time schedule of 4 to 6 years, during which the student has to be mentored by at least one professor. The promotion study has to be concluded with at least a scientific thesis, which has to be defended to "a gathering of his/her peers", in practice the board of the faculty with guest professors from other faculties and/or universities added. More and more common and in some disciplines even mandatory, is that the student writes and submits scientific publications to peer-reviewed journals, which eventually need to be accepted for publication. The number of publications is often debated and varies considerably between the various disciplines. However, in all disciplines the student is obligated to produce and publish a dissertation or thesis in book form.


title: Academic degree

text: All current Dutch academic education programs are offered in the Anglo-Saxon bachelor/master structure. It takes three years to earn a bachelor's degree and another one or two years to earn a master's degree. There are three official academic bachelor titles (BA, BSc and LLB) and three official master titles (MA, MSc and LLM). These academic titles are protected by the Dutch government.


title: Academic degree

text: After obtaining a doctorate, Dutch doctors may bear either the title dr. (lower case) before or the letter D following their name, but not both simultaneously. There is no specific notation of the discipline in which the doctorate is obtained. As of 1 January 2021, the title ‘PhD' and post-nominal degree ‘PhD' can also be used, and these are also legally protected.


title: Academic degree

text: Stacking of the titles as seen in countries such as Germany (Prof. Dr. Dr. Dr. Gruber) is highly uncommon in the Netherlands and not well received culturally. Those who have multiple doctor titles may use dr.mult. before their name, but this is seldom seen in practice. The honoris cause doctors may use dr.h.c. before their name. Combining different Dutch titles, especially in different disciplines, is allowed however (e.g. mr. dr. Jansen, dr. mr. Jansen, dr. ir. Jansen, mr. ir. drs. Jansen, mr. ir. Jansen). The use of the combination ir. ing. is frequent, indicating one holds a HBO, vocational (or professional) engineering degree together with an academic engineering degree. What is not allowed is, after obtaining a doctorate, using dr. drs. Jansen; dr. Jansen should be used instead.


title: Academic degree

text: A combination of a Dutch title with an international title is not allowed, except for some limited number of international professional titles. Thus, one should choose either one's classical Dutch title or use the shortcut provided by the law following one's name (since 1 September 2002 it is the other way around: those who hold Dutch degrees as MSc, LLM or MA may optionally use the old-style shortcuts before their names).


title: Academic degree

text: ""Doctors"" (dr.) can proceed to teach at universities as "" (UD – assistant professor). With time, experience and/ or achievement, this can evolve to a position as "" (UHD – associate professor). Officially an UHD still works under the supervision of a "" (professor), the head of the department. However, this is not a given; it is also possible that a department is headed by a "plain" doctor, based on knowledge, achievement and expertise. The position of "" is the highest possible scientific position at a university and equivalent to the US "full" professor. The Dutch professor's title, noted as "prof. Jansen" or "professor Jansen", is connected to one's employment. This means that, should the professor leave the university, he or she also loses the privilege to use the title of professor. Retired professors are an exception and may continue to note the title in front of their name or use the title emeritus professor (em. prof.). People who switch to a non-university job lose their professor title and are only allowed to use the "dr." abbreviation.


title: Academic degree

text: Unlike some other European countries such as Germany, Dutch academic titles are used rarely outside academia, hold no value in everyday life and typically are not listed on official documentation (e.g. passport, drivers license, (governmental) communication). Dutch academic titles however are legally protected and can only be used by graduates from Dutch institutions of higher education. Illegal use is considered a misdemeanor and subject to legal prosecution. Holders of foreign degrees therefore need special permission before being able to use a recognised Dutch title, but they are free to use their own foreign title (untranslated). In practice, the Public Department does not prosecute the illegal use of a protected title (in the Netherlands applies the principle of opportunity, so some known crimes are not prosecuted).


title: Academic degree

text: Prior to 1980, there were around 50 different degrees and corresponding education programs within the Norwegian higher education system.


title: Academic degree

text: Degrees had titles that included the gender based Latin term "candidatus/candidata". The second part of the title usually consisted of a Latin word corresponding to the profession or training. For example, Cand. Mag. (Candidatus Magisterii) required 4 to 5 years, Cand. Real. (Candidatus Realium) required 6 years of study and a scientific thesis in a select set of scientific disciplines (realia). Over the years these were replaced gradually with degrees that were more and more internationally comparable programs and corresponding titles. For example, the degree Cand. Scient. replaced Cand. Real. in the period 1985 to 2003. These degrees were all retired in 2003 in favour of an international system.


title: Academic degree

text: The reform of higher education in Norway, "Kvalitetsreformen" (""The Quality Reform""), was passed in the Norwegian Parliament, the Storting, in 2001 and carried out during the 2003/2004 academic year. It introduced standard periods of study and the titles "master" and "bachelor (baccalaureus)".


title: Academic degree

text: The system differentiates between a free master's degree and a master's degree in technology. The latter corresponds to the former "sivilingeniør" degree (not to be confused with a degree in civil engineering, which is but one of many degrees linked to the title "sivilingeniør", which is still in use for new graduates who can choose to also use the old title). All pre-2001 doctoral degree titles were replaced with the title "Philosophical Doctor degree", written "philosophiæ doctor" (instead of the traditional "doctor philosophiæ"). The title dr. philos. is a substantially higher degree than the PhD and is reserved for those who qualify for such a degree without participating in an organized doctoral degree program.


title: Academic degree

text: Since 1992, Russian higher education has introduced a multilevel system, enabling higher education institutions to award and issue Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees.


title: Academic degree

text: In Russia, Ukraine and some other former USSR republics educational degrees are awarded after finishing college education. There are several levels of education one must choose between 2nd and 3rd year usually on the 3rd year of study.


title: Academic degree

text: (But Specialist degree can appear equivalent to Magister degree by reason of equivalence of amount of educational time).


title: Academic degree

text: Usually Specialist or Magister degrees incorporates bachelor's degree in them, but only high-level degree is stated in final diploma.


title: Academic degree

text: Specialist and Magister degrees require taking final state exams and written work on practical application of studied skills


title: Academic degree

text: The first level academic degree is called "Kandidat nauk" (that could be translated verbatim as a "Candidate of Sciences"). This degree requires extensive research efforts, taking some classes, publications in peer-reviewed academic journals (not less than 5 publications in Ukraine or 3 publications in Russia), taking 3 or more exams (one or more in their speciality, one in a foreign language and one in the history and philosophy of science) and writing and defending an in-depth thesis (80–200 pages) called a "dissertation".


title: Academic degree

text: Finally, there is a "Doktor Nauk" (that could be translated verbatim as a "Doctor of Sciences") degree in Russia and some former USSR academic environment. This degree is granted for contributions in a certain field (formally – who established new direction or new field in science). It requires discovery of new phenomenon or development of new theory or essential development of new direction, etc. There is no equivalent of this "doctor of sciences" degree in US academic system. It is roughly equivalent to Habilitation in Germany, France, Austria and some other European countries.


title: Academic degree

text: In countries with a two-tier system of doctoral degrees, the degree of "Kandidat Nauk" should be considered for recognition at the level of the first doctoral degree. In countries with only one doctoral degree, the degree of Kandidat Nauk should be considered for recognition as equivalent to this degree.


title: Academic degree

text: According to "Guidelines for the recognition of Russian qualifications in the other countries" In countries with a two-tier system of doctoral degrees, the degree of "Doktor Nauk" should be considered for recognition at the level of the second doctoral degree. In countries in which only one doctoral degree exists, the degree of Doktor Nauk should be considered for recognition at the level of this degree.


title: Academic degree

text: According to International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) UNESCO 2011, par.262 for purposes of international educational statistics


title: Academic degree

text: Spain's higher-education legal framework includes: official and accredited education and non-official education.


title: Academic degree

text: In Spain, accreditation of official university study programmes is regulated by law and monitored by governmental agencies responsible for verifying their quality and suitability for official approval and accreditation.


title: Academic degree

text: Official professional study programmes lead to degree qualifications ("Títulos") with full academic and professional effects and the degrees awarded in accordance with the latest higher-education system are:


title: Academic degree

text: Accredited bachelor's degrees and master's degrees qualifications will always be described as ""Grado"" and ""Master Universitario"". These qualifications comply with the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) framework. Officially approved and accredited university study programmes must implement this framework by law in order to attain and retain accreditation in Spain.


title: Academic degree

text: Not all EHEA compliant study programmes in Spain are officially approved and/or accredited by government agencies. Some universities offer proprietary study programmes as an alternative to accredited study programmes for a variety of reasons: attending the continuing education market for individual self-advancement and also providing higher education to individuals that have failed to acquire bachelor's degree qualifications. The main reason for offering this alternative studies, though, is the heavy bureaucratic process that needs to be accomplished to receive the approval of specific titles, in particular when it refers to new studies or studies about matters that do not fit with the official studies. For historical reasons, the academic system has been very much under the control of the State and private universities are still regarded with as a threat to the State system.


title: Academic degree

text: These programmes fall within the category of "Non officially approved and accredited" or ""Estudios no oficiales"" and they have no academic or professional effects. This means that they do not entitle the bearer to claim to have any specific academic or professional qualifications, as far as the Spanish authorities are concerned. However, there may be private agreements to recognize the titles.


title: Academic degree

text: Universities offering non-official study programmes are legally bound to clearly differentiate between officially approved and non-officially approved qualifications when naming their offer of non-official qualifications. Non-accredited master's degrees will be described as ""Master"" on its own, without the term ""Universitario"".


title: Academic degree

text: Certain non-officially approved and accredited study programmes may acquire a well-deserved reputation. However, neither professional association, government agencies, judiciary authorities, nor universities – other than the study programme provider – are obliged to recognize non-official qualifications in any way.


title: Academic degree

text: University taught study programmes accreditation is granted through the ANECA, a government dependent quality assurance and accreditation provider for the Spanish Higher Education System and ensures that the data held in the RUCT, a national registry for universities and qualifications, is correct and up to date. All study programmes must be accredited by ANECA prior to their inclusion in the RUCT.


title: Academic degree

text: The RUCT records all officially approved universities and their bachelor's degrees, master's Degrees and PhDs and each and every one of the officially approved and accredited study programmes and universities are assigned a specific number Code ("Código") by the RUCT. The same study programme may acquire different codes as it progresses through various stages of official approval by local government and central government.


title: Academic degree

text: Prospective students should check the RUCT Code awarded to the study programme of their interest at every stage of their enquiries concerning degrees in Spain.


title: Academic degree

text: ANECA makes recommendations regarding procedures, staffing levels, quality of teaching, resources available to students and continuity or loss of accreditation and the ANECA Registry records all events in the life of an officially approved and accredited study programme or a university. The ANECA Registry Search Facility may be the simplest and safest way to verify the status of all officially approved and accredited study programmes in Spain.


title: Academic degree

text: It is also possible to track qualifications by using the search facility that several Autonomous Communities own accreditation agencies offer. These agencies work within the ANECA framework and generally show more detailed information about the study programmes available in each territory (i.e.: Catalonia, Madrid, etc.)


title: Academic degree

text: The qualifications framework for higher education MECES is the reference framework adopted in Spain in order to structure degree levels.


title: Academic degree

text: Not all universities offer degrees named exactly the same, even if they have similar academic and professional effects. Each university may present proposals for the study programme considered to meet professional and academic demand. The proposal will consist of a report linking the study programme being considered and the proposed qualification to be awarded. This report will be assessed by ANECA and sent for the Consejo de Universidades Españolas. If the "Consejo" agrees with ANECA's approval, it will be included in the RUCT and ANECA registries.


title: Academic degree

text: All bachelor's and master's degrees accredited by ANECA enjoy full academic and professional effects in accordance with new and previous laws. Professional practice law in Spain is currently under revision.


title: Academic degree

text: Before the Bologna Process after 4 or 5 years of study the academic degree of a Licentiate was reached. Depending on the official language of the university it was called "Lizentiat" (German) "Licence" (French) or "licenza" (Italian) and is today considered equivalent to the master's degree according to the Bologna reform. A Licentiate with a predefined qualification gave access to the last stage of further two or more years of studies (depending on the field) for a Doctoral's degree.


title: Academic degree

text: Apart from this most universities offered a postgraduate diploma with up to two years of study. French-speaking universities called them "diplôme d'études approfondies" DEA or DESS, the Italian-speaking university "post laurea" and German-speaking universities mostly "Nachdiplomstudium" (NDS). Today the federal legislation defines these postgraduate diplomas (60 ECTS credits) as Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) or Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) degree. Universities may also offer the possibility to gain a diploma of advanced studies (DAS), less than 60 ECTS credits). These degrees do not normally give access to the doctorate study.


title: Academic degree

text: The title "degree" is protected under UK law. All valid UK degrees are awarded by universities or other degree-awarding bodies whose powers to do so are recognised by the UK government; hence they are known as "recognised bodies".


title: Academic degree

text: The standard first degree in England, Northern Ireland and Wales is the bachelor's degree conferred with honours. Usually this is a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree. Other variants exist, for example Bachelor of Education or Bachelor of Laws. It usually takes three years to read for a bachelor's degree.


title: Academic degree

text: Candidates who have not achieved the standard for the award of honours may be admitted without honours to the "ordinary" Bachelor's degree if they have met the required standard for this lesser qualification (also referred to as a "pass degree"). Standard levels for each of these classes are 70%+ for a first, 60-69% for a 2:1, 50-59% for a 2:2, 40-49% for a 3rd and 30%+ for a pass degree, although this can vary by institution (e.g. the Open University).


title: Academic degree

text: The foundation degree is a qualification at lower than Bachelor's level awarded following a two-year programme of study that is usually vocational in nature. The foundation degree can be awarded by a university or college of higher education that has been granted foundation degree awarding powers by the UK government. This degree is comparable to an associate degree in the United States.


title: Academic degree

text: The universities of Oxford and Cambridge award honorary Master of Arts (MA) degrees to graduates of their Bachelor's programmes, following a specified period of time. This is comparable to the practice of the ancient universities in Scotland of awarding an MA for a first degree and arguably reflects the rigorous standards expected of their graduates.


title: Academic degree

text: Master's degrees such as Master of Arts or Master of Science are typically awarded to students who have undertaken at least a year of full-time postgraduate study, which may be taught or involve an element of research. Degrees such as Master of Philosophy (MPhil) or Master of Letters/Literature (MLitt) are likely to be awarded for postgraduate degrees involving original research. A student undertaking a Master's would normally be expected to already hold a bachelor's degree in a relevant subject, hence the possibility of reaching Master's level in one year.


title: Academic degree

text: Some universities award a Master's as a first degree following an integrated programme of study (an 'integrated master's degree'). These degrees are usually designated by the subject, such as Master of Engineering for engineering, Master of Physics for physics, Master of Mathematics for mathematics and so on; it usually takes four years to read for them. Graduation to these degrees is always with honours. Master of Engineering in particular has now become the standard first degree in engineering at the top UK universities, replacing the older Bachelor of Engineering.


title: Academic degree

text: The Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree is highly valued by those seeking to advance in business as managers and decision makers.


title: Academic degree

text: Doctoral degrees or doctorates, such as the Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD or DPhil) or Doctor of Education (EdD or DEd) are awarded following a programme of original research that contributes new knowledge within the context of the student's discipline. Doctoral degrees usually take three years full-time. Therefore, in the UK it may only take seven years to progress from undergraduate to doctoral level – in some cases six, since having a Master's is not always a precondition for embarking on a doctoral degree. This contrasts with nine years in the United States, reflecting differences in the educational systems.


title: Academic degree

text: Some doctorates, such as the Doctor of Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy) qualification, confirm competence to practice in particular professions. There are also higher doctorates – Doctor of Science (DSc) and Doctor of Letters/Literature (DLitt) that are typically awarded to experienced academics who have demonstrated a high level of achievement in their academic career; for example they may have published widely on their subject or become professors in their field.


title: Academic degree

text: UK post-secondary qualifications are defined at different levels, with levels 1–3 denoting further education and levels 4–8 denoting higher education. Within this structure, a foundation degree is at level 5; a bachelor's degree at level 6; a master's degree at level 7; and a doctoral degree at level 8.


title: Academic degree

text: Full information about the expectations for different types of UK degree is published by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.


title: Academic degree

text: See also graduate certificate, graduate diploma, postgraduate certificate, postgraduate diploma and British degree abbreviations.


title: Academic degree

text: The standard first degree for students studying arts or humanities in Scotland is either a Bachelor of Arts or a Master of Arts (the latter traditionally awarded by the Ancient Universities of Scotland for a first degree in an arts/humanities subject). The standard undergraduate degree for natural and social science subjects is the Bachelor of Science.


title: Academic degree

text: Students can work towards a first degree at either ordinary or honours level. A general or ordinary degree (BA/MA or BSc) takes three years to complete; an honours degree (BA/MA Hons or BSc Hons) takes four years. The ordinary degree need not be in a specific subject, but can involve study across a range of subjects within (and sometimes beyond) the relevant faculty, in which case it may also be called a general degree; if a third year or junior honours subject is included, the ordinary degree in that named discipline is awarded. The honours degree involves two years of study at a sub-honours level in which a range of subjects within the relevant faculty are studied and then two years of study at honours level which is specialised in a single field (for example classics, history, chemistry, biology, etc.). Not all universities in Scotland adhere to this, in some you study in several subjects within a faculty for three years and can then specialise in two areas and attain a joint honours degree in fourth year.


title: Academic degree

text: This also reflects the broader scope of the final years of Scottish secondary education, where traditionally five Highers are studied, compared to (typically) three English or Welsh A-Levels. The Higher is a one-year qualification, as opposed to the two years of A-Levels, which accounts for Scottish honours degrees being a year longer than those in England. Advanced Highers add an optional final year of secondary education, bringing students up to the level of their A-Level counterparts – students with strong A-Levels or Advanced Highers may be offered entry directly into the second year at Scottish universities.


title: Academic degree

text: Students who complete all the requirements for an honours degree, but do not receive sufficient merit to be awarded third-class honours may be awarded a "Special Degree" (ordinary degree – bachelor's level SCQF Level 9).


title: Academic degree

text: In most respects, the criteria for awarding qualifications at honours level and above are the same as in the rest of the UK (see above under England, Wales and Northern Ireland). Postgraduate qualifications are not designated Master of Arts as in the rest of the UK, as this is an undergraduate degree. Postgraduate degrees in arts and humanities subjects are usually designated Master of Letters (M.Litt.) or, in natural and social sciences, Master of Science (M.Sc.). Non-doctoral postgraduate research degrees are usually designated Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) or Master of Research (M.Res.). The postgraduate teaching qualification is the postgraduate diploma in education (PGDE).


title: Academic degree

text: In Canada, education is the responsibility of the provinces and territories, rather than the federal government. However, all of Canada follows the three-level bachelor's-master's-doctorate system common to the Anglophone world, with a few variations. A common framework for degrees was agreed between the provinces and territories in 2007.


title: Academic degree

text: Bachelor's degrees are normally three to four years in duration, more commonly three years in Quebec (where they follow on from college courses rather than directly from secondary education). Outside Quebec, three-year bachelor's degrees are normally ordinary degrees, while four-year bachelor's degrees are honours degrees; an honours degree is normally needed for further study at the master's level. Master's degrees take one to three years (in Quebec they normally take one and a half to two years). Doctorates take a minimum of three years. Alone among Canadian provinces and territories, British Columbia offers two-year associate degrees, allowing credit to be transferred into a four-year bachelor's program.


title: Academic degree

text: In Canada, first professional degrees such as DDS, MD, PharmD and LLB or JD are considered bachelor's level qualifications, despite their often being named as if they were doctorates.


title: Academic degree

text: In the province of Quebec, the majority of students must attend college prior to entering university. Upon completion of a two-year pre-university program, such as in Sciences or Humanities, or a three-year technical program, such as Nursing or Computer Science, college graduates obtain a "college diploma", which is a prerequisite for access to university-level studies. Although these college programs are typical, they are not offered in every institution in the province. Moreover, while a few other pre-university programs with various concentrations exist, many other technical/career programs are available depending on the college of choice. For example, Dawson College in Montreal has nearly sixty different programs leading to a college diploma.


title: Academic degree

text: Special programs, such as physical rehabilitation therapy, are offered in some colleges as well. These programs allow students to enter professional university programs, such as physiotherapy (which consists of an integrated Bachelor of Science in Physiotherapy and Master of Physical Therapy), without having to meet the usual grade and course prerequisites required from students holding a pre-university science diploma. A similar option is offered for college nursing graduates as they can pursue their studies in university to obtain a Bachelor of Nursing in two years (rather than the usual three or four years, depending on whether the student has completed a college diploma in Quebec). Additionally, whereas aspiring medical students are usually required to complete an undergraduate degree before applying to medical schools, Quebec college graduates have the option to enter:


title: Academic degree

text: Education in Mexico follows a three-degree system similar to that of Canada and the US. The pre-university academic level is the "bachillerato" (also called "preparatoria"), similar to high school. Students typically leave preparatoria at the age of 18 for university, at which point they choose to specialize in a specific academic area (a "carrera").


title: Academic degree

text: After high school, students progress to university, where they study for a "Técnico Superior universitario" (Associate degree) or a "licenciatura" (Bachelor), then a "maestría" (Master), then a "doctorado" (doctorate).


title: Academic degree

text: Once in university, students begin the "carrera", the study of a precise academic branch like economics, business administration, sciences, law, engineering or medicine. Students will be in university for 8–10 semesters of full-time study, which typically takes 4–5 years. Upon graduation, students receive a "licenciatura" in their chosen subject area, which is equivalent to an American Bachelor's degree. They can also get the degree of "ingenieria" or "medico" that refers to an engineer or MD respectively.


title: Academic degree

text: Several Mexican universities offer students the possibility of obtaining an equivalent to an associate degree, called in Mexico "Técnico Superior universitario" (TSU), studying only half of the "licenciatura", with the possibility of finishing a full bachelor's degree later. This is done mainly in fields like engineering and computer sciences.


title: Academic degree

text: After receiving the "licenciatura", students may take extra courses called "diplomados" (similar to a Certification but issued by a university). These courses last 4–12 months and are a means to further study without continuing to the next degree level, usually studied to demonstrate that the student still updated in his field. Most students stay at this level, but some choose to continue to the "maestría", equivalent to the master's degree. Study at the "maestría" level takes 1–3 years and mandates completion of a thesis. Post-graduate students in Mexico typically enter a master's program after a few years in the workforce and often continue working while studying.


title: Academic degree

text: Traditionally, students who have completed the "maestria" may continue on to the "doctorado" or the doctorate. Doctoral study typically lasts 3–4 years. In last years this schemes has become flexible such that in some PhD programmes, students are accepted before or not completing at all a Master course.


title: Academic degree

text: In the United States, since the late 19th century, the threefold degree system of bachelor's, master's, and doctorate has been in place but has evolved into a slightly different pattern from the European equivalent. The U.S. Department of Education now classifies degrees in six categories: associate degrees, bachelor's degrees, first professional degrees, master's degrees, intermediate graduate qualifications and research doctorates.


title: Academic degree

text: The standard academic progression remains bachelor's—master's—(research) doctorate. Most standard "academic" programs are based on the four-year bachelor's degree, most often Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or Bachelor of Science (B.S.), a one- or two-year master's degree (most often Master of Arts (M.A.) or Master of Science (M.S.); either of these programs might be as long as three years in length) and a further two to five years of coursework and research, culminating in "comprehensive" examinations in one or more fields, plus perhaps some teaching experience and then the writing of a dissertation for the doctorate, for a total of ten or more years from starting the bachelor's degree (which is usually begun around age 18) to the awarding of the doctorate. This timetable is only approximate, however, as students in accelerated programs can sometimes earn a bachelor's degree in three years or, on the other hand, a particular dissertation project might take four or more years to complete. In addition, a graduate may wait an indeterminate time between degrees before candidacy in the next level or even an additional degree at a level already completed. Therefore, there is no time limit on the accumulation of academic degrees.


title: Academic degree

text: By far the most common research doctorate is the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), comprising 98.1% of research doctorates in 2014. The Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) made up 1.1% (not including Ed.D.s classified as professional degrees rather than research doctorates) and all other research doctorates were less than 1% in total.


title: Academic degree

text: Some schools, mostly junior colleges and community colleges and some four-year schools, offer an associate degree for two full years of study. These may be in professional or academic fields and the most common awards are the Associate of Arts (A.A.) and Associate of Science (A.S.) degrees. Articulation agreements may allow credit earned on an associate degree to be counted toward the completion of a bachelor's degree.


title: Academic degree

text: The "first professional degree" is a graduate-level degree program designed to prepare graduates for professional practice in various fields other than academic scholarship and research. First, professional degrees require a minimum of two years prior to college-level education to enter the program and a minimum of six years of total college-level education (including that undertaken prior to entry) to complete the program. Most professional degree programs require a prior bachelor's degree for admission and many require seven or eight years of total study. Many first professional degrees, e.g. M.D., J.D. or D.O. are named as doctorates but should not be confused with research doctorates such as the Ph.D. (or, in law, the S.J.D.). First professional degrees should also not be confused with professional master's degrees such as the M.Arch. and M.B.A., which are classified as master's degrees, or with intermediate graduate qualifications that also bear the title of doctor, such as D.Min. or D.Psy.


title: Academic degree

text: Intermediate graduate qualifications lie between the master's level and doctorate. They include awards such as Advanced Certificates, Advanced Graduate Certificates, Graduate Diplomas, Professional Engineer status, and Professional Diplomas, as well as specialist degrees such as Education Specialist, Doctor of Ministry, Doctor of Psychology and the Licentiate in Sacred Theology.


title: Academic degree

text: In 21 US jurisdictions, religious institutions can be authorized to grant religious-exempt (rel. exmpt., rel. expt., etc.) degrees without accreditation or government oversight. Such degrees are used primarily to attain church-related employment.


title: Academic degree

text: Traditionally more men than women attended and earned degrees at the world's universities. A milestone was reached in the United States according to results of the 2010 census, as women surpassed men in attaining master's degrees, for the first time. The U.S. census reports that 10.5 million men have master's degrees or higher, compared with 10.6 million women. The first year that women surpassed men in earning bachelor's degrees was 1996.


title: Academic degree

text: Students, the media, and the general public have shown much concern over the value of getting a higher degree in the US ever since the Great Recession of 2007. A 2015 survey of 2,000 adults (900 of which were graduates), implemented by the education technology company Greenwood Hall, reported that more than half of the graduates surveyed believe those getting their degree now will be receiving a lower return on their investment than their counterparts 10–15 years ago.


title: Academic degree

text: Media coverage of the rising costs of higher education and increased student debt have also affected the public's perceptions of whether higher degrees are still worthwhile. Statistics citing that college graduates make around $1 million more in their lifetimes than those who didn't attend college and live longer, healthier lives work in favor of those who argue the continued value of higher degrees. Studies like the 2011 Learning Gains study by Arum and Roksa, on the other hand, reported that only 55% of students had any learning gains during their first two years of college, which favors the argument that investing in higher education may not still be worth it.


title: Academic degree

text: The Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) covers 10 levels, of which 6 – 10 correspond to academic degrees. These are: the "associate degree" (level 6), which normally takes 2 years; the "bachelor degree" (level 7), which normally takes 3 years, the "bachelor honours degree" (level 8), which normally takes 1 year after the bachelor's degree and is mostly taken as an optional extension year depending on the discipline, the "master degree" (level 9), which normally takes 1 – 2 years for "research" or "coursework" degrees and 3 – 4 years for an "extended" degree and follows on from either a bachelor or honours degree; and the "doctoral degree" (level 10), which normally takes 3 – 4 years following on from a master's degree or a Class I or IIa honours qualification. Also included within the higher education system are: diplomas at level 5 (first year of a degree course); advanced diplomas, at level 6 (associate degree level); and graduate certificates and graduate diplomas, both of which are at level 8 (honours degree level). In Australia, most degrees are issued ungraded, with bachelor's degrees with honours being the exception.


title: Academic degree

text: Doctorates in Australia may be research doctorates (normally titled PhDs) or professional doctorates (normally titled to refer to the field of practice, e.g. Doctor of Engineering. Professional doctorates still require research leading to "a significant and original contribution to knowledge in the context of professional practice" and should not be confused with extended master's degrees that bear similar names for historical reasons: the Juris Doctor and Doctors of Medical Practice, Physiotherapy, Dentistry and Optometry. Despite their names, these extended master's degrees may not be described as doctoral degrees nor do they confer the right to use the title of doctor on their recipients.


title: Academic degree

text: Like Australia, New Zealand has a 10-level qualifications framework (the New Zealand Qualifications Framework; NZQF) and a referencing exercise has found a one-to-one correspondence between the levels of the two frameworks. However, the names given to qualifications at different levels are not the same and New Zealand does not have associate degrees, thus only levels 7 – 10 correspond to academic degrees. These are the bachelor's degree (level 7), bachelor honours degree (level 8), master's degree (level 9) and the doctoral degree (level 10). In addition to these, the NZQF has certificates across levels 1 – 6, diplomas at levels 5 and 6, graduate certificates and graduate diplomas at level 7 (bachelor's) and postgraduate certificates and postgraduate diplomas at level 8 (honours). Another referencing exercise, comparing the NZQF to the 10-level Irish National Framework for Qualifications found that degrees were comparable but that further work was needed to improve compatibility for the sub-degree levels (1 – 6). Non-degree qualifications at levels 7 – 9 were not included in the study. In New Zealand, master's degrees may be awarded with classified honours (1st, 2:1, 2:2, 3rd) or with distinction or merit.


title: Academic degree

text: Undergraduate students in Brazilian universities graduate either with a bachelor's degree, a Licentiate degree or a Technologist degree.


title: Academic degree

text: Bachelor degrees in Brazil normally takes four or five years of full-time study to complete, with the exception of the human medicine course which requires six years.


title: Academic degree

text: Licentiate degree, normally takes four-years length degrees, available for students who want to qualify as school teachers. "Licenciatura" courses exist mostly in mathematics, humanities and natural sciences.


title: Academic degree

text: Technologist degree is available in technology-related fields and can be normally obtained in three years. These degrees are turned to fast entry the industry.


title: Academic degree

text: Admission as an undergraduate student in most top public or private universities in Brazil requires that the applicant pass a competitive entrance examination known as Vestibular. Contrary to what happens in the United States, candidates must declare their intended university major when they register for the Vestibular. Although it is theoretically possible to switch majors afterwards (in a process known within the universities as "transferência interna"), that is actually quite rare in Brazil. Undergraduate curricula tend to be more rigid than in the United States and there is little room to take classes outside one's major.


title: Academic degree

text: Individuals who hold either a bachelor's degree, Licentiate or Technologist are eligible for admission into graduate courses leading to advanced master's or doctor's degrees. Criteria for admission into master's and doctor's programs vary in Brazil. Some universities require that candidates take entrance exams; others make admission decisions based solely on undergraduate transcripts, letters of recommendation and possibly oral interviews. In most cases, however, especially for the doctorate, the candidate is required to submit a research plan and one faculty member must agree to serve as his/her supervisor before the candidate can be admitted into the program; The exception are the Natural Sciences post-graduate programs, that accepts students with very broad and/or vague research prospects with sometimes the prospect is given "in promptu" during the interview, preferring to let the students define their study program and advisor in the course of the first year of studies.


title: Academic degree

text: There are two types of post-graduate programs, lato sensu (specialization and MBAs) and stricto sensu (professional master's, master's and doctorate):


title: Academic degree

text: Specializations or MBAs are courses that include taking a minimum number (minimum 360 hours) of graduate classes but with no need to do research nor defend a thesis, only present a final work showing the knowledge. It's a professional level where theory and practice are focused in a broad sense.


title: Academic degree

text: Professional Master's or master's degrees usually takes one to two years of full-time study. Requirements for an academic master's degree include taking a minimum number of advanced graduate classes (typically between five and eight) and submitting a research thesis which is examined orally by a panel of at least two examiners (three is the preferred number), sometimes including one external member who must be from another university or research institute. The emphasis of the thesis must be in adding some value to the academic knowledge, but not necessarily in being original.


title: Academic degree

text: Doctor's degrees normally take four additional years of full-time study to complete. Requirements for obtaining a doctor's degree include taking additional advanced courses, passing an oral qualifying exam and submitting a longer doctoral dissertation which must represent a significant original contribution to knowledge in the field to which the dissertation topic is related. That contrasts with master's thesis, which, in addition to being usually shorter than doctoral dissertations, are not required to include creation of new knowledge or revision/reinterpretation of older views/theories. The doctoral dissertation is examined in a final oral exam before a panel of at least two members (in the state of São Paulo the preferred number is five, while the other regions prefer three members), usually including one or two external examiners from another university or research institute.


title: Academic degree

text: Finally, a small number of Brazilian universities, most notably the public universities in the state of São Paulo still award the title of ("free docent"), which is of higher standing than a doctorate and is obtained, similar to the German Habilitation, by the submission of a second (original or cumulative) thesis and approval in a "Livre-Docência" examination that includes giving a public lecture before a panel of full professors.


title: Academic degree

text: In Colombia, the system of academic degrees is based in the British model been similar to the U.S. model. After completing their "bachillerato" (high school), students can take one of three options. The first one is called a "" (professional career), which is similar to a bachelor's degree requiring from four to 6 years of study according to the chosen program. The other option is called a "Técnico" (technician); this degree consists in two and a half years of study and prepares the student for technical or mechanical labors. Finally, the third option is called a ¨Tecnólogo¨ (equivalent to associate degree) and consist of 3 years of study.


title: Academic degree

text: After this, students, now called "" (professionals), Tecnólogos (associates) or "" (technicians), can opt for higher degrees.


title: Academic degree

text: Formal education after the bachelor's degree is the master's degree with the title of "" and doctorate degree known as "" (doctorate). The master's degree normally consists of two years.


title: Academic degree

text: Students also can take a specialization course, "", equivalent to a graduate certificate degree, after their bachelor's degree. These programs, like in the U.S. are very popular, because it requires only one to two years of study.


title: Academic degree

text: A similar situation in Colombia, when compared to the U.S. system, is that the students may not go directly to the "" without having the "Master" degree first.


title: Academic degree

text: After completing "" (high school), students receive a "Licenciatura de Enseñanza Media" (high school diploma), which is a requirement for higher education.


title: Academic degree

text: Higher education programs that provide a professional title but not an academic degree are referred to as "", which are similar in duration and scope to associate degree programs. These are often granted by educational institutions of the type "Instituto profesional" (IP) or "Centro de formación técnica" (CFT).


title: Academic degree

text: Titles in Venezuela start with the "Certificado de Educación Básica" (Certificate of Basic Education), awarded upon completing 9th grade. The next title is earned upon completing 11th grade and may be "Bachiller en Ciencias" (High School Graduate of Science), "Bachiller en Humanidades" (High School Graduate of Humanities) or "Técnico en Ciencias" (Science Technician). The reason for this diversity is because some schools provide vocational education as part of their high school curriculum (thereby allowing them to hand out "Technician" titles) while elsewhere, the student is required to decide whether to study Sciences or Humanities for the last two years of secondary school.


title: Academic degree

text: Titles at the higher education level usually depend on the institution handing them out. Technical schools award the student with the title of "Técnico Superior Universitario" (university higher technician, to distinguish from science technician). Universities award the student with the title of "Ingeniero" (engineer) or with the title "Licenciado" (licentiate) after completing a five-year program. The engineer have more physics subjects than the licentiate, but both are five-year careers. Some higher education institutions may award "Diplomados" (diploma), but the time necessary to obtain one varies. Medical doctors are awarded the title "Médico Cirujano" after completing a 6 year-career.


title: Academic degree

text: Postgraduate education follows conventions of the United States (being named "master's" and "doctorate" after the programs there)


title: Academic degree

text: Pontifical universities around the world such as the Pontifical University, St Patrick's College, Maynooth in Ireland, the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas in Manila, The Catholic University of America, the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, "Angelicum" in Rome, the University of Louvain (UCLouvain) in Belgium and the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru depend for their status as pontifical universities and for the nature of their academic degrees on the Pope through the Congregation for Catholic Education. The nature of academic degrees from ecclesiastical institutions of education is outlined in the apostolic constitution "Sapientia Christiana".


title: Academic degree

text: In distinction to secular or Catholic universities, which are academic institutions for the study and teaching of a broad range of disciplines, Ecclesiastical or Pontifical universities "are usually composed of three principal ecclesiastical faculties, theology, philosophy and canon law and at least one other faculty. A Pontifical university specifically addresses Christian revelation and disciplines correlative to the evangelical mission of the Church as set out in the apostolic constitution "Sapientia christiana"."


title: Academic degree

text: There are three cycles of degrees that constitute the core of degrees granted by pontifical universities: the first cycle leading to the baccalaureate degree; the second cycle leading to the licentiate degree; the third cycle leading to the doctorate. From this core pontifical universities confer degrees including:Theology


title: Kung Fury 2

text: Kung Fury 2 is an upcoming martial arts comedy film co-written and directed by David Sandberg, based on and serving as a sequel to his 2015 featurette "Kung Fury". Starring alongside Sandberg will be Michael Fassbender, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Alexandra Shipp, Ralf Moeller, and Jorma Taccone.


title: Kung Fury 2

text: In 1985, Miami is kept safe under the watchful eye of Kung Fury and his Thundercops, the ultimate police force assembled from across history to defeat the villainous Kung Führer, Adolf Hitler. After the tragic death of a Thundercop sees the group disband, a mysterious villain emerges from the shadows to aid in the Führer's quest to attain the ultimate weapon. Kung Fury must travel through space and time to save his friends, defend the prestigious Miami Kung Fu Academy and defeat evil once and for all.


title: Kung Fury 2

text: Sandberg began to develop a feature-length version of his short film alongside Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg in 2015, shortly after the release of the short film. In February 2018, the project began coming together, with Sandberg directing and starring in the film. Michael Fassbender, David Hasselhoff, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ralf Moeller were set to star alongside Sandberg, with filming initially set to begin in the summer in the United States and Europe. In May 2018, Eiza González joined the cast, with the film now titled "Kung Fury 2." In July 2019, Gonzalez exited the film, with Alexandra Shipp cast to replace her. Filming began on July 29, 2019, in Bulgaria and Germany. On September 25, it was confirmed that filming had wrapped. In September 2020, post-production was halted over a lawsuit with investors.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: The Neapolitan Novels, also known as the Neapolitan Quartet, are a four-part series of fiction by the pseudonymous Italian author Elena Ferrante, published originally by Edizioni e/o, translated into English by Ann Goldstein, and published by Europa Editions (New York). The English-language titles of the novels are "My Brilliant Friend" (2012), "The Story of a New Name" (2013), "Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay" (2014), and "The Story of the Lost Child" (2015). In the original Italian edition, the whole series bears the title of the first novel "L'amica geniale" ("My Brilliant Friend"). The series has been characterized as a "bildungsroman", or coming-of-age story. In an interview in "Harper's Magazine", Elena Ferrante has stated that she considers the four books to be "a single novel" published serially for reasons of length and duration. The series has sold over 10 million copies in 40 countries.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: The series follows the lives of two perceptive and intelligent girls, Elena (sometimes called "Lenù") Greco and Raffaella ("Lila") Cerullo, from childhood to adulthood and old age, as they try to create lives for themselves amidst the violent and stultifying culture of their home – a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples, Italy. The novels are narrated by Elena Greco.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: The series was adapted into a two-part play by April De Angelis at the Rose Theatre, Kingston, in March 2017. The Rose production, starring Niamh Cusack and Catherine McCormack, transferred to the Royal National Theatre in November 2019. The first three books in the series have been adapted into an HBO television series entitled "My Brilliant Friend".


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: The Neapolitan Novels begin in 2010 when the son of an old friend telephones the main character, a woman in her 60s named Elena (familiarly called "Lenù"). Elena's childhood friend Lila (a nickname for "Raffaella") has disappeared and removed all traces of herself from her household, and her son is unable to find her. Elena recognizes this behavior as something Lila, in her later years, has always talked about doing, and believes her disappearance to be a conscious decision. In the spirit of their loving but ambivalent ways towards each other, Elena begins to put on paper everything she can remember about Lila, beginning in 1950s' Naples.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: Elena and Lila grow up in a poor neighborhood full of violence and strife, where Lila alone realizes that an innocent man has been framed for murder by local gangsters, the Solara family. No one expects the girls to be educated beyond elementary school. Elena is diligent and captures the attention of maestra Oliviero, one of her primary school teachers, a spinster who encourages her to escape the life of the impoverished plebeian class. To everyone's surprise, the very rebellious Lila turns out to be a prodigy who has taught herself to read and write. She quickly earns the highest grades in the class, seemingly without effort. Elena is both fascinated and intimidated by Lila, especially after Lila writes a story which Elena feels shows real genius. She begins to push herself to keep up with Lila and ignores her teacher's warning not to associate with "plebs". Once, when Lila throws Elena's doll into the basement chute of the local loan shark, Elena does the same to Lila's doll, as proof that she can be as bold as her friend. When Lila fearlessly goes to the loan shark to ask for the return of the dolls, Elena goes with her, though they are ultimately unable to retrieve them.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: The paths of the two girls diverge when Lila's parents refuse to pay for further education after elementary school. After being pressured by the concerned teacher, Elena's father agrees to pay for Elena to continue studying, which angers her bitter, jealous mother. To prove her worthiness, Lila secretly takes the middle school exam, which so enrages her father that he throws her through a glass window one floor above the courtyard. After recovering from her injuries, Lila encourages Elena to skip school in an attempt to get Elena's parents to withdraw their support for her education. But Elena forgives Lila, knowing how hard it is for Lila to be left behind while she moves forward. Elena attends middle school and eventually high school. Lila insists that Elena, being Lila's brilliant friend, should never stop studying.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: With Elena studying, Lila occupies herself with her father's shoe shop. Much to his irritation, she dreams of designing new types of shoes to make them rich. She also grows very beautiful, attracting most of the neighborhood's young men, including Marcello Solara, the young son of the powerful local Camorra leader. Despite being pressured by her family to marry Marcello, Lila resists because she considers the Solaras to be fundamentally evil. To escape Marcello, she accepts Stefano Caracci, the owner of the local grocery, when he asks her to marry him. After the Caraccis sweeten the deal by agreeing to finance Lila's shoe project, her family agree to the marriage. Lila and Stefano marry when she is sixteen. At the wedding, Elena, who has been dating Antonio Cappuccio, a car mechanic, is repelled by the boisterous behavior of the "plebs". Stefano breaks two promises to Lila by inviting the Solara brothers to their wedding reception and by selling them the shoes that Lila and her brother handcrafted and that Stefano told her he would treasure forever. Lila considers the marriage over as soon as it begins.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: No longer feeling anything for Stefano, Lila is cold to him during their marriage. Stefano beats and rapes her on their honeymoon, causing a further rift. The Solaras gradually take over the increasingly lucrative shoe project, and Lila, despite rebelling, is forced to help them with the shoe shop.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: As Lila continues to rebel in different ways, both her family and her in-laws worry about her not having become pregnant yet. Her doctor blames it on stress and prescribes a vacation. Lila, desperate to not be alone with her mother and sister-in-law, talks Elena into coming with her. Elena, who is doing very well in school and has fallen in love with a haughty older boy called Nino Sarratore, agrees on the condition that they go to a particular beach resort, knowing Nino will be there. Elena is naively unaware of Nino's lack of interest in her and of his jealousy of her writing talent. Soon Elena and Lila are increasingly spending their days with Nino. Surprisingly, it is Lila and Nino who fall in love with each other and begin an affair, even using Elena as their common confidante. Feeling dejected, Elena gives in to the advances of Donato Sarratore, Nino's father, who takes her virginity.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: As the vacation comes to an end, Lila finally becomes pregnant, and she and Nino plan to live together. However, their affair is brief, as Nino comes to resent Lila's intellect and abruptly leaves her. Lila eventually returns to her husband Stefano. After giving birth to a son, she becomes obsessed with the idea that early childhood education is extremely important and tries her best to teach her son to read and write. After discovering that Stefano is having an affair with Ada Cappuccio, Lila finally decides to leave him for good. She escapes to a smaller, more run-down neighborhood with Enzo, a childhood friend who is in love with her and has promised to protect her.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: Elena graduates from high school with no concrete plans. She hears about the world-renowned university Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa and successfully passes the entrance exams. Elena has a difficult time there because of her obvious poverty and because she is sexually active. Eventually, she meets Pietro Airota, who is an awkward and dry but kind and proper intellectual from an important family. The two become friends, and upon graduation, he proposes to Elena, who accepts. Before graduation, Elena writes a small story based on her life which contains a fictionalized account of the night she lost her virginity to Donato Sarratore. Elena gives it to Pietro as a present. He, in turn, gives it to his mother, Adele, who passes it along to a publishing house, which immediately accepts it. The book leads to financial success and critical acclaim for Elena. To her disappointment, no one from her childhood neighborhood mentions the book except to comment on the sexual passages, and not even Lila shows any interest in it.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: Before her wedding, Elena sees Lila briefly and learns that she is working in a sausage factory where she is constantly brutalized and sexually harassed. Lila has fallen in love with Enzo, and they are both studying computer programming, but she refuses to let their relationship turn sexual since she does not want to become pregnant again. After Elena helps her obtain the pill, Lila does consummate her relationship with Enzo. Meanwhile, Elena, who did not want to have children until after writing a second book, becomes pregnant right away. A few years go by, and Elena does manage to write another book before the birth of her second daughter, but after Lila and Adele tell her it is no good, she decides to abandon the project and devotes herself to being a wife and mother.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: Elena runs into Nino again when her husband Pietro brings him home. She discovers she is still attracted to him despite the fact that he abandoned her friend after their love affair. Inspired by his attention, she writes a feminist text which Adele deems worthy of publication. She and Nino start an affair, which makes Elena realize she is unhappy in her marriage and convinces her to leave Pietro.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: Elena shares her plans with Lila, who is horrified. Although Lila now realizes that her son, who she believed was Nino's, is actually biologically Stefano's, she still harbours resentment towards Nino and views him as an empty, wasteful person. Lila's fortunes are on the rise: she and Enzo now work successfully as computer programmers. Lila is tempted to work for Michele Solara, who remains so obsessed with her that he is willing to pay her an exorbitant salary. Elena learns that her younger sister is sleeping with Marcello Solara.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: After several months of strife, Elena finally succeeds in leaving Pietro. However, she learns from Lila that despite promises that he had also left his wife, Nino has done no such thing. Despite an initial attempt to break up with him, Elena eventually decides to accept Nino the way he is and moves with her daughters to Naples so she can be closer to him. She becomes pregnant with Nino's child at the same time Lila conceives a daughter with Enzo. They give birth to daughters one month apart. Lila names her child Tina, the same name as Elena's long-lost doll, while Elena names her daughter Imma, after her mother, who dies of cancer shortly after her granddaughter's birth. Overwhelmed with the responsibilities of raising three daughters, Elena finds herself in financial difficulties despite help from Pietro and Nino. One day she discovers Nino having sex with her housekeeper, and then learns from Lila that he has continued to have multiple affairs with many women, both before and during their time together, even propositioning Lila. Disgusted with Nino, Elena finally finds the strength to break up with him for good.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: In the midst of this turmoil, Elena tries to finish a third book she has been contractually obligated to write, but having no time she simply sends her publisher the book she wrote when she was pregnant with her middle child, a thinly veiled account of her childhood, expecting it to be rejected. The publisher is instead hugely supportive, considering it a great work.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: Encouraged by her publisher, Elena and her children move into an apartment just above her old friend Lila. She realizes that the neighbourhood has severely changed from when she grew up. Many people, including Elena's own brothers, are now involved in the selling and using of drugs for the Solaras, while Lila is considered a saviour in the neighbourhood, the only one who can stand up to the Solaras and who employs people in her computer business, helping to take them away from drugs.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: The success of Elena's book causes trouble for the Solaras, when a newspaper article reveals it contains fictionalized accounts of their illegal dealings. The Solaras bring a lawsuit against Elena through Carmen Peluso, her childhood schoolmate, and their stranglehold on the neighbourhood seems more vicious than ever. After Michele hurts Lila, Lila gives all the proof of their illegal dealings to Elena and together they write a piece documenting the crimes of the Solaras. Elena realizes this will do nothing to stop them, but Lila has it published anyway, only to become bitterly disillusioned when all it does is grant Elena more fame.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: Shortly after, Elena asks Nino to reappear and be part of their daughter's life. During an outing with all the children, Tina mysteriously disappears. Enzo believes that the Solaras kidnapped and/or killed her, while Lila maintains that their daughter is still alive and might one day come back to them.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: Elena and Lila continue to be increasingly alienated from each other as Lila despairs about her lost daughter. Elena, by then an even more famous writer, moves out of their childhood neighborhood for the last time. Lila becomes obsessed with the history of Naples and the cyclical nature of human life. Recognizing the seeming insignificance of it all, it somehow makes sense for her that it should be desirable to disappear without a trace, though this will be difficult in the new computer age. Decades pass, though they stay in touch, until Elena finally writes a small novel about their friendship. At that point, Lila shuts Elena out of her life.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: Returning to the beginning of the series, Lila is still yet to be found with no new traces of her. One day, Elena receives in the mail the two dolls that they lost when they were children. As a child, Lila was envious of Elena's doll, which was nicer than her own homemade doll, and stole Elena's doll in such a way that Elena did not know that Lila was the thief. Elena muses on the possible meaning of their return.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: Central themes in the novels include women’s friendship and the shaping of women’s lives by their social milieu, sexual and intellectual jealousy and competition within female friendships, female ambivalence about filial and maternal roles, the ascent of intelligent children out of violent domestic and social environments, class conflict, the role of literature and the social responsibility of the writer amidst social upheaval and within protest movements, the changing conditions of women in the 1970s, early computerization, and the Italian factory strikes of the 1970s.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: In 2019, "The Guardian" ranked "My Brilliant Friend" the 11th best book since 2000. The overall series was also listed in "Vulture" as one of the 12 "New Classics" since 2000.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: "My Brilliant Friend", a two-part, five-and-a-half-hour stage adaptation of the Neapolitan Novels, opened at the Rose Theatre, Kingston in March 2017. The play was adapted by April De Angelis, directed by Melly Still, and starred Niamh Cusack as Lenu and Catherine McCormack as Lila.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: A 32-part television series "The Neapolitan Novels" is also in the works and will be co-produced by the Italian producer Wildside for Fandango Productions, with screenwriting led by the writer Francesco Piccolo. On March 30, 2017, it was announced that HBO and RAI would broadcast the first eight episodes which are an adaptation of "My Brilliant Friend", the first of the four Neapolitan Novels, and they premiered on HBO on November 18, 2018.


title: Neapolitan Novels

text: The series was also adapted for radio, produced by Pier for BBC Radio 4 and first broadcast in July 2016.


title: April 2015 Nepal earthquake

text: The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake) killed 8,964 people and injured 21,952 more. It occurred at <time datetime="2015-04-25 11:26"></time> on Saturday, 25 April 2015, with a magnitude of 7.8M or 8.1M and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of X ("Extreme"). Its epicenter was east of Gorkha District at Barpak, Gorkha, roughly northwest of central Kathmandu, and its hypocenter was at a depth of approximately . It was the worst natural disaster to strike Nepal since the 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake. The ground motion recorded in Kathmandu, capital of Nepal, was of low frequency, which, along with its occurrence at an hour where many people in rural areas were working outdoors, decreased the loss of property and human lives.


title: April 2015 Nepal earthquake

text: The earthquake triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest, killing 22, the deadliest incident on the mountain on record. The earthquake triggered another huge avalanche in the Langtang valley, where 250 people were reported missing.


title: April 2015 Nepal earthquake

text: Hundreds of thousands of Nepalese were made homeless with entire villages flattened, across many districts of the country. Centuries-old buildings were destroyed at UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Kathmandu Valley, including some at the Kathmandu Durbar Square, the Patan Durbar Square, the Bhaktapur Durbar Square, the Changu Narayan Temple, the Boudhanath stupa and the Swayambhunath stupa. Geophysicists and other experts had warned for decades that Nepal was vulnerable to a deadly earthquake, particularly because of its geology, urbanization, and architecture. Dharahara, also called Bhimsen Tower, a nine-storey tall tower, was destroyed. It was a part of the architecture of Kathmandu recognized by UNESCO.


title: April 2015 Nepal earthquake

text: Continued aftershocks occurred throughout Nepal at the intervals of 15–20 minutes, with one shock reaching a magnitude of 6.7 on 26 April at <time dateandtime="2015-04-25 12:54">12:54:08</time> NST. The country also had a continued risk of landslides.


title: April 2015 Nepal earthquake

text: A major aftershock occurred on 12 May 2015 at <time datetime="2015-05-12 12:35"></time> with a moment magnitude (M) of 7.3. The epicenter was near the Chinese border between the capital of Kathmandu and Mount Everest. More than 200 people were killed and over 2,500 were injured by this aftershock, and many were left homeless.


title: April 2015 Nepal earthquake

text: The earthquake occurred on 25 April 2015 at <time datetime="2015-04-25 11:56">11:56 am</time> NST (06:11:26 UTC) at a depth of approximately (which is considered shallow and therefore more damaging than quakes that originate deeper in the ground), with its epicentre approximately east-southeast of Lamjung, Nepal, lasting approximately fifty seconds. The earthquake was initially reported as 7.5 M by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) before it was quickly upgraded to 7.8 M. The China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) reported the earthquake's magnitude to be 8.1 M. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said two powerful quakes were registered in Nepal at 06:11 UTC and 06:45 UTC. The first quake measured 7.8 M and its epicenter was identified at a distance of 80 km to the northwest of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. Bharatpur was the nearest major city to the main earthquake, as the crow flies from the epicenter. The second earthquake was somewhat less powerful at 6.6 M. It occurred east of Kathmandu and its seismic focus lay at a depth of below the earth's surface. Over thirty-eight aftershocks of magnitude 4.5 M or greater occurred in the day following the initial earthquake, including the one of magnitude 6.8 M.


title: April 2015 Nepal earthquake

text: According to the USGS, the earthquake was caused by a sudden thrust, or release of built-up stress, along the major fault line where the Indian Plate, carrying India, is slowly diving underneath the Eurasian Plate, carrying much of Europe and Asia. Kathmandu, situated on a block of crust approximately 120 km (74 miles) wide and 60 km (37 miles) long, rapidly shifted 3 m (10 ft) to the south in a matter of just 30 seconds.


title: April 2015 Nepal earthquake

text: The risk of a large earthquake was well known beforehand. In 2013, in an interview with seismologist Vinod Kumar Gaur, "The Hindu" quoted him as saying, "Calculations show that there is sufficient accumulated energy [in the Main Frontal Thrust], now to produce an 8 magnitude earthquake. I cannot say when. It may not happen tomorrow, but it could possibly happen sometime this century, or wait longer to produce a much larger one." According to Brian Tucker, founder of a nonprofit organization devoted to reducing casualties from natural disasters, some government officials had expressed confidence that such an earthquake would not occur again. Tucker recounted a conversation he had had with a government official in the 1990s who said, "We don't have to worry about earthquakes anymore, because we already had an earthquake"; the previous earthquake to which he referred occurred in 1934. In fact, the 600-km-long Central Himalayan Gap hadn't ruptured since 1505.


title: April 2015 Nepal earthquake

text: Nepal lies towards the southern limit of the diffuse collisional boundary where the Indian Plate underthrusts the Eurasian Plate, occupying the central sector of the Himalayan arc, nearly one-third of the long Himalayas. Geologically, the Nepal Himalayas are sub-divided into five tectonic zones from north to south and, east to west and almost parallel to sub-parallel. These five distinct morpho-geotectonic zones are: (1) Terai Plain, (2) Sub Himalaya (Shivalik Range), (3) Lesser Himalaya (Mahabharat Range and mid valleys), (4) Higher Himalaya, and (5) Inner Himalaya (Tibetan Tethys). Each of these zones is clearly identified by its morphological, geological, and tectonic features.


title: April 2015 Nepal earthquake

text: The convergence rate between the plates in central Nepal is about per year. The location, magnitude, and focal mechanism of the earthquake suggest that it was caused by a slip along the Main Frontal Thrust.


title: April 2015 Nepal earthquake

text: The earthquake's effects were amplified in Kathmandu as it sits on the Kathmandu Basin, which contains up to of sedimentary rocks, representing the infilling of a lake.


title: April 2015 Nepal earthquake

text: Based on a study published in 2014, of the Main Frontal Thrust, on average a great earthquake occurs every 750 ± 140 and 870 ± 350 years in the east Nepal region. A study from 2015 found a 700-year delay between earthquakes in the region. The study also suggests that because of tectonic stress buildup, the earthquake from 1934 in Nepal and the 2015 quake are connected, following a historic earthquake pattern. A 2016 study on historical great (M ≥ 8) earthquake pairs and cycles found that associated great earthquakes are likely to occur in the West China region through the 2020s.


title: April 2015 Nepal earthquake

text: According to the USGS website, the maximum intensity was VIII ("Severe"), however certain reports state an intensity of X ("Extreme") or higher. In most of Kathmandu the intensity was VIII-IX, as evidenced by the numerous undamaged water towers installed on top of undamaged multi story buildings. Tremors were felt in the neighboring Indian states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Sikkim, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, in the National Capital Region around New Delhi and as far south as Karnataka. Damage was extensive in northern Bihar and minor damage was also reported from parts of Odisha. Shaking was felt in high-rise buildings as far as Kochi in the southern state of Kerala. The intensity in Patna was V ("Moderate"). The intensity was IV ("Light") in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The earthquake was also experienced across southwest China, ranging from the Tibet Autonomous Region to Chengdu, which is away from the epicenter. Tremors were felt in Pakistan and Bhutan.


title: April 2015 Nepal earthquake

text: A series of aftershocks began immediately after the mainshock, at intervals of 15–30 minutes, with one aftershock reaching 6.6M within 34 minutes of the initial quake. A major aftershock of magnitude 6.9 M occurred on 26 April 2015 in the same region at 12:54 NST (07:08 UTC), with an epicenter located about south of Kodari, Nepal. The aftershock caused fresh avalanches on Mount Everest and was felt in many places in northern India including Kolkata, Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, and Assam. The aftershock caused a landslide on the Koshi Highway, which blocked the section of the road between Bhedetar and Mulghat.


title: April 2015 Nepal earthquake

text: A model of GeoGateway, based on a United States Geological Survey mechanism of a near-horizontal fault as well as location of aftershocks showed that the fault had an 11° dip towards the north, striking at 295°, wide, long, and had a dip slip of . The USGS says the aftershock registered at a shallow depth of .


title: April 2015 Nepal earthquake

text: As of 24 May 2016, 459 aftershocks had occurred with different epicenters and magnitudes equal to or above 4 M (out of which 51 aftershocks are equal to or above 5 M and 5 aftershocks above 6 M) and more than 20,000 aftershocks less than 4 M.


title: April 2015 Nepal earthquake

text: A second major earthquake occurred on 12 May 2015 at 12:50 NST with a moment magnitude (M) of 7.3M 18 km (11 mi) southeast of Kodari. The epicenter was near the Chinese border between the capital city of Kathmandu and Mount Everest. It struck at the depth of 18.5 km (11.5 miles). This earthquake occurred along the same fault as the original magnitude 7.8 earthquake of 25 April but further to the east. As such, it is considered to be an aftershock of 25 April quake. Tremors were also felt in northern parts of India including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and other North-Indian States. At least 153 died in Nepal as a result of the aftershock and about 2,500 were injured. 62 others died in India, two in Bangladesh, and one in China.


title: April 2015 Nepal earthquake

text: Disastrous events in very poor and politically paralyzed nations such as Nepal often become a long drawn out chain of events, in that one disaster feeds into another for years or even decades upon end. The aftereffects from the earthquake had subsequent effects on a myriad of things: human trafficking, labour cost and availability, rental and property cost burdens, urbanization, private and public debt burdens, mental health, politics, tourism, disease, and damage to the healthcare system. A survey some 30 months afterwards found only 12% of the reconstruction money had been distributed, and those without land were locked out of financial support, exacerbating the social divide and feeding marginalization.