Should the British EngD be mentioned in the article as a professional doctorate A few English universities now offer the degree of Doctor of Engineering EngD which like the PhD is also a research based degree but differs from the traditional UK PhD in several important ways Specifically 1 A PhD degree is normally pursued full time by a student while in residence in a university department under the supervision of a faculty member Accordingly PhD level research is more speculative abstract in nature with an emphasis on producing results that may be published in peer reviewed scientific journals and are of academic interest 2 The EngD on the other hand is normally pursued by a candidate while he she works as an employee in an outside company Most EngD research is carried out in a designated industry as opposed to a university department or lab and is jointly supervised by both an industrial and a university supervisor Accordingly EngD level research tends to be application oriented in nature and designed to meet the specific needs interests of the industrial sponsor EngD candidates are still required to produce original research that makes a significant contribution to existing knowledge on his her field but in many programmes AmEng programs it is customary for EngD candidates to submit a portfolio of engineering projects in lieu of a longer monographic thesis to fulfil AmEng fulfill the requirements for the degree 3 EngD programmes normally include a more formal coursework requirement than the traditional English PhD It should be stressed however that many engineering departments in the UK e g at Cambridge now require that PhD students take lecture courses and their associated written exams in their first year in the programme 4 POV No matter what the Research Councils say the EngD is still generally seen in academic circles as inferior to a PhD For example I doubt an EngD would be acceptable as a qualification for appointment as a Lecturer in a university whereas the PhD of course is the standard qualification in England for an entry level faculty position Because of its industry oriented nature the EngD is normally referred to in English academic circles as a professional degree even though it remains a research degree as emphasized above there are no professional doctorates awarded in the UK by coursework only like the American J D for example 161 24 19 112