"Candidate of Science" - academic degree. It exists in Russia and the CIS countries since the days of the Soviet Union - since 1934. This is an intermediate step on the scientific path from the master to the doctor of sciences and is awarded to the applicant, who:
- has a higher education;
- passed all candidate exams;
- made a number of studies on his topic;
- presented and proved the novelty and practical value of scientific ideas;
- passed the dissertation defense procedure in accordance with the requirements established by law.
The Russian academic degree “Candidate of Sciences” is an analogue of Western PhD (read as pi-ni-di). PhD - Ph.D. However, in fact, it is not identical to the degree of Doctor of Science in Russia. The latter implies an even higher level of scientific results.
The degree of “candidate of sciences” is differentiated depending on the specialty in which the applicant can defend his work. There are 23 branches of awarding such titles in Russia. For example: candidate of physical and mathematical sciences, candidate of philological sciences. But there are a lot of specialties. You can be a candidate of legal, veterinary, biological, military, geological and mineralogical, geographical, historical, pedagogical, political, medical, psychological, sociological, technical, pharmaceutical, philosophical, agricultural, chemical, economic sciences. In addition, there is such a title as a candidate of architecture, art history, cultural studies.
The degree of “Candidate of Philosophy” should not be confused with the Western interpretation mentioned above - Ph.D.
Walking along the scientific path, the applicant must understand the goal for which he is ready to go through many difficult stages to obtain a Ph.D. It should be understood that this title is not a guarantee of great material wealth in the future. At least the return will not be fast. Initially, this is an increase of about 10-15% of the salary. It is appropriate and really significant in further scientific activity, work in a university, participation in a competition for the scientific titles of associate professor or professor, work in the department.
Writing a dissertation is a complex, painstaking, multi-stage process. First of all, it is necessary to create a new, original intellectual product - the result of scientific activity. Next, organize the protection process. Usually a lot of people are involved in it: supervisor, opponents, experts, reviewers, editors, consultants, etc. It is important to note that, having decided to engage in science, you need to be prepared to some extent for material investments. We are in no case talking about the purchase and independent implementation of specific stages of work.
However, often carrying out real large-scale studies that would be truly useful and of practical importance requires certain resources. For example, conducting experiments, experiments, and sociological research by its very methodology can be costly.
It’s not a secret to anyone that organizational issues related to the activities of the defense itself, especially in the final period, may also require some financial investments. However, everything is very individual here, depending on the established traditions of the university, advice, circumstances.