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Sometimes professional bodies issue diplomas and postgraduate diplomas which, for example in the UK, are recognized at a very high training level.
What I am not sure about is whether these, even though not issued by universities, can help enter university at academia or research level?
Usually, these topics are discussed on a case-by-case basis. For example, the professional institute can have some kind of agreement or understanding with some universities, but not with others. The best you can do is to choose a research program that you want to join, prepare your record (including professional diplomas) and ask the faculty that rules the program.
Some universities may accept you without conditions, but I guess the most common case will be that you will have to take some extra courses in their program and get the corresponding credit in order to fit your profile and knowledge to their exact expectation.
In addition to sansuiso's very good answer: In some countries there are legal pre-requisits which are required for a certain position. E.g. if you want to have "Dr." in Germany (~about PhD), you are required to have a masters degree (there are some rare exceptions, but this is the normal process). Therefore you can have as many certificates and be as skilled as you want, you won't get in without taking this step.
So check whether there are formal requiremnts in the country you are interested in.
