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As I have heard it is not possible to get a second PhD in Europe if you have obtained first PhD in Europe. Is it true? My 1st PhD is in Theoretical Physics which I won't find a fair job related to that. so I am trying to apply for second PhD in Mechanical engineering or applied Physics.

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  • Related: academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1836/…
    – Bravo
    Commented Apr 4, 2013 at 9:06
  • I know someone who was doing a second PhD in Europe (first one was Asia), only to run off to the USA halfway through when he got a post-doc offer. I think his second supervisor will henceforth think twice about accepting PhD students for second PhDs.
    – gerrit
    Commented Apr 5, 2013 at 22:54

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I am most familiar with the situation in Germany. There it is in fact possible to get more than one PhD degree. Different departments award different types of PhD degrees, depending on the academic field. In physics, you will typically earn a "Dr. rer. nat." (PhD in science), while in engineering you will get a "Dr.-Ing." (PhD in engineering). While most dissertation regulations will explicitly exclude the possibility that the same degree can be awarded twice, it is of course possible to earn a "Dr.-Ing." degree even if you already have a "Dr. rer. nat." or vice versa. Then you would have two PhD degrees.

In addition, there are honorary PhDs, which are awarded independently of and in addition to real PhD degrees. But I assume that your question wasn't aimed at those.

However, that it is possible to get two PhD degrees does not mean that it is a wise thing to do. To others, it may just be a sign that you didn't take the next steps in an academic career after getting your PhD, but didn't leave academia either.

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    As a further comment, note that not every PhD is recognized in Germany/Europe. One could thus get a second PhD ('Doktor') in Germany after having obtained a non-recognized PhD from somewhere else.
    – David MR
    Commented Apr 12, 2013 at 4:44
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I encountered multiple people who refer to "Habilitation" as a "second PhD". It is very typical that you go for a "Habilitation" after your PhD in many countries in Europe and Central Asia. It is not a PhD though, earning a Habilitation degree will change your title to Dr. habil. XXXX YYYY

Unlike a PhD thesis, a Habilitation thesis covers a topic in breadth rather than in depth. Typically it is in the same field but covers a different topic than the one covered in your PhD.

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    In Germany, "Habilitation" was necessary to obtain the license to teach, i.e. only PhDs who also habilitated could become professors. This also informed the spirit of the "degree": you would have to present at least one worked-out lecture and, afaik, do some teaching. Nowadays, the "degree" has all but vanished in favor of "Junior" professorships in Germany, but it may yet come back.
    – Raphael
    Commented Sep 17, 2013 at 8:49

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