Engineer's Degrees In Europe

Engineer's Degrees In Europe

In countries with significant German influence on higher education, universities specializing in technical studies award their students an engineer's degree instead of a master's degree. In addition to Germany itself, this includes states like Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine. The degree of Engineer may be the first one received (after five years of study), or more often, it may follow a bachelor's degree (usually three years for the bachelor's plus two years for the engineer's).

In local language, the degree is called inżynier (Polish), inžinier (Slovak) or inženýr (Czech), the abbreviation is Ir. (Ing. in the Czech Republic and Slovakia) and is written before the person's name (In Germany, Ing. is used for engineers without an academic degree, obtained after four years of study without scientific research, see below.) In German, the degree is Diplomingenieur and in Finnish, diplomi-insinööri, abbr. DI. The word diplom refers to the thesis written at the end of the studies.

There is also the degree Diplom-Ingenieur (FH) (abbr. Dipl.-Ing (FH)) in Germany, but this is a professional degree in engineering from a German Fachhochschule. It is intermediate in rank between a bachelor's degree and a master's degree and therefore not an engineer's degree in the meaning of this page.

In Belgium, the degree is Burgerlijk Ingenieur or Ingénieur Civil (abbrev. Ir.). In Portugal, the degree is Engenheiro (abbrev. Eng.), and in Spain it is called Ingeniero (Ing). In Greece, the degree is Διπλωματούχος Μηχανικός (diplomatouhos mihanikos) and the abbreviation is Διπλ.-Μηχ..

In the Netherlands, the degree is Ingenieur (abbrev. ir.). Also, ing is used in the Netherlands and in Belgium, but this is a non-academic, professional degree, roughly equivalent to the German Dipl.-Ing (FH).

In Denmark and Sweden, the degree is Civilingeniør/Civilingenjör (regardless of the actual specialty and thus not to be confused with the English civil engineer). This retains the 19th century idea that the "actual" engineers were the military ones.

In France, the degree is Diplôme d'Ingénieur, while the title is Ingénieur diplômé (ID) but is never used before the holder's name. In Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine, the degree is специалист инженер (specialist inzener), a first degree after 5 years of study.

A German-style engineer's degree is considered equivalent to a MSc degree in U.S. or UK and in international context, the holders of the Engineer's degree are authorized to use MSc. However, there has been some debate over whether the Engineers should differentiate themselves from a Master of Science, this degree having become victim of inflation lately. It might also be argued that, because the European high school curriculum covers the topics of the typical U.S. freshman year, the five-year-long engineer's degree is actually the complete equivalent of the U.S. degree.

In Germany, the local engineer's degree (Diplom-Ingenieur, a first degree after 5 years of study) will be abolished by 2010, and will be replaced by postgraduate master's degrees (MSc and MEng). This disputed development is part of the German implementation of the Bologna process. However, this decision is favourable for German Universities of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschulen), since the old Diplom-Ingenieur (FH) will be replaced by the same degrees. Therefore, in contrast to the former situation, a degree from a University of Applied Sciences will be equal in rank to the equivalent degree from a traditional German university

In France, the Diplôme d'Ingénieur (word for word: Engineer's Degree) can be obtained after five years of engineering studies after the Baccalauréat. Engineering is taught in Ecoles d'Ingénieurs, which are part of the French Grandes écoles famous system. Since the Bologna process, the Diplôme d'Ingénieur is officially considered to be at the level of a European master's degree, though many argue that it is a bit more than a mere master's degree since competitive exams allow only top students to enter the Grandes écoles system. It is often considered as something between MSc and MEng when compared to the U.S. system as it is a blend of strong theoretical knowledge and professional experience.