doctoral student
PhD program enrollee
A doctoral student is someone pursuing a doctorate, the highest academic degree in a field.
The term is interchangeable with PhD student in most contexts, though doctoral programs also include professional degrees like the MD or JD.
Doctoral students typically spend years on original research culminating in a dissertation: She's been a doctoral student for six years.
- thesis advisorFaculty overseeing graduate research
- comprehensive examsQualifying doctoral examinations
- dissertation defenseOral examination of thesis
- defense committeeBody overseeing protective affairs
- teaching assistantAcademic support role
office hours · ABD · perseverance · data analysis · literature review · self-motivation · late nights · coffee addiction · fieldwork · organizational skills · postdoctoral fellow · ivory tower · research institute · stipend · ramen noodles · intellectual curiosity · grant writing · qualifying exams
- studentsfreshman, sophomore, pupil, junior, senior
- academiaprofessors, universities, graduation cap, biology department, professor
- scholarsscholar, professors, professor, researcher, researchers
- school peopleteacher, principal, professor, pupil, classmate
- DoctoratesPhD, dissertation, PhD holder, dissertation committee, DBA
- grad schooldissertation, thesis committee, PhD program, graduate school, master's degree
doctoral studentfull professor
Highest academic rank
tenured professor · dissertation advisor · professor · department chair · distinguished professor
doctoral studentkindergartener
Early elementary pupil
preschooler · first grader · PhD holder · middle schooler · high school freshman
doctoral studentmaster
Authority or controller
layperson · novice · amateur · dilettante · uninitiated
doctor, doctoral, doctorate, doctorates, doctors, doctored, doctoring, doctrine, doctrines