Does anyone know if it is possible to obtain a phd by publications min Europe? The candidate left academia but kept publishing research papers.

As with everything, it seems to depend on department and field. I know someone in exactly that situation. He left his PhD a few years ago but has since worked in a department, publishing many papers in high quality journals (a couple in Nature for example). He is now rewriting these as his PhD. I guess you need to find a department that will be happy to take you on etc.

Thanks for the reply.

Do you know what the differences are between the subjects? i.e the candidate did some research that can be classed as theoretical chemistry or physics (meaning the papers can be classed as such).

Basically I'm asking what type of departments are more likely to allow this.

again, thanks.

if this person has been active in the field then surely he has the necessary contacts to find a suitable dept already?

He's been out of academia for a couple of years and in full time work. Never got past Masters so doesn't have the contacts. He doesn't want to spend 3 years relearning things he already knows.

How did he obtain these publications? Through his work in industry?

In the UK at least, the regulations on PhDs by Publication vary, but a common requirement is that the work submitted be done by the candidate when he or she was employed or affiliated with the university in some sense.

Most of the publications were an extension of what he had done for his Masters. A couple of others were one-off articles.

I guess this rules him out......

Quite frankly, I don't think it seems realistic to pursue a PhD by publication in this particular case. Even outstanding academics with excellent contacts within dept. sometimes struggle to follow this pathway..

Whats been your experience of this Otto?

Well, there has been this one guy in my department with a number of 3 and 4 **** publications (1991;1994;2000), trying to get a subsequent PhD by publication. I don't know any details but I know for sure that he is trying to get one for the last 7 years. Apparently it is more difficult than he anticipated and the publications need to make a substantial impact and related. I don't know much about this though, but I just wouldn't recommend it as I don't think it's a real alternative to a traditional PhD. I think it's more for scholars who published 3 times in Nature or something.

where I am the requirements include stuff like:

- having been an active researcher publishing consistently for at least seven years.
- material submitted is part of a larger body of work
- material submitted is 'a thesis' i.e. 'an argument' (not diverse bits of research).

probably different in different places tho.

Have to say, Otto has a point. My MSc supervisor did her PhD by publication. It's a field where the department has a few lecturers without PhDs as it's heavily reliant on practice/industry expertise.
Even with 15+ years working in the field, and nearly 20-odd publications, she found it hard. hard because it too a back seat alongside other things and because it's difficult bringing many publications together under one "roof".

It's not the kind of thing that you can do "on it's own" if that makes sense. The only people I've ever known who've done it are existing members of an academic department (as Jewel points out) and they have other duties - teaching, other research projects, administrative duties etc. Unlike studying for a PhD where it's pretty much the main thing in your life, a PhD by publication is more "sidelined". At least that's the impression I get...

I agree with Otto, Kronkodile et al, PhD by publication is not a feasible route for most people. Search the forum archives for further info, this question appears quite regularly.

Thanks for all the replies. Its quite clearly difficult to do in the UK. What about the rest of Europe?

The PhD structures are meant to be more flexible in some European countries.