SKOLKOVO, July 21. /TASS/. Russia’s Ministry of Science and Higher Education may introduce the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) to complement its existing academic degree system, Science and Higher Education Minister Mikhail Kotyukov said on Saturday.

"Discussions are under way. However, if introduced, it [the PhD degree] will not replace it, it will be supplementary," he said.

"In other words, our traditional system will remain and, maybe, there will be an opportunity to get a PhD degree, too," the minister added.

Russia’s first-level academic degree is called 'Kandidat nauk' (that could be translated verbatim as a "Candidate of Sciences"). A higher doctoral degree, which may be earned after the Candidate of Sciences, is 'Doktor nauk', literally meaning Doctor of Sciences.