A person who has a degree and has undertaken years of research and has published their work and been assessed, may be awarded a PhD( Doctor of Philosophy, a higher degree than an Honours or Masters degree ) and can use the title of Doctor. This is a specialist degree that is usually awarded for at least 3 years of supervised, but original research work. All research students starting Ph.D. research would expect to hold a good degree first. A person with a Ph.D. degree uses the title \"Dr\".