promovierter Dipl.-Chemiker

[alisonp]

Can anyone suggest how I can deal with this person's qualifications in English? I understand "promovieren" means to obtain a doctorate, so wouldn't that simply supersede the 'Diplom-' bit? "Hold a doctorate in chemistry", or something?

Not to mention, of course, the age-old problem of trying to convert a German Dipl.-XYZ into English ...

 

[Kajjo]

Yes, that is indeed an old problem. However, almost every scientist in England or America will understand "Diplom" to be an academic degree. However, there are some who do not realise that it is an equal or even higher degree than a Master of Science. Anyway, the added doctorate clarifies the matter.

Doctorate is easy to translate: You simply write "Ph.D." which is a good enough equivalent of the German "Dr. rer. nat."

My recommendation:
promovierter Dipl.-Chemiker = Diploma in Chemistry, Dr. rer. nat. (Ph.D.)

Kajjo

 

[Ralf]

Can anyone suggest how I can deal with this person's qualifications in English? I understand "promovieren" means to obtain a doctorate, so wouldn't that simply supersede the 'Diplom-' bit? "Hold a doctorate in chemistry", or something?

Not to mention, of course, the age-old problem of trying to convert a German Dipl.-XYZ into English ...

I think according your suggestion doctorate chemist is fine. Thus the confusion of academic degrees in both languages can be avoided. A German Diplom (abbr. Dipl.) is the lowest acadamic degree. The next in rank is a doctorate referred to as Doktor (abbr. Dr.), which would be the sort of qualification you are looking for.

Good news for you: According to the Bologna model the German academic system will be gradually converted into the Europe-wide accepted system of Bachelors and Masters within the next years. However, there is no strict time schedule. It largely depends on the ministries of education of the Bundesländer and the universities. The Diplom will then be replaced by the Master's degree.

Ralf