Engineering Doctorates were established by the EPSRC in 1992 in response to in response to the Parnaby Report as a:

“radical alternative to the traditional PhD, better suited to the needs of industry, and providing a more vocationally oriented doctorate in engineering … designed to provide engineers with business and technical competencies by applying new knowledge to industrially relevant doctoral research, employing the skills gained from an intensive programme of taught coursework”. (EPSRC website)

Similarly Professional Doctorates are designed to encourage practising professionals to pursue formal qualifications through in-depth research related to activities performed in the workplace.

Both the EngD and the ProfD allow submission by a portfolio of projects rather than one long monographical thesis. This portfolio of work should be critically evaluated and contextualised to draw out the contribution to new knowledge that is a requirement of successful doctoral study. Candidates will also be expected to defend their submission orally by vive voce.

The EngD is more suitable for those candidates who are primarily technical while the ProfD provides a route for those who are engaged in creative or artistic research.