Comment by fastasucan

I don't understand how that is possible, and I quite frankly end up losing respect for the university system in the countries where I read about stuff like that. To get a phd you have to be accepted into a doctorate program, which means your master thesis should be delivered with good grades. To get your phd you should do your work requirements (publishing 3 papers and taking some subjects at phd level - where I am from). His master thesis might be wonderfull, but it is one body of work, not a position in a doctorate program, not published papers and not phd subjects. Is the student to skip the whole phd experience now and aim straight for tenure? He will miss out on a lot.