Master of Philosophy

In the usage of the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and some other countries, the Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) is a research degree, requiring the completion of a thesis. It is a lesser degree than the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or Engineering Doctorate (EngD), greater than (or sometimes equal to) the Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil,) and in some instances may be awarded as a substitute for a PhD thesis which is a marginal fail. It may also serve as a provisional enrollment for the Ph.D. It is generally thesis only, and is regarded as a senior or second masters degree. An M.Phil. is generally considered equivalent to the French Diplôme d'études Approfondies or DEA, Spanish Diploma de Estudios Avanzados DEA, or First Doctoral Degree. At the University of Oxford, the M.Phil. is a two-year master's degree, while the M.St. is a one-year master's degree. The M.Phil. is considered more difficult and prestigious, as it requires both a lengthy thesis as well... full article at wikipedia