degree theses. Until the early 1970s, the degree in Sweden was equivalent to the U.S. PhD requiring four to seven years of study after the Bachelor's (or Master's) degree, and a publicly defended thesis. It was gradually substituted with the "Doctor's exam" in 1969 and was re-instituted as an intermediate level in research training in the 1980s, now requiring only two years of study after Masters graduation. The licentiate's degree is called a filosofie licentiat in Swedish and filosofian lisensiaatti in Finnish (Licentiate of Philosophy), teologie licentiat and teologian lisensiaatti (Licentiate of Theology) etc., depending on the faculty. Furthermore, the requisite degree for a physician's licence is licentiat/lisensiaatti; there is no master's degree. (The degree lääketieteen tohtori, medicine doktor, "Doctor of Medicine" is a traditional professor's degree, or a research doctorate, with licentiate as a prerequisite.) The Licentiate of Engineering is an intermediate postgraduate degree used only in a few countries, among them Sweden and Finland, and can be seen as an academic step halfway between a Master's and a PhD. In Swedish, it is called Teknologie Licentiat, usually abbreviated as Tekn. Lic., and in Finnish, tekniikan lisensiaatti, abbreviated as TkL. The Licentiate of Engineering corresponds to 120 ECTS credits (80 workweeks (old credits)), or nominally two years of full-time work, whereas a PhD amounts to 240 ECTS credits (160 workweeks (old credits)), or a nominal period of four years of full-time work (one old credit equals one week of full-time studies). However, as a result of the differences in requirements and individual performance, the time to complete a Licentiate of Engineering degree varies. For the thesis, 2–3 peer-refereed articles (or an equivalent monograph) is usually required, and there is no requirement for original research per se. In contrast, a doctoral thesis requires 4–6 articles and must demonstrate original research. The program for a licentiate degree is equivalent to a total of two years of full-time study. France In French universities, a licenciate (licencié(e)) is the holder of a licence (), which is a three-year degree, roughly equivalent to a bachelor's degree. There are two kinds of licence: general and professional. Germany In Germany, a person titled Lizentiat (or Lizentiat) holds the equivalent education of a Master's degree or Diplom. Until the 1990s, the degree was offered as a law degree at the Saarland University as a single university degree (Lic.iur.) with a duration varying between five and eight years.