The first step to obtaining a Ph.D. is to complete a bachelor's degree. When you select your bachelor's program, you should make sure there are graduate-level programs that will allow you to move forward to obtain your Ph.D. Not all university programs have a graduate component.
After completing your bachelor's degree, you must move on to complete your master's degree (or equivalent) with an academic institution. During your master's, you will be required to complete extensive research on a specific topic. The purpose of the master's program is to show that you have become an expert in a given subject area.
Once you are finished with your master's, you will need to complete additional examinations and coursework. During this period of time, which typically lasts four years, you will be taking courses and preparing your doctoral thesis. Some programs do not require this additional step because they go straight from a bachelor's degree to a Ph.D. with a mandatory master's title.
Writing your dissertation is the last step to completing a Ph.D. program. The dissertation is a lengthy formal document that is presented to faculty members before the student can obtain a Ph.D. The contents of the dissertation revolve around the thesis that the student developed as a master's student. Between years two and three, the student is required to defend her thesis proposal. If acceptable, this leads to the actual preparing and finishing of the dissertation. The student is required to present her dissertation to a panel of faculty members, those who served as her advisers during her tenure as a student, who will evaluate her research and understanding of the specific topic.