Habilitation (from Latin habilis "fit, proper, skillful") is a post-doctoral qualification or academic degree at some European and Central Asian, North African, and Latin American universities. It is conferred for a habilitation thesis or inaugural dissertation based on independent scholarship, which was reviewed by and successfully defended before an academic committee in a process similar to that of a doctoral dissertation. In some countries, a habilitation degree is a required formal qualification to independently teach and examine a designated subject at the university level.