A little background... I did my undergraduate studies in Canada, where Experimental Psychology/Neuroscience PhD programmes typically take 5 years to complete, although i know of many bright young researchers who take 6 or even 7 years to finish. Now these are BSc -> PhD programmes that do not award a Master degree.

I've been looking at some PhD programmes in the UK recently and much to my surprise, one can complete a PhD in the UK within 3 years! I read up on it online and found that one of the reasons PhD programmes are much shorter in the UK is because there are less coursework and less teaching responsibilities required of the student.

I'm wondering if those holding a UK PhD would be at a disadvantage when compared to North American PhD graduates, as they're both trained in research but the latter would have considerably more teaching experience?

Within the field of Psychology, at least at the few UK universities that i have looked at, a good Honours bachelors degree meets the admission requirements for the PhD programmes.

Interesting. My impression of a defense is where examiners grill you on your dissertation. Why you did what... What can be improved... How is the British PhD viva different, if i may ask?