Habilitation is a term used within the university system in France, Germany, Austria, and some other European countries such as the German-speaking part of Switzerland, in Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, and countries of former Soviet Union, such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Kirgizstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, etc. It was not common in the Middle Ages, when the disputatio was the highest academic rank. It developed mostly since the 18th century.