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Overview of Doctoral
Training in the EU Recent Development
Dr. Frances Tsakonas
RITE Education Associates
www.riteeducationconsulting.org
Workshop and Seminar within REDOS (Reforming doctoral studies at the University of
Montenegro) “Doctoral Studies: Knowledge Transfer from EU Partners with Training of
the Trainers”, given in Podgorica, 30.11.2016. - 02.12.2016.
Changes in Doctoral Training in the EU
• the increasing importance of knowledge as a competitive factor in a globalized economy and the increasing demand for highly qualified knowledge workers
• the constantly growing number of doctoral students and the increasing efforts of universities to build up and strengthen their research capacities and profiles
• more and more higher education institutions are becoming research-intensive and are engaged in a global competition for talent and resources
Change in Mission Statement of Doctoral
Training
Doctoral training nowadays needs to prepare researchers for
very different later careers.
Doctoral graduates make significant contributions to
innovation and they need both a thorough and broad
skill set to do so.
League of European Research Universities
ROYAL SOCIETY (2010) UK
3.5 % of doctoral graduates hold permanent academic positions
50% find employment outside academia
ACROSS THE EU
Out of 96,000 PhDs from 4,000 institutions
53% of doctoral researchers find jobs outside their research field area
17% outside a university research area
25% place themselves equally in the two categories above after a period of
early stage researcher
Only 3.5% remains as permanent staff in the University and
Only 0.45% of them becomes a professor
CHINA
Number of researchers doubled from 2000 to
2007 from 0.7 million to 1.4 million
EU
In 2011 there were about 600,000 doctoral
candidates doing research and 110,000
graduating every year.
Europe 2020 Strategy.
A Strategy for Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive
Growth
INNOVATION UNION
to improve conditions and access to finance for
research and innovation, to ensure that
innovative ideas can be turned into products
and services that create growth and jobs
“If we want to increase the research
intensity of our economies and reach the
R&D target of 3% of GDP, the EU will need at
least an estimated one million new research
jobs. This will require a better matching of
supply (training of researchers) and
demand (recruitment of researchers), a
necessity acknowledged in the Europe 2020
Flagship Initiative Innovation Union.“
Common Approach
critical mass;
transferable training;
ability for candidates to challenge disciplinary
borders;
encourage doctoral candidates to spend some
research time abroad and in industry or in other
private or public research areas.
Banff Principles on Graduate Education
Respect and learn from the differences in programs and their modes of delivery directed towards our common goal
Promote the quality of graduate programs
Develop global career competencies and awareness in graduates
Encourage innovation in programs and graduates
Clarify and strengthen the role of the masters degree
Promote high‐quality inter‐university collaborative programs across national boundaries
Review and understand the global flow of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows (early stage researchers)
Engage stakeholders, e.g. employers, policy makers and universities, to improve and advance graduate education in a global context
Establish an inclusive global platform for discussion of best practices in graduate education
Background
Phases of the Bologna Process
1999 Conception: developing a vision of a common higher education space
2000-2005 Policy developments: drafting the framework of EHEA
2006-2010 EHEA Architecture: Implementation of agreed principles and guidelines at national levels.
2011 Consolidation: Full and coherent implementation of main policies at national and institutional levels.
Linking EHEA to ERA
Reform of Doctoral Education
2003 Berlin-Communiqué
2005 Ten Salzburg Principles
2007 Establishment of EUA-CDE
2010 Salzburg II Recommendations
2011 Seven Principles of
Innovative Doctoral Training
Background
The Berlin-Communiqué 2003
European Higher Education Area and European Research Area
– the two pillars of the knowledge based society
Conscious of the need to promote closer links between the EHEA and the ERA in a Europe of Knowledge, and of the importance of research as an integral part of higher education across Europe, Ministers consider it necessary …to include the doctoral level as the third cycle in the Bologna Process. They emphasise the importance of research and research training and the promotion of interdisciplinarity in maintaining and improving the quality of higher education and in enhancing the competitiveness of European higher education more generally. […] Ministers ask Higher Education Institutions to increase the role and relevance of research to technological, social and cultural evolution and to the needs of society.
Doctoral Training – the Triple ‘i’
International
Interdisciplinary
Intersectoral
Background
The 10 Salzburg Principles 2005
1. The core component of doctoral training is the advancement of knowledge through research
2. Embedding in institutional strategies and policies
3. The importance of diversity
4. Doctoral candidates as early stage researchers
5. The crucial role of supervision and assessment
6. Achieving critical mass
7. Duration between 3 and 4 years
8. The promotion of innovative structures
9. Increasing mobility (triple i – international, interdisciplinary, intersectoral)
10. Ensuring appropriate funding
EUA mandate prolonged
We invite EUA to continue to support the sharing of
experience among HEIs on the range of innovative
doctoral programmes that are emerging across
Europe as well as on other crucial issues such as
transparent access arrangements, supervision and
assessment procedures, the development of
transferable skills and ways of enhancing
employability.’
London Communiqué, 2007, p. 5
EUA Council for Doctoral Education
– To enhance the quality of doctoral education in European universities by fostering debate
and promoting the exchange and dissemination of good practice;
– To encourage and support the development of institutional policies and strategies as well
as the introduction of effective leadership and management practices;
– To improve the availability of data and information on doctoral education in European
universities;
– To identify and monitor emerging trends in doctoral education inside and outside Europe;
– To act as a representative voice of European universities in the dialogue with other
stakeholders on the issues of doctoral education;
– To contribute to strengthening the international dimension of doctoral programmes and
research training through improved cooperation among its members and in particular by
establishing dialogue with partner organisations in other world regions;
– To build and develop a strong link between education and research policies and strategies
within Europe;
– To promote the doctorate and doctorate holders as careers upon which to build a
knowledge-based society.
Background
The Salzburg Principles - Validation
• The doctorate is and must be research based: it has a specific nature that makes it different from the types of education in the first and second cycle.
• Supervision remains central to doctoral education.
• Doctoral education is an institutional responsibility and requires a collective effort.
• Autonomy for the institution to choose mission and strategy and to set up the appropriate structures.
• Space for individual development is required.
• It is the institution’s responsibility to provide support structures for
professional development.
Slazburg II Recommendations
I. To balance out the level of structured skills training versus individual supervision,
guidance and autonomous research.
II. Creating critical mass within institutions whilst recognising the different cultures,
needs and expectations of cognate disciplinary groups.
III. Creating efficiency in terms of time to degree vs. allowing time to develop
individual autonomy and independence.
IV. Supporting labour market development vs. the risks that particular students will be
unemployed, overeducated or mismatched with available employment opportunities.
V. Balancing the right level of academic education with skills necessary for future
career development outside academia.
VI. Balancing immediate skill requirements of the labour market with skills that will
aid progression through the course of the career.
VII. The balance between specific (sub-disciplinary) individual skills vs. wider
academic and generic skills
Mapping Exercise on Doctoral Training in
Europe
“it is important to focus on doctoral training as this is the qualification that should enable researchers to move into a wide range of employment sectors” (EC, 2011a, p. 1)
This Report points out that Doctoral training is seen as a key for the creation of new knowledge and human resources, and thus as a base for building a globally competitive research community and a prosperous society. In line with these assumptions doctoral training has become one of the major priorities in the building of the European Research Area (EC, 2012).
Mapping Exercise with an overview of recent
developments in doctoral training in Europe
and USA (2011)
Aims towards a common approach to enhance the quality of doctoral
training
Doctoral schools and tailored programmes are increasingly established, including international collaboration
Doctoral training must increasingly meet the needs of an employment market that is wider than academia
Generic/transferable skills are increasingly requested
Doctoral candidates should be trained in a context which is international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral - and striving for research excellence
Seven Principles of Innovative Doctoral
Training
Seven Principles of Innovative Doctoral Training
Report of Mapping Exercise on Doctoral Training in Europe.
"Towards a common approach” 27 June 2011
“The issue of doctoral training has gained considerable importance in recent years. Doctoral training is a primary progenitor of new knowledge, which is crucial to the development of a prosperous and developed society.”
“If we want to increase the research intensity of our economies and reach the R&D target of 3% of GDP, the EU will need at least an estimated one million new research jobs. This will require a better matching of supply (training of researchers) and demand (recruitment of researchers), a necessity acknowledged most recently in the Europe 2020 Flagship Initiative Innovation Union.“
Seven Principles of Innovative Doctoral
Training
• Research excellence (critical mass)
• Attractive Institutional Environment
• Interdisciplinary research options
• Exposure to industry and other relevant employment
sectors
• International networking (e.g. double/joint degrees,
mobility)
• Transferable skills training
• Quality assurance (process oriented QA)
Some Challenges of the Seven Principles
of IDT
Structured skills training vs. individual supervision, guidance and autonomous research;
Creating critical mass whilst recognizing the different cultures, needs and expectations of different disciplinary groups;
Efficiency in terms of time to degree vs. allowing individual development
(Mis-)matching of supply of researcher and demand for researcher ;
Level of academic education vs. skills for future career development outside academia;
Skills for immediate employability vs. skills that will aid progression through the course of the career;
Specialized individual skills vs. wider academic and generic skills
Move to structured doctoral training
In 2007
49% of universities were offering taught courses
29% had doctoral schools
In 2010,
49% of the universities in the study had doctoral schools,
16% had graduate schools (offering trainings at Master and
PhD-level), and
72% were offering additional training in key qualifications
It is clear from all the documents
that doctoral education is regarded
as an area that is under the full
responsibility of universities and not
left to policy making at the national
level
Three main drivers of implementation of
IDT
“The recognition that many doctoral graduates seek
employment outside the academy and their high-
level skills are much sought after; the model of the
lone scholar is no longer appropriate, and the
heavy reliance on a single PhD supervisor that
guides the development of a PhD candidate is not
robust.”
(LERU, 2014, p. 5)
These programmes aim to bring together
bright candidates as these candidates should
“… become creative, critical, autonomous
researchers” (LERU, 2010, p.3) acquiring a
broad range of skills like intellectual skills,
academic and technical skills, as well as
personal and professional management skills.
Graduate Schools are regarded as institutional framework
that is “… usually organised across the whole of a university
to provide strategy, regulation, financial support, generic
skills courses, and often admission processes for doctoral
education” (LERU, 2010, p. 6). Doctoral Schools are “…
usually organised along thematic lines across disciplines but
focused on specific broad topics. They may bring together
researchers in the field from a number of different
disciplines. They may also bring together a number of
institutions creating stronger critical mass in the field”
(LERU, 2010, p. 6).
“Structured doctoral training” leads to
clearer governance structures and
policies at the institutional level
concerning admission, quality assurance,
assessment, supervision
In the last decade, the majority of European higher
education institutions experimented the
introduction and funding of graduate or
research/doctoral schools. According to one study
[the ARDE project results], 82% of participating
institutions affirm to have doctoral schools at some
level.
Organisation of Doctoral Programs
Thank you
Models for Organising
Doctoral Training The Emergence of Doctoral Schools
Dr. Frances Tsakonas
RITE Education Associates
New Models of Doctoral Training
Master-apprentice relationship
Doctoral Schools that deliver
Structured Programs
Organisation of Doctoral Programs
A doctoral, or graduate, or research school is
an independent organisational unit with
effective administration, strong leadership
and specific funding supporting this
structure
Two Main Organisational Models
■ Graduate school – an organisational structure that includes doctoral candidates and often also Master students. It provides administrative, development and transferable skills development support, organises admission, courses and seminars, and takes responsibility for quality assurance;
■ Doctoral/Research school – an organisational structure that includes only doctoral students. It may be organised around a particular discipline, research theme or a cross-disciplinary research area and/or it is focused on creating a research group/network and is project-driven. It may involve one institution or several institutions and organise co-operation among them.
Advantages and Added Value of
Doctoral/Graduate/Research Schools ■ Define a mission or vision shared by all partners that facilitates the process of turning doctoral candidates into excellent researchers;
■ Provide a stimulating research environment and promote cooperation across disciplines;
■ Provide a clear administrative structure for doctoral programmes, candidates and supervisors, and offering a clear profile and status for doctoral candidates;
■ Ensure critical mass and help to overcome the isolation of young researchers;
■ Bring junior and senior researchers together;
■ Support and facilitate the task of supervising candidates and the role of supervisors;
■ Organise admission with transparent rules and regulations;
■ Provide teaching and transferable skills training;
■ Provide enhanced career development opportunities, including advice on funding opportunities (scholarships, projects);
■ Guarantee quality assurance and monitoring;
■ Provide a framework allowing the development of codes of practice, procedures and mechanisms within the university structure and act as a an independent arbitrator or ombudsman where necessary;
■ Enhance opportunities for mobility, international collaboration and inter-institutional cooperation.
The establishment of structured doctoral training
(e.g. doctoral schools) is part of universities’ move
towards a more professional management of
research strategies, including research
infrastructure, recruitment and selection of
candidates, human resources, training, quality
assurance and assessment.
In the majority of the cases, senior staff has difficulties to
accept the new and more structured forms of doctoral
training. The traditional organisation in doctoral
programmes at faculty level, with high degrees of autonomy
in terms of supervision per programme, has resulted in large
variations across and within institutions. The transition
towards centralisation in one doctoral school requires a
culture of change at all departments, programmes and
supervisors.
Some Country-Based Evidence
Two different approaches in organising doctoral
education/training
1. Countries that provide a legislative framework for
doctoral training
2. Countries that have no legislative framework for doctoral
training
Belgium
Thematic and interdisciplinary doctoral schools
Organisation of these schools fully autonomous
Offer both domain and transferable skills
Doctoral schools link their doctoral program to the labor market
In Federation Wallonia-Brussels, the doctorate has two parts:
the doctoral training (60 ECTS/European Credit Transfer and Accumulation
System credits). It leads to grant a research training certificate,
the work dealing with the preparation of the doctoral thesis (corresponding to at
least 120 ECTS).
Denmark
Major reform in 2007
Implementation of graduate schools
Networked doctoral schools
Doctoral training is organised as structured doctoral training
In 2010 Universities Denmark established a national framework agreement for two types of PhD courses:
1) A model for subject-specific PhD courses where students can participate freely in subject-specific courses at other PhD schools. The providing PhD school's own PhD students have priority of 80 % of the seats whereas external PhD students have 20 %.
2) A model for mutual binding co-operation which consists of an open market for subject specific courses. This co-operation is organised in professional networks between the PhD schools' research education programmes to ensure a high academic level and critical mass of participants. So a long-term agreement on an adequate number of relevant courses with a relative even allocation of resources is made. One example is the National PhD education network in Humanities. The faculties of Humanities and the faculties of Theology in Denmark have established a network enabling candidates to participate in PhD courses across the institutions.
France
2010
285 doctoral schools (Ecoles Doctorales)
provide training and development of doctoral trainees
Joint-supervised international doctoral training
(co-tutelle internationale de thèse)
Germany
Graduate Academies or Research Schools
Doctoral training not prescribed by any law
Master-apprentice model still prevalent in doctoral training
Structured doctoral training started – trend strong
More and more universities have started to implement Doctoral Schools and
Research Schools at the central or faculty level
Graduate Schools serve as an instrument of quality assurance
Research Training Groups are temporary research groups
Hungary
Doctoral training carried out at HEIs at currently 170 thematically organised
‘doctoral schools’
Legal requirement for delivering doctoral training, HEI must provide master
training in the given branch of science or art in order to be granted the right
to carry a doctoral school, which must be accredited by the HAC
The organisation of doctoral studies, the assessment of PhD students and the
tutoring and conferring of a doctoral degree are overseen by the doctoral
council of the individual HEI.
Ireland
Dublin Region Higher Education Alliance (DRHEA) - Graduate Education Strand
- aims to reposition the Dublin region as an International Centre for Graduate
and in particular, Doctoral Education, by combining the strengths of the
participating institutions.
The Irish Universities Association’s (IUA) Deans of Graduate Education Network
developed a skills statement of PhD graduates’ skills, attributes and qualities,
based on an analysis of skills statements already developed and in use in
North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. This skills
statement contains common characteristics of the generic outcomes that
result from the research education experience and identifies competencies
that are transferable to the workplace, either academic or non-academic.
Netherlands
Doctoral training in the Netherlands takes place in traditional master-
apprenticeship settings as well as in structural forms.
Doctoral training is not regulated by a special law; i.e. universities are
responsible for the regulation of doctoral training.
For the structural doctoral training two major forms can be distinguished: the
National Research Schools that are operated by a network of universities and
the Research Schools at the level of the universities.
The new ‘graduate schools’ (with very different forms emerging now) provide
localised PhD courses, and take away some of the responsibilities of the
(national) research schools. However, the recent experience is that both
levels (national Research Schools and local Graduate Schools) play a role, in a
kind of matrix organisation.
Norway
Doctoral training is mostly offered in a structured form in Norway and
organized doctoral programs were introduced in all fields in 1993
General guidelines for the design of doctoral studies are part of the
Norwegian higher education law. The law stipulates that doctoral candidates
have to earn up to 30 ECTS by course work at the beginning of their study.
In 2003 the last major reform of doctoral training took place in Norway as
doctoral training changed in line with the overarching ‘quality reform’ in
higher education. The most important change of this reform was the
replacement of the very different, disciplinary related PhDs by a common
PhD.
In 2007 a pilot program of national research schools was established. The aim
was to improve quality of PhD training and counteract fragmentation, by
creating networks of cooperating research milieus. There are now six
thematic research schools within this program.
Switzerland
Doctoral training in Switzerland is offered in structural programmes as well as in the traditional master apprenticeship model.
The doctoral education is not regulated by a national law; i.e. the universities are responsible for the doctoral training as they are the only ones that are eligible to award doctoral degrees.
In the Swiss understanding, the purpose of the doctorate is not only the development of academic competence and the acquisition of subject specific and methodological knowledge and skills, but also the acquisition of transversal knowledge and skills as well as the promotion of academic interaction and networks according to European indications.
At least one-third of the required credits must be outside the candidate’s research field, covering e.g. transferable skills, entrepreneurship, career development, communication or pedagogic skills.
A report issued by the Rectors’ Conference of the Swiss Universities in 2008 states that doctoral studies are more and more taking place in structured programmes (CRUS, 2008, p. 7) whereas the traditional master-apprenticeship is slightly losing its former importance.
United Kingdom
University-wide graduate schools for doctoral candidates of all disciplines are common in the UK.
The graduate school is responsible for the overall provision of training and development, although this may be delivered centrally or locally within disciplines.
The traditional model for doctoral training has been based on the student-supervisor relationship, where the doctoral supervisor acts as mentor to the new researcher.
This model still stands but in most cases in the UK it is supplemented by additional training and/or mentoring offered by the university or research institute.
Two key developments in UK doctoral programmes have been the establishment of graduate schools and structured doctoral training.
Graduate schools are now common in UK institutions and provide training in research skills and other support for postgraduates either across a whole institution or within a faculty.
Estonia
Doctoral Schools were set up in 2005.
In 2009 13 new doctoral schools were elected for the period 2009-2015 for all
six public universities.
The general goal of is to increase the efficiency of doctoral studies through
interdisciplinary, international and national cooperation and to improve the
quality of tutoring doctoral candidates.
Doctoral Schools propose transferable and social skills to emphasis
interdisciplinary research and enhance cooperation between universities and
the private sector.
Italy
In Italy, networks among Universities are organized to improve the quality of
doctoral training in specific programmes and to increase the critical mass of
doctoral candidates.
While no national rules for the organisation of doctoral schools have been
defined yet by national rules, some Italian Universities set up schools to
coordinate structured doctoral programmes following the “Salzburg
principles”. These follow two models: thematic schools (mainly in big
Universities) and University Doctoral Schools (where programmes in different
fields are coordinated in a single university structure).
Finland
Doctoral Programmes Structured doctoral programmes were established in
Finland in 1995.
At the beginning of 2010 a new higher education law that grants legal
autonomy to universities has been implemented in Finland.
With the new higher education law also doctoral training was reformed. The
law obliged universities to implement an organisational framework for
doctoral training as most universities did not have an encompassing training
structure for their doctoral students.
There were also graduate schools that were funded by the Ministry of
Education and administered by the Academy of Finland that were operating
on the national level.
Since the beginning of 2012, all universities are expected to provide an
organisational framework for doctoral training
Austria
The Austrian Science Fund (FWF) offers a programme for the funding of structured doctoral programmes (“Doktoratskollegs”) at research institutions that are entitled to award a doctoral degree. These are training centers for highly qualified doctoral candidates from the national and international scientific community. A “Doktoratskolleg” is formed as a result of a joint initiative by several scientists or scholars whose research is of internationally leading standard, and is based on a clearly defined research programme. The doctoral programmes have close cooperation with an existing large-scale research programme. Interim reviews every four years decide on continuation of funding of the doctoral programme, with a maximum length of 12 years.
Doctoral training has undergone some changes in the recent years as structural doctoral training became more and more important. As the Universities Act 2006 leaves the organisation of doctoral studies to the universities these have implemented a wide range of initiatives and measures to improve doctoral training like the introduction of curricula for PhD studies, work groups to improve doctoral studies, publication of handbooks on professional doctoral training and the implementation of centres for educational and student services with a special focus on doctoral students
Application of the 7
Principles of Innovative
Doctoral Training Recommendations for the University of Montenegro
Dr. Frances Tsakonas
RITE Education Associates
What are the biggest challenges in doctoral education in your institution?
What kind of organisational structure is in place in your institution (strengths and weaknesses of it)?
What does your institution do to improve the quality of supervision?
What do you do to increase international/ interdisciplinary/ intersectorial collaboration and mobility in doctoral education?
Doctoral training is organized very differently across Europe
Some universities have chosen to implement graduate schools at the central
level
Others have graduate schools within each faculy
Some universities have chosen to implement doctoral programs without
offering the organisational framework of a doctoral school
Structured forms of doctoral training
Course phase – training (field specific knowledge, methodologies and
transferable skills training)
Team supervision
In the majority of the cases, senior staff has difficulties to
accept the new and more structured forms of doctoral
training. The traditional organisation in doctoral
programmes at faculty level, with high degrees of autonomy
in terms of supervision per programme, has resulted in large
variations across and within institutions. The transition
towards centralisation in one doctoral school requires a
culture of change at all departments, programmes and
supervisors
Doctoral schools are implemented and doctoral
programmes are under reform in many countries. In some
cases, the doctoral school serves as an umbrella institution
which covers the different programmes; in others it is a new
organisational unit that provides an administrative
framework and actively provides doctoral training on a
central level
Institutions report that centralizing some processes
on the central level leads to efficiency gains but
they also mention that these central structures
cannot respond adequately to discipline specific
requirements and cultures
Good practices of implementation of the IDTP in
doctoral training with particular reference to:
- Doctoral Schools and Structured Training
- Recruitment
- Supervision
- International Orientation
- Duration
- Doctoral requirements
- Monitoring and assessment
- Quality
- Tracking of doctoral researchers
- Transferable Skills
TRENDS
The Council for Doctoral Education of EUA has pointed out the
following trends:
the introduction of new supervision models and professional
development for supervisors;
the development of internal regulations and codes of practice
as well as agreements signed between the Doctoral
candidate, the supervisor and the institution;
the improvement in standards of access, recruitment and
selection;
the regular monitoring of each Doctoral candidate’s progress,
including time to degree and completion rates, and the
tracking of Doctoral graduates;
the improvement of standards for the thesis defence;
the introduction of internal audits, of programme
accreditation systems, and of research assessments.
Recruitment of Doctoral Candidates
Access and Admissions
diversity of institutional missions and context, and the growing importance of lifelong learning mean that there are good reasons for different access requirements in different institutions and for different programmes provided fairness, transparency and objectivity is ensured
Good practice examples:
Diversity of Recruitment Practices
There are several methods for the recruitment of doctoral candidates, mostly based on a competition:
- Entrance examinations and / or an interview
- Master degree and good study results (with no entrance exam or interview)
- Application and a publication (journal article or conference paper)
- CV plus defence of the research project proposal.
More university institutions are requiring also a good command of a foreign language from doctoral candidates, most often English as a precondition for mobility and international collaboration requirements in the doctoral programme.
Open recruitment practices
Selection of Doctoral Candidates
Selection of candidates should be transparent, fair and consistent with well-
defined institutional guidelines and codes of practice.
Selection is usually undertaken by a research/doctoral Committee/Board or
by a supervisor or a group of supervisors.
Candidates either present their own research proposal or it is identified in
consultation with the supervisor/s.
The selection of the candidate is based on the candidate’s abilities, interest,
enthusiasm, the relevance and innovative nature of the research project, and
also on adequate funding arrangements.
Good Practices in Selection Procedures
University Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris (France)
Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main (Germany)
University of Leeds (UK)
Warsaw University (Poland)
Roma Tre University (Italy),
Contracts The recruitment process is completed by preparing and signing a contract
between the candidate, the supervisor and the institution in which rights and duties of all parties are clearly defined, and the criteria for assessment and monitoring identified.
Good Practices in Contracts
The Thesis Contract (Chartre des Theses) is a standard practice in France, e.g. at the Pierre et Marie Curie University in Paris and the University Jean Monnet of St .Etienne. The contract is signed by the candidate, the supervisor, the head of the home department and the director of the doctoral school. Its aim is to define the rights and duties of each party (relation between the candidate and the supervisor, the means guaranteed for the research projects, intellectual property, information about the courses and rules of the thesis).
J. W. Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main (International PHD Centre Social Sciences) has implemented a PHD contract (PHD Agreement) defining rights and obligations of the candidate, the supervisors and the institution.
Profile and Status of Doctoral
Candidates
The profile has been changing rapidly in recent years.
growing number of students who pursue doctoral training for professional
knowledge and skill development as preparation to enter other sectors of the
society
There are many students who decide to take up doctoral training for personal
development reasons
. Doctoral training programmes are reflecting and tackling this reality through
finding the right balance between research, which remains the core element
of doctoral education, and the necessary orientation towards a wider labour
market.
Supervision
Organisation of Supervision
Qualification Requirements, Responsibilities and Duties of a Supervisor
Good Practices on Supervisors’ Responsibilities
University of Salford (UK) has introduced a toolkit “Supervisor in a box”
which contains all important information for supervisors on their role and
duties, how to carry out their collaboration with a doctoral candidate, as
well as technical aid for supervision.
University of Newcastle upon Tyne (UK) as well as University of
Wolverhampton (UK) deliver a comprehensive handbook for supervisors and
doctoral candidates on their roles and duties.
Training of Supervisors
Good Practices in Training of Supervisors
University of Newcastle upon Tyne (UK)
Brounemouth University (UK)
University of Wolverhampton (UK)
University of Leeds (UK)
Karolinska Institute (Sweden)
Workload of Supervisors – Good Practices
Hacettepe University (Turkey)
Czech Technical University Prague
Multiple Supervision Models
Good Practices
University of Jyväskylä (Finland)
Hacettepe University (Turkey)
University of Granada (Spain)
Bournemouth University (UK)
Aegean University (Greece)
Mykolas Romeris University (Lithuania)
University of Leeds (UK)
Doctoral Thesis and Defence
Good practices
University of Granada
Cracow University of Economics
University of Jyväskylä (Finland)
University of Bournemouth (UK)
Hacettepe University (Turkey)
Monitoring and Assessment Procedures
Good practices used at several universities are:
1. Regular meetings between the candidate and the supervisor, with records
being kept by both parties.
2. Regular review stages, which include some assessment independent from the
supervisor (e.g. review panels);
3. Feedback from the candidate on the doctoral programme, training and
supervision in forms of assessment and evaluation. However, this requirement
may be sometimes difficult to achieve due to the nature of the supervisory
relationship.
Student Logs and Websites
Good Practices of Student Logs and Websites
The European University Institute in Florence (Italy)
The University of Tilburg (The Netherlands)
The University of Jyväskylä (Finland)
The University of Salford (UK) many Ph.D. facilities are digitally enabled.
Candidates can be assisted this
University K. U. Leuven (Belgium)
University College of London (UK)
Duration
Full time doctoral programmes are usually of 3 – 4 years´ duration.
Part time studies take longer. In most countries time to degree (TTD) tends to
be longer than the average duration of funding for doctoral candidates and
programmes.
This is an important issue in relation to the funding of doctoral programmes.
Quality
Research Excellence is the main objective of all doctoral programs
Common: peer reviews for quality assurance
Barriers for Implementation
Funding
Duration
Quality Assurance
quality assurance is seen as another key element of doctoral training. The
principle aims at enhancing the quality of the research environment as well as
at promoting transparent and accountable procedures. Through doing so it
strongly supports all other principles, particularly research excellence.
Barriers to implementation
Supervision
Internationalisation
Doctoral programmes are a key component of the discussion on European
higher education in a global context, while at institutional level, attracting
the best doctoral candidates from all over the world, encouraging mobility
within doctoral programmes and supporting European and international joint
doctoral programmes and co-tutelle arrangements, are central to the
development of any international strategy.
Universities are encouraged to enhance their efforts to support mobility at
doctoral level within the framework of inter-institutional collaboration as an
element of their broader international strategy.
International Networking
International networking is actively encouraged in the majority of the
doctoral programmes or schools.
The European mobility schemes and framework programmes provide an
important funding source for most of the institutions under review.
Barriers to Imiplementation
Funding
Interdisciplinary Research Option
Interdisciplinarity takes vary different forms in teaching and research during
doctoral training. Most common is that doctoral candidates conduct an
interdisciplinary research project. Also, during their course work they can
select courses and training from different disciplines. Some candidates also
select supervisors from different disciplines.
Interdisciplinarity is recognised as a key principle in doctoral training by the
institutions.
Barriers to Implementation
National Regulation
Research Careers
Interface with the Labour Market
Barriers to Implementation
Lack of opportunities for collaboration or careers outside of academia
Cultural barriers in non-academic sectors
Follow-up and Tracking of PhD Grads
Good practices
University of Jyväskylä (Finland)
K. U. Leuven University (Belgium)
University Autonoma of Barcelona
Attractiveness of the Research
Profession
Working Conditions and Career Perspectives
Barriers to Implementation
Low funding of the institution
Limited funding for doctoral candidates
Transferable Skills Development
Transferable Skills Training
Depending on tradition and past reforms, institutions offer trainings in three
different areas: 1) in the core subject area, 2) across different related
subject areas, and 3) transferable skills to outside academia. Many
institutions still focus on core subject training during the first and eventually
in the second year.
Across the institutions two forms of training were prevalent: formal classes
and on-the-job training
Barriers to Implementation
Five major domains of competences are identified:
Self-awareness
Communication
Collaboration
Knowledge transfer and Entrepreneurship
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Skills Training Examples
Belgium All Flemish universities provide a well-balanced offer of courses, both domain oriented and transferable skills. Ghent University, for example, offers seminars in transferable skills within four separate clusters: Communication Skills; Research and Valorization; Career Management; Efficiency and Leadership.” The universities of the Federation Wallonia-Brussels are fully autonomous in the field of learning transferable and entrepreneurial skills. These last few years, priority has been given to transferable skills and languages (credits dedicated to transferable skills, specific seminars, human strategies for researchers, etc.)
Germany All Research Training Groups, Research Schools, university wide schools, IMPRS etc. include skills training in various ways which can be chosen à la carte according to needs and interests.
Estonia Extra courses for transferable skills training can be organized through Doctoral Schools or curricula development activities, to develop popular science literacy of doctoral students (including seminars, workshops and contest for popular scientific articles). Doctoral students are involved with different projects about making S&T more attractive especially for young people but at the same time develops researcher's popular science communication skills. This kind of extra courses are mostly project based and financed by the government. The Fund of Wise Decisions headed by the State Chancellery was established in 2008, one of its sub-measures is a scheme for building nongovernmental analytical capacity. Young researchers’ studies in nationally important areas are supported.
Ireland The Irish Universities Association’s (IUA) Deans of Graduate Education Network developed a skills statement of PhD graduates’ skills, attributes and qualities, based on an analysis of skills statements already developed and in use in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. This skills statement contains common characteristics of the generic outcomes that result from the research education experience and identifies competencies that are transferable to the workplace, either academic or non-academic
Switzerland In the Swiss understanding, the purpose of the doctorate is not
only the development of academic competence and the acquisition of subject
specific and methodological knowledge and skills, but also the acquisition of
transversal knowledge and skills as well as the promotion of academic
interaction and networks. In this way, the doctorate prepares candidates for
research-based professions at universities or other institutions (public sector,
business, administration) and enables them to take on diverse high level
responsibilities and functions. ETH Zurich requires all doctoral students to
take a certain amount of coursework (“doctoral studies”). These courses are
considered both as a right and an obligation of the students to continue their
professional development. The objectives of doctoral studies are to enable
doctoral candidates, to acquire knowledge and skills in the field of their
doctoral thesis, in cognate disciplines and in interdisciplinary areas; to
integrate themselves into the scientific community. At least one-third of the
required credits must be outside the candidate’s research field, covering e.g.
transferable skills, entrepreneurship, career development, communication or
pedagogic skills.
UK Vitae’s Researcher Development Statement35 is a UK statement of the knowledge, skills and attributes of researchers in higher education based on the Researcher Development Framework. The Statement has been endorsed by the Universties UK, Research Councils UK and other funders, UK universities have comprehensive training and development provision based on the four Domains:
- Knowledge and intellectual abilities
- Personal effectiveness
- Research governance and organisation
- Engagement, influence and impact.
EU Marie Curie Initial Training Network
Initial Training Networks (ITN) promote skills training in the fields of:
- Management and financing of research projects and programmes
- Intellectual property rights
- Take up and exploitation of research results
- Entrepreneurship
- Ethical aspects
- Communication and societal outreach
- Standardisation
Recommendations for University of
Montenegro - IDT
Based on what you have learnt in the last 2 days:
How would you apply the 7 Principles of IDT in the context of UM?
What recommendations would you make to UM?
Think of short, medium and long term goals.
What might the barriers be?
What might be the challenges?
What should UM do to align with changes to doctoral training in the EU but
also globally?
Thank you
