Title: Doctoral programmes and Graduate Schools in the UK: A case study of Nottingham Trent University
1Doctoral programmes and Graduate Schools in the
UK A case study of Nottingham Trent University
- Dr Matt Henn, Head of Research Degrees and
Research Training - Graduate School
- College of Business, Law and Social Sciences
- Nottingham Trent University
- Burton Street
- Nottingham NG1 4BU
- Great Britain
- Tel (0115) 848 8156 Fax (0115) 848 8700
Email matt.henn_at_ntu.ac.uk
2Nottingham Trent University
- Four Colleges (Art and Design and the Built
Environment /Arts, Humanities and Education /
Science / Business, Law and Social Sciences) - 23,000 students, including 4,000 postgraduate or
professional qualification students, and over 400
PhD students - College of Business, Law and Social Sciences
largest of the 4 colleges, with 106 PhD research
students, and 115 Professional doctoral students - One central virtual Graduate School centralised
web-based admissions process - Each college has its own Graduate School office
(administration and academic staff) to ensure
local compliance with central university
regulations, and support for PhD students
3A personal view of changes in the organisation of
UK PhDs over 20 years
- In the past
- The traditional apprentice model, in which the
research student sat at the feet of the
supervisor who was the Fountain of Knowledge - Very personal and individualised relationship
- No support outside of that relationship (subject,
methodological, pastoral) - Now
- There is now much support outside of that
relationship - a team of supervisors
- School Research Degree Co-ordinators
- Head of Research Degrees
- Graduate School
- and of course, the other students!
4A personal view of changes in the organisation of
UK PhDs over 20 years
- In the past
- Single discipline-orientation
- Now
- Interdisciplinary orientation
- Supervisors
- PhD Programme of Supporting Studies
- Research environment
5A personal view of changes in the organisation of
UK PhDs over 20 years
- In the past
- Little contact with other research students
- Now
- Part of a Graduate School - and subsequently of
thriving graduate and research communities - Gathered together in a single open-plan workspace
- Workshops every two weeks (research training,
transferable skills, teacher training) - Graduate School Conferences twice each year
- Subject research seminars open to all
6A personal view of changes in the organisation of
UK PhDs over 20 years
- In the past
- Little regard for ethical issues, or for health
safety matters in the research project - Now
- All prospective PhD research degrees projects are
required to gain approval from the College
Research Ethics Committee - Workshops and comprehensive guidance notes
Ethics Health and safety
7A personal view of changes in the organisation of
UK PhDs over 20 years
- In the past
- Very low completion rates ? 1970s and 80s - the
Winfield Report revealed that only 20 of UK
social scientists completed within 4 years
(Taylor, S. 2007. Improving retention rates and
completion rates. UK Council for Graduate
Education, Goodenough College, London UK, March
2007) - Now
- Research councils set target completion rates 4
years - 36 of UK students who began their PhD research
degrees in 1996-97 completed within 4 years, 57
within 5 years (Higher Education Funding Council
for England, 2007. PhD research degrees update
Entry and completion. Bristol Higher Education
Funding Council for England)
8What is a Graduate School, and what are its
benefits - Bologna
- Create organisational structures for
- Research training to prepare people for careers
outside of the HE sectors across Europe to
strengthen research capacities and meet needs of
wider employment market - Promote interdisciplinarity in terms of skills
training, and also in the research environment - Professional skills development and training of
academic staff - Increasing mobility across Europe for research
students, and international collaboration between
universities and other partners
9Graduate Schools - The UK context
- Harris Review of postgraduate education 1996
- Harris, M., (1996). Review of Postgraduate
Education, M 14/96. Higher Education Funding
Council for England, Bristol. Accessed on 26
March 2009 from lthttp//www.hefce.ac.uk/Pubs/hefce
/1996/m14_96.htmgt. - Roberts Review 2002
- Roberts, G., (2002). SET for success The supply
of people with science, technology, engineering
and mathematics skills. The Report of Sir Gareth
Roberts Review. HM Treasury, London. Accessed on
26 March 2009 from lthttp//www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/
ent_res_roberts.htmgt. - Complaints from employers of the quality of PhD
research students, as well as the technical
skills and the creativity of many of them - Recommend at least 2 weeks per year of
transferable skills training The UK treasury
funded this with Roberts money
10Graduate Schools - The UK context
- QAA (Quality Assurance Agency) 2004 Code of
practice for the assurance of academic quality
and standards in higher education -
http//www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/codeOf
Practice/section1/ - The Research Councils
- ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) -
http//www.esrc.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/opportunities
/postgraduate/pgtrainingpolicy/ - AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) -
http//www.ahrc.ac.uk/FundingOpportunities/Pages/d
efault.aspx - VITAE - http//www.vitae.ac.uk/
11The Graduate School at Nottingham Trent
University
- NTU Graduate School formed ten years ago
- Co-ordinate institutional ambition for
high-quality provision for research students - Interdisciplinarity
- Bring students together to create a critical mass
and a stimulating knowledge environment - Centre for methods and general research skills
training
12How we ensure quality 1
- Accountability
- We comply with the quality assurance standards as
determined by key national bodies (the Quality
Assurance Agency e.g., Institutional audit
2008, and the Research Councils e.g., ESRC
recognition exercise every 2-3 years) - Regulations, policy and practice governed by a
University Research Degrees Committee which is
accountable to the Universitys Academic Board - Devolution of day-to-day operationalisation of
research degrees to our College Research Degrees
Committee, and to Graduate School - College handbooks with local operationalisation
(e.g., teaching limit of 3 hours per week,
supervision arrangements, student progress
reporting etc)
13How we ensure quality 2
- Recruitment and applications process the
Graduate School is the key point of initial
contact with all prospective students - Project approval
- Monitoring arrangements (twice yearly)
- Annual monitoring of student as a condition of
progress to subsequent year of study. It
includes a review meeting with the student, the
supervisory team, and an independent assessor - Ethical approval
- Transfer (MPhil-PhD upgrade) stage
- Independent assessors
- The viva
14How we ensure quality 3Supervisory support
- Our principles
- Supervisor/ student relations are very important
- but the supervisory team is accountable to the
university for the successful conduct of
supervision - Supervision teams minimum qualifications (2
completions) - PhD students are entitled to regular, accurate
and constructive feedback about their progress - The university has an obligation to ensure that
the student receives the support, training and
advice needed for success in the PhD and in their
future career - Supervisors need support, training and advice
too!
15How we ensure quality 4The student experience
- Student training Programme of Supporting
Studies (workshops, conferences) ? We will
consider this in a moment - High level research environment with exposure to
alternative paradigms and approaches - Student evaluation and feedback
16PhD programme of supporting studies (PSS)
- What is the Programme of Supporting Studies?
- Programme of research training designed to
- Support PhD research
- Provide skills and competencies training for
later careers - Process for development of the Programme of
Supporting Studies - Active participation in, and full completion of,
the PSS is specified in the research students
Project Approval application
17Content of the PhD PSS
- Compulsory research training modules
- Year I students who have not already completed
our MSc Research Methods (or equivalent) normally
take three research training modules from our MSc
Research Methods programme - This element is assessed - students must pass all
the modules specified to progress to the next
year of study.
18Content of the PhD PSS
- Graduate School Conferences December and May
- Each conference lasts for two days.
- Attendance is compulsory for full-time research
students - The focus is on academic issues involved in
undertaking advanced research, including - Sessions led by academic staff and external
speakers on methodological issues in research
practice - Research student presentations on work in
progress. full-time research students present a
paper once per year part-time students usually
every two or three years.
19Content of the PhD PSS
- Graduate School Workshops
- A programme of practical research training
workshops for all research students within the
College. - Purpose is to provide students with skills and
insights that will be helpful to them as they
develop their PhD work, and also beyond. - Training and guidance available at the NTU Online
Workspace (NOW) https//now.ntu.ac.uk/
20Content of the PhD PSS
- Graduate School Workshops
- Transferable skills - writing for different
audiences, upward management, effective project
management, professional presentations,
one-to-one communication, academic networking - Research training for instance managing ethics
and risk in social research, exploitation of
research and intellectual property rights,
specialist IT training for research (Nvivo, SPSS
etc), advanced quantitative and qualitative
analysis techniques - Teacher training - In Year II of the PhD, the
programme also involves undertaking training in
teaching and learning - Workshop details https//now.ntu.ac.uk/
21Content of the PhD PSS
- Research Groups Annual Seminar Series
- All research students are expected to participate
fully in the annual seminar series of their own
research group or discipline - All research students are to present a research
paper at least once during the period of study,
as well as actively contribute to discussions - All research students are to be actively
encouraged to participate in external academic
conferences relevant to their PhD topic
22Content of the PhD PSS
- Individually Identified Specialist Advanced
Research Training - Any additional training needed to complete the
PhD successfully will be identified during the
admissions process - Further training may be identified during the
annual monitoring process in the light of the
evolving demands of the project - This may include
- Systematic coaching in specialist research
methods which will be provided by experts in the
students School. - Training in English for Academic Purposes for
international students - Language training will also be arranged for UK
students intending to undertake fieldwork abroad.
23The outcome?
- Initially culture of resistance especially
amongst supervisors - Now general appreciation that such a supporting
programme equips the student with the skills to
approach their PhD research degree with confidence
24Any questions?