The Irish Structured PhD: history, development, rationale and objectives G.Honor Fagan Chair: IUA Deans of Graduate Studies

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The Irish Structured PhDhistory, development,
rationale and objectivesG.Honor FaganChair IUA
Deans of Graduate Studies

• Enhancing researchers education, skills and
  career development

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Irish developments since 2003

• What was in place?
• What are the key developments?
• How do they reflect the international and
  European context?
• What are the current debates?

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Doctoral training

• Master-slave or apprenticeship model
• Unstructured - haphazard
• Pedagogy of mystical osmosis
• Patriarchal disciple model
• Completion rates were problematic
• Shorter PhD duration required
• Needed more doctoral graduates to compete
  effectively in the knowledge economy (The number
  of PhD graduates per 1,000 graduates of tertiary
  and advanced research programmes was 18, far
  behind Finland (48) and Sweden (75).

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The Policy Context - Improving Quality and
Quantity

• OECD Review doubling of PhDs 2003/04-13
  (quantity and quality, major change required in
  both)
• 2005- EUA Bologna Seminar on Doctoral Programmes
  for the European Knowledge Society (Salzburg,
  3-5 February 2005) (10 principles)
• 2005 - IUA, Reform of 3rd level and creation of
  4th Level Ireland (securing competitive
  advantage in the 21st century (2005))
• 2005- IUQB Good Practice in the Organisation of
  PhD programmes- Guidelines 2005
• 2006-Graduate Education Forum Key Guiding
  Principles (HEA/Research Councils)
• 2006 Strategy for Science, Technology and
  Innovation 2006-13 (Dept of Enterprise, Trade
  and Employment)
• 2008- IUA Irish Universities PhD Graduate Skills
• 2009 IUA Statement on Structured PhDs.

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The Funding Context - Improving Quality and
Quantity

• HRB PhD Scholars
• IRCSET and IRCHSS Graduate Research Education
  Programmes (GREPs)
• HEAs PRTLI1 to 5 - International Panels
  assessing competitive research bidding towards
  producing quality research and a critical mass of
  top quality researchers around strategic research
  themes who could engage in research training.
• PRTLI 4 and 5 supporting themed research training
  programmes and student cohorts. (Research
  specialisation development)
• HEAs - SIF 1 and SIF 2 supporting development
  of graduate infrastructure. (Mainstreaming
  development)

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Some Key Players

• Irish Universities Association (IUA)
• IUA 4th Level Group (Deans of Graduate Studies)
• Higher Education Authority (HEA)
• Irish Universities Quality Board (IUQB)
• Research Councils - (IRCHSS) and (IRCSET)
• Health Research Board (HRB)

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REFORM of 3rd and the creation of 4th level.

• Graduate Education Forum Key Guiding
  Principles 2006
• The development of a quality graduate education
  system will be
• reflected by the following features
• The best possible graduate education experience
  for students
• The development of a rounded individual in
  order to meet the challenges of the workplace.
• A graduate education environment that is
  internationally attractive
• A four year programme with apprenticeship and
  taught courses and structured entry and exit
  points
• The professionalisation of supervision.
• PhDs of a calibre that makes them sought after
  internationally
• Increased number of PhDs
• Infrastructure and capability to achieve ground
  breaking research
• Collaboration, where appropriate, to deliver
  complementarity
• Uniquely differentiated collaboration between
  academia and enterprise in its widest sense.

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The Structured PhD in 2008

• In 2008 the HEA review of the progress of the
  structured PhD concluded that progress had been
  made particularly on numbers, but there was some
  concern that data collection was poor there was
  no agreed national definition of structured PhDs
  or the aims of graduate schools insufficient
  evidence of student involvement relative
  emphasis on generic versus disciplinary training,
  and heterogeneous level of progress.

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What is the Irish Structured Doctorate?

• Answer to quality benchmark?
• During 2008, the seven Irish universities came
  together to agree on the context, components and
  definition of the Irish structured doctorate.
• In 2009 the IUA issued a statement on the context
  and the definition of the developing Irish
  structured doctorate.

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Contextual Statement (Extracts)

• From the perspective of the student, the
  structured PhD is marked by
• A high quality research experience and training
• Enhanced arrangements for supervision and
  mentorship
• Structured arrangements for the development of
  generic and transferable skills
• Advanced taught courses in their discipline
• Regular monitoring of progress.
• The traditional research thesis remains the most
  common way in which the research is described and
  examined.

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Balancing disciplinary integrity with national
objectives? (IUA Definition)-

• The core component of a structured PhD programme
  is the advancement of knowledge through original
  research at the same time the structured PhD is
  designed to meet the needs of an employment
  market that is wider than academia
• A high quality research experience, training and
  output consistent with international norms and
  best practice
• To support the original research activity, the
  following elements are included
• a formalised integrated programme of education,
  training and personal and professional
  development activities,
• the development of discipline-specific knowledge,
  research skills and generic / transferable
  skills,
• declared outcomes and graduate attributes in line
  with national and international best practice

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Definition (continued)

• Supervision by a principal supervisor(s),
  normally with a supporting panel approved by the
  institution
• Progress to completion is formally monitored
  against published criteria and supported by
  formal institutional arrangements in line with
  national and international best practice
• Successful completion and examination of the
  research thesis is the basis for the award of the
  PhD degree
• Registration is normally for four years for a
  full-time student. (IUA Statement, 2009)

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HEA Additions for Strategic Funding (PRTLI 5)
Purposes

• Any structured PhD programme to be supported in
  full or in part by the PRTLI Cycle 5 will contain
  subject specific education and generic and
  transferable skills training
• Appropriate placements, rotations and assignments
  across wide sectors of the economy are eligible
  for inclusion as part of the structured PhD
  programme
• Supervision will be provided through a principal
  supervisor with a supporting panel
• Funding will be provided for a maximum of four
  years full time equivalent
• Professional doctorates are not excluded from the
  consideration of structured PhD definition
  alternative forms of theses are also acceptable.
  (HEA, 2009)

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What is the nature of the change?

• Shift from traditional to structured doctorates.
• Emphasis on incorporating professional/career
  skills and advanced specialist taught modules
  across university sector.
• Improving quality and increasing numbers of
  doctoral students
• New monitoring of the research student life-cycle
• Enhanced supervisory arrangements. Developing
  graduate governance at national and institutional
  level.
• Investment in research education
• Monitoring of research education and information
  reporting
• Linking research education with key stakeholders
  in social and economic development
• Improvement in Research Student Experience
• Inter-institutional co-operation towards quality
  programmes and student mobility
  (Inter-Institutional Collaborative Agreement).

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Skills

• A. Ethics and Social Understanding
• B. Communication Skills
• C. Personal Effectiveness / Development
• D. Team Working and Leadership
• E. Career Management
• F. Entrepreneurship and Innovation

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Guidelines for improving quality
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Internationally Benchmarked?

• IUA 2004 Conference - was effectively a
  benchmarking exercise to help guide the
  development of and innovation in Irish graduate
  education.
• This conference led to the 2005 IUA submission to
  government,, Reform of 3rd level and creation of
  4th Level Ireland (securing competitive
  advantage in the 21st century (2005))
• The conference proceedings explicitly present and
  discuss the UKGRAD programme and NSFs IGERT.
• 2008 - IUQB/IUA Conference International
  doctorate education
• 2009 IUA Conference- The Irish PhD
• EUA-CDE and Salzburg II The Irish PhD is
  making a contribution to outcomes

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Related to other national models?

• More than one national model, and different
  aspects of any one model, are incorporated in its
  development. For example completion rates are
  benchmarked against the UK model, where
  completion is a strong focus, monitored closely
  and where timely completion is essential.
  However, we have a 4 year completion expectation
  to ensure that the quality of the graduate
  education does not deteriorate.
• It could be argued that Irish Graduate Schools
  tend to fall somewhere between the programme
  offerings of the United States institutionalized
  Graduate Schools and the Finnish network model
  which is particularly well embedded in the
  international research system and offers a number
  of good examples of excellent inter-institutional
  and international cooperation.
• The highly specialized networked graduate
  programmes developed for GREPs, PRTL4 and 5
  exemplify the Finnish thematic approach, while
  the overall governance structure in schools in
  our 7 universities follow the US model (with
  fewer taught modules taken throughout the
  programme which is specifically tailored to
  support the research project).

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Quantitative Progress

• From 2004/5 to 2008/9 there was a 47 increase in
  PhD numbers 4,448 to 6,795
• 850 of this total is part-time
• 1,024 doctoral graduates in 2008 and the SSTI
  target is to have 1,312 graduations per annum.
• A recent study indicated that at least a third
  of enrolled doctoral students are overseas,
  evenly split between EU and non-EU.  

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Qualitative Progress

• An array of themed funded structured PhD
  programmes in the Irish universities
• Benchmarked
• Inter-university cooperation
• Cohort funding
• Placements, rotations, innovation focus.
• Professional skills and advanced specialist
  skills
• Strongly themed.
• International Panel selection and approval
• Critical mass

• An array of new supports for all research
  students including
• professional skills,
• monitoring through annual progress reports,
• advanced skills modules
• enhanced supervisory support
• and enhanced governance beyond individual or team
  supervisor, and beyond the department .

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Key debates and matters pending.

• Is there provision of 4 years funding from
  funding agencies
• Answer Not all have moved to 4 years and in
  current climate argue they cannot.
• Would the inclusion of taught modules undermine
  the PhDs core activity of original research?
• Answer The core activity of research has been
  maintained in that there is no critical shift
  from this in the Irish Structured PhD design.

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(continued)

• All of the themed programmes funded must target
  national objectives and were subject to
  competitive funding processes that ensured this -
  Do social development programmes have parity with
  economic development programmes?
• How do structured programmes balance disciplinary
  integrity with the PhDs role in reaching
  national objectives?
• 2009 budget levels dictate that the number of PhD
  places that can be funded will have peaked in
  2008 at 1055 graduates, and may well fall back to
  960 by 2013. Is this a problem?

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Key Debates (in skills development)

• How will the development of researchers
  employability be integrated into programmes?
• - Through professional skills training and a
  number of other links where possible, transcripts
  that record training and skills training modules,
  placements where appropriate, stakeholders
  incorporated in advisory capacity.
• Which instruments of skills development are
  successful? (Under review)
• - Advanced Specialist Skills proving more
  enhancing than the Professional/Generic Skills?
  Entrepreneur and Commercialisation skills seem to
  be working best.

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Key Debates creation of a two- tier system?

• Cohort PhDs are funded, but these are very
  expensive doctorates.
• Mainstreaming of Structured PhDs? - what further
  supports are there for mainstreaming if the
  structured PhD model is to move beyond funded
  themed PhD programmes