COIMBRA GROUP GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2004 University of Sienna, April 1416 The Ph' D' thesis across Europe

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COIMBRA GROUP GENERAL ASSEMBLY
2004University of Sienna, April 14-16 The
Ph. D. thesis across Europe a comparison of
procedures and practices J.-M. Boisson
Université Montpellier 1, France Doctoral
Studies and Research TF
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• INTRODUCTION
• Globalisation implies competition in goods and
  services but also in science and knowledge.
• The European response the Bologna process 3
  years ? 5 years ? 8 years
• Bachelor Master Doctorate (PhD)
• It is necessary to better know how different
  higher education systems function
• More precisely, to compare the last stage of the
  process the doctoral studies
• Methodology for comparison a questionnaire
• completed by Universities of the Coïmbra Group
  (and some others, among which some American ones)

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OUTLINES of the Exposé

• Objective of the presentation
• To outline broadly the overall context and
  content of the training of PhD students in Europe
  through the questionnaire sent to the Coimbra
  Group partners (29 answers out of 36
  Universities )
• The main points of the Exposé
• 1. Institutional and regulatory framework
• 2. Enrolment in the doctoral programme
• 3. PhD duration and funding
• 4. Course of study / completion of the Thesis
• 5. Examination (defence) of the thesis
• ...and some concluding remarks..

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Two preliminary nota bene

• 1. Some blocks of questions did not depend on
  disciplines for ex. block 1 on Institutions
  and regulations framework Other blocks, on
  the contrary depended much on disciplines
  - Sciences and Medical studies on one side
  - Humanities on the other - Social
  Sciences and economics in between However
  evolution goes more or less in the same
  direction
• 2. Each point will be explicited along the
  following way - firstly, the General case,
  i.e. the most frequent situation - then, some
  special cases or specificity - thirdly, the
  tendency of the evolution, - and, last , a
  question, if there is an interesting one to be
  raised.

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1. INSTITUTIONAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

• 1.1 Institutions
• General Case only Universities award the PhD
  degree
• According to the European University Association
  definition,  Universities are institutions  with
  full power to award doctoral degrees . 
• Specificity students are sometimes welcome in
  other higher education institutions or research
  institutes but have to proceed through University
  for the thesis submission and examination, e.g.
  France,

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INSTITUTIONAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK (Cont)

• 1.2 Regulations
• General Case there are general public
  regulations and national public accreditation
  institutions (Ministry, National Accreditation
  Committees). More detailed regulations are
  developed at University level
• Specificity in some countries the system is more
  decentralised, for ex. Ireland, UK Universities
  set partly their own regulations according to
  customary traditions. Each university has usually
  its own examinations regulations
• Tendency ../..

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a Tendency an increased autonomy of the
Universities in countries where the State used
to play an important role

• a question which difference to be made
  between ? the authority which gives the
  right to deliver a diploma
  habilitation ?the authority which
  controls and certifies the quality
  Accreditation ..if they are different (
  i.e. business schools)

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2. ENROLMENT IN THE DOCTORAL PROGRAMME

• 2.1 Qualifications for admission
• General Case after a Master or another
  equivalent University degree requiring a course
  of study 4-5 years long ( or even more)
• Specificity in some countries,namely.UK,Sweden
  , BSc could be sometimes sufficient ( but some
  additional requirements could exist for this
  option, e.g. very good degree results).
• Tendency a move towards minimum entrance
  requirement of a research-oriented Master.(5
  years min)
• Question is it necessary to make a difference
  between vocational (or taught) Masters and
  research oriented Masters ?

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2. ENROLMENT IN THE DOCTORAL PROGRAMME (cont.)

• 2.2 Selection criteria
• General Case
• quality of the results from the previous degree
• support from a supervisor
• relevance of the research project to the
  Department
• availability of funding and supervision
• Specificity sometimes a formal entrance
  examination (for national students only) in
  Italy at national level, and at University level
  in some other countries. Often mentioned as
  depending on available funds
• Tendency more and more selection is determined
  by the possibility to be financed,and thus the
  research needs and interests of the
  Departments/research centres.

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2. ENROLMENT IN THE DOCTORAL PROGRAMME (cont.)

• 2.3 Fees and registration
• General Case no fees or very low fees in most of
  the continental Universities. Registration each
  year
• Specificity relatively high fees in Ireland and
  mainly UK. Fees differentiation according to
  the country of origin of the student EU or
  non-EU . Sometimes fees in Eastern Europe
  Universities
• Tendency more and more, it is a third party who
  covers the fees, or matched by a teaching load
• Question Simple registration or formal contract
  ? ( to be seen with the students status)

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2. ENROLMENT IN THE DOCTORAL PROGRAMME (cont.)

• 2.4 Status of the PhD Student
• General case PhD students are registered as
  students in a programme, with sometimes a
  teaching or a research assistance load.
• Specificity PhD students have sometimes the
  status of University employees, for part or for
  all of them.
• Tendency to consider PhD students as young
  researchers rather than students and to define
  commitments on each side ( University and
  students), on top of the usual registration
  regulations It takes sometimes the form of a
  contract in northern countries.

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3. PHD DURATION, FUNDING AND SUPERVISION

• 3.1 PhD Duration
• General Case full-time PhD are normally funded
  for 3/4 years, in practice it takes usually 4 or
  a little more years to complete a thesis. It
  depends much on disciplines PhD in Sciences are
  usually shorter than in Humanities
• Specificity In several countries much longer
  duration 4.5 years mentioned as an average, but
  in practice 5-6 years.
• Tendency more strict limitations on the period
  from the registration to the submission of the
  thesis in order to decrease the average duration
  of the thesis completion.

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3. PHD DURATION, FUNDING AND SUPERVISION (cont)

• 3.2 Funding opportunities
• General Case PhDs grants are usually funded by
  the State, university, external funds, and much
  less frequently than before by personal funds.
• Specificity in some countries there is still
  approximately 90 state funding, I.e.France,
  Italy where the funding is given through
  Universities but on the basis of Government
  grants. On the other hand, in Ireland, UK and
  other northern countries 70 of Sc. PhDs are
  funded by research projects.
• Tendency an increased importance of external
  (research project) funding, even in Social
  Sciences

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3.PHD DURATION, FUNDING AND SUPERVISION (cont)

• 3.3 Supervision
• General Case the supervisor is nominated from
  the start of the PhD course by a formal body. The
  supervisors are professors, or at least PhDs.
  Shared supervision is nearly always possible.
• Specificity Sometimes students apply for a
  supervisor during the first year, and there is
  usually a formal nomination after a few months .
  At least one supervisor, who should be a
  permanent staff member
• .Tendency more frequent shared supervision, and
  nomination of a monitoring committee( 2 or t3
  members with sometimes external members).

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4. COURSE OF STUDY

• 4.1 Taught component
• General Case Usually a limited ( if any) taught
  component, including mainly theory and
  methodology, but also philosophy of Sciences,
  However it varies much from one University to
  another, and even more depending on disciplines
  and/or departments.
• Specificity in some cases, it depends on the
  supervisor or the department often short
  seminars for PhDs and ad hoc attendance of some
  MSc courses on supervisors request. In some
  disciplines there is not taught component.
  Sometimes there is overlapping between last year
  of Master and first year of PhD
• Tendency move towards an extended taught
  component following the American practice which
  is by far much more developed

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4. COURSE OF STUDY (cont)

• 4.2 Annual Progress Reports
• General Case annual reports are not formally
  compulsory the department or the supervisor
  decides.But it is the usual practice.
• Specificity annual reports are compulsory,for
  ex. in Poland, Italy. In the UK and some
  countries, the students could be initially
  registered for a double possibility and
  intermediate reports determines the final choice.
  
• Tendency to set-up monitoring committees
  (progress panels) to check the research progress.
  On the other hand, funding through research
  contracts implies sequenced and regular
  deliveries.

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4. COURSE OF STUDY (cont.)

• 4.3 Content of the thesis
• General Case The scope of the thesis shall be
  what might be reasonably expected after 3-4 years
  of full-time research. In most countries, it is
  usually presented in the traditional way as an
  integrated whole (similar to a book) but it is
  going to change.
• Specificity acceptance of both models
  traditional thesis or a series of published
  papers In Northern countries,(and scientific
  disciplines) it is now predominantly a
  collection of papers.
• Tendency more and more often Universities accept
  a series of more or less ( rather more than less)
  integrated published papers as a thesis.

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5. SUBMISSION AND EXAMINATION OF THESIS

• 5.1 Submission
• General Case normally pre-examiners, external
  and/or internal, or a special committee including
  external members decide the readiness for
  submission on a proposal from the supervisor.
• Specificity the decision to submit the thesis
  rests formally with the student alone, for ex.
  UK. In practice, in most of the cases, the
  student follows supervisors advice.
  Sometimes,the decision is made by the supervisor
  alone, for ex. Germany, Ireland, or by a special
  board
• Tendency the choice of pre-examiners becomes
  less influenced by the supervisors (or the
  candidate), and depends more and more on a
  special board.

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5. SUBMISSION AND EXAMINATION OF THESIS (cont.)

• 5.2 Examination ( or defence)
• General Case the examination procedure is formal
  and public. There are normally 2-3 examiners,
  internal and external, and a defence jury (3 to
  6 members). In a majority of countries the
  doctorate is awarded without any honour mention.
• Specificity the procedure is private, e.g. UK
  and Ireland, only the examiners and the
  candidate. The supervisor can be present only if
  invited by the candidate. Doctorate is sometimes
  given with an honour mention, e.g. in France,
  Germany, Greece, etc Sometimes there is a
  pre-defence ( Belgium).

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5.SUBMISSION AND EXAMINATION OF THESIS (cont.)

• 5.3 The case of failure
• General Case the failure is mostly due to the
  lack of submission. Usually there is no other
  diploma. The student can sometimes re-start the
  defence after a few months of additional work.
• Specificity there is (rather seldom) another
  degree Mphil in UK, or a Master or a licentiate
  in Sweden, Finland. These degrees are not
  automatically awarded.
• Tendency To improve the monitoring of research
  progress in order to minimise the probability of
  failure contract, monitoring committee,etc.

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CAREER OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUCCESSFUL PHDs

• General Case Several options are open to
  successful candidates mostly academic work, but
  also public or private sector. PhD can usually
  start University lecturing immediately after the
  degree award.
• Specificity there is sometimes a formal exam to
  become a University Teacher, e.g. France,
  Italy,etc Requirement for a second thesis or
  habitur for full professorship France, Germany,
  Greece
• Tendencies There are more and more positions for
  PhDs at high managerial and administrative level.
  The criteria for full professorship becomes
  centered on publications in refereed journals

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CONCLUDING REMARKS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER
CO-OPERATION

• 1 Concluding remarks
• Despite the differences in modalities,
  fundamentally the PhD courses in Europe have a
  common core to prepare the students for
  independent research work (and thinking) and
  professional positions with high qualification
  requirements.
• PhD has become the most recognised prestigious
  degree at European and international level
  besides all national peculiarities. This
  increases the competition amongst Universities
  for good students.

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CONCLUDING REMARKS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER
CO-OPERATION (cont.)

• 2 Questions for the future
• In each University the organisation of the course
  is influenced amongst other factors by national
  traditions in education. Therefore, full
  standardisation is not totally feasible (nor
  perhaps wishable), but increased harmonisation
  will help joint supervision by academics from
  different countries and foster student mobility
  within Europe.
• The challenge for Europe in general, our
  Universities in particular, is to stand the
  competition with the best Universities from the
  rest of the world.
• The best way is to set up a synergetic network,
  and define selective common quality criteria.

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Thank you for your attention