Introduction to the latest trends in 3 rd cycle studies in Europe Lucas Zinner Head of Center for Doctoral Studies Seminar: Promotion of Doctoral Studies

Introduction to the latest trends in 3rd cycle studies in Europe

Lucas Zinner

Head of Center for Doctoral Studies

Seminar: Promotion of Doctoral Studies

11 – 12 March 2010, Mostar, BiH

Synopsis

• Doctoral Education in the European context

• Doctoral Education: Opportunities for Universities

• Trends

– Structuring Doctoral Education

– Admissions and Recruitment

– Supervision, a collective process

– Transferable Skills Development

– Quality Assurance

Latest trends in 3rd cycle studies in Europe Lucas Zinner, Mostar, 11 March 2010

Doctoral Education in the European context

• The Salzburg principles drew up in 2005 the new vision of doctoral education in Europe. They arose from an intensive bottom-up work from European universities developed under the auspices of EUA (2004-2005).

• Bergen Communiqué (2005): explicitly recognised the special ‘dual’ status of doctoral candidates as both students and first-stage researchers.

• EUA Project 2: Doctoral Programmes in Europe (2005 –2007, Nice conference 2006, Report 2007)

• Lausanne June 2008: EUA Council for Doctoral Education


Doctoral Education in the European context

• Doctoral education - main link between the EHEA and ERA• Doctoral education in Europe – in a process of major transformation • Drivers of change:

– challenges of the fast growing global competition and

changing labor market

– policy objectives of the EU (especially ambitious Lisbon

objectives, ERA Green Paper, Modernization Agenda for

universities)

– Bologna Process


Doctoral Education: Opportunities for Universities

• The building of a knowledge (innovation)-driven economy (Lisbon strategy), and the need for a knowledge-based society in the broadest sense

• Need for more research and new research practices to address the complexity and interdependence of the problems to face

• An increased strategic role for universities as key actors of research and in training highly qualified and educated professional workers (World Bank, OECD, EU…)


An increased strategic role for universities

• as key actors of research

– in extending the frontiers of knowledge

– in transfering knowledge into new products and services: innovation

• in training highly qualified and educated professional workers by giving students key competences,skills and vocational guidance

• in educating citizens

… and an increased responsibility• knowledge is and must remain a universal public good

• research, knowledge and innovation are not identical

• the need for an innovation-driven economy and for the transfer of knowledge into innovation does not imply an innovation-driven research, a fortiori a market-driven research: results cannot be ordered or preset


A key issue: promote the added value of doctorate

• Doctorate: development of creative thinking by training through research and maturing of competences and personality:facing the unknown - extending knowledge - quickly extracting and synthezising knowledge - elaborating innovative solutions to solve complex problems - developing strategies by combining varied perspectives - networking – communicating - quality, time and resources management - failure management

• An increasing need for these competences in all sectors and regions • Directly linked to the employability of doctorate holders for academic as well as non-academic, research or non-research carreers


The Doctorate: based on research, not teaching

• The Salzburg principles stressed the specificity of the doctoral level as learning through the practice of an original research project, bridging the ERA and EHEA.

• For this reason, doctorate is by nature different form the first and second cycles, even though doctoral education has been part of the Bologna process from the 2003 Berlin Communiqué.

• As a consequence, the format and assessment tools developed through the Bologna process for the two first cycles are not appropriate at the doctoral level.


Trends : Structuring Doctoral Education

Trend towards structured programs and doctoral/ research/ graduate schools: independent organizational units, effective administration, strong leadership, specific funding, providing transferable skills development support, often organized around a discipline or research theme and may involve several institutions

Aim: to achieve critical mass, stimulate research environment, enhance interdisciplinarity and interinstitutional collaboration, improve quality while keeping diversity.

However, reform of doctoral education cannot be reduced to the introduction of more taught elements, skills provision, even more credit systems. These are all subordinated to the development of a dynamic research environment where the doctoral candidates take part as early stage researchers. Latest trends in 3rd cycle studies in Europe Lucas Zinner, Mostar, 11 March 2010

Trends : Admissions and Recruitment

• Structured programmes should develop recruitment strategies that correspond to their particular mission and profile.

• Sustainable financial means to recruit candidates would improve the competitiveness of European doctoral education

• Admission to a doctoral programme is an institutional responsibility with a strong involvement of staff

• Policies must be transparent and accountable and should reflect the research, supervisory and financial capacity of the institution.


Trends : Supervision, a collective process

The crucial role of supervision and assessment: In respect of individual doctoral candidates, arrangements for supervision and assessment should be based on a transparent contractual framework of shared responsibilities between doctoral candidates, supervisors and the institution.• Multiple and more transparent supervision encouraged• Increased need for professional development for supervisors• Development of Code of Good Practice for Supervision• A crucial role for the supervisor(s):

– the research project is the core component of the doctorate

– regular mentoring and counselling to favour the development

of critical mind, creativity and autonomy


Trends : Transferable Skills Development

• Transferable skills and competence training should be an integral part of all cycles, the aim at the third cycle: to raise awareness among doctoral candidates of the importance of recognizing and enhancing the skills that they develop and acquire through research, as a means of improving their career development inside & outside academia.

• Skills and competences are developed through the realisation of an original research project.

• Provision of skills must be thought as to expose early stage researchers to a wide range of opportunities to define their career choices.


Trends : Transferable Skills Development

• Adequate funding of transferable skills training – crucial

• Teaching transferable skills should be recognized in evaluation of academic staff involved

• However, they cannot be mastered by only taking courses, and ECTS are not appropriate for individual assessment of personal development.


Trends : Quality Assurance

Existing methodologies of QA not easily applicable in

doctoral education• It is necessary to develop specific systems for QA in doctoral education based on the diverse institutional missions and, crucially, linked to the institutional research strategy. • Assessment of the academic quality of doctoral education should be carried out in the context of the standards of the international research community, and be sensitive to disciplinary differences.• Institutions should develop indicators such as individual progression, net research time, career tracking and dissemination of research results, taking into consideration the development of the researcher as well as the development of the dissertation.


Selected References

Frans van Vught (2009), The EU Innovation Agenda:Challenges for European Higher Education and Research, Higher Education Management and Policy, Volume 21/2

Bergen Communiqué (2005): The European Higher Education Area -Achieving the Goals

London Communiqué (2007): Towards the European Higher Education Area: responding to challenges in a globalised world

David Boud and Alison Lee (Eds) , Changing Practices of Doctoral Education , Routledge Chapman & Hall , 2008

J. Chambaz, A. Bitusikova and T. Jørgensen: various personal communication and EUA-CDE Workshops (London 2009, Lausanne 2009, Vienna 2009, Zagreb 2009, Aarhus 2010, Bonn 2010)


Thank you for your attention!

Contact

Lucas Zinner

University of Vienna

E: [email protected]

W: http://doktorat.univie.ac.at


Documents

Introduction to the latest trends in 3 rd cycle studies in Europe Lucas Zinner Head of Center for Doctoral Studies Seminar: Promotion of Doctoral Studies