A bimonthly publication of AQU Catalunya

57

November 2011

New demands on universities to actively participate in the transformation of the European economy in a knowledge-based society have led the universities to understand that the time to promote doctorate degrees, which lie on the threshold between the European Research Area and the European Higher Education Area, has arrived. In order to produce good doctorate students, a two-fold approach to PhDs is necessary: as training in research as a professional activity, and as a form of personal development. Addressing these two training objectives is fundamental, although it is not easy. Up until now, a lot of effort has been put into training in research and adequate tools have been provided for personal development, but no mechanisms have been set in place to detect whether they are successfully assimilated by PhD holders or to apply appropriate corrective measures.

Policy makers in Europe, and more recently in Spain, have adapted the regulatory frameworks and developed specific policies to promote doctoral studies according to this approach. The universities have developed or are developing a new internal organisation aimed at managing doctoral programmes and doctoral schools (graduate schools), and agreements between universities have been established to improve research environments and doctoral programmes. These new doctoral schools need to promote a stimulating environment for research that is both innovative and of high quality, facilitate the build up of the necessary critical mass of students and academic staff, and give visibility to doctoral studies, which is an essential aspect for attracting good students.

Different programmes now need to be designed and run that help PhD students receive training that enables them to promote technological, social and cultural advances. These programmes need to be introduced into productive research environments, such as doctoral schools. Monitoring and follow-up are necessary to ensure that all PhD students are acquiring set learning outcomes, and the necessary changes need to be made if it is seen that a certain group is not acquiring them or if certain required skills (competences) are not being assimilated. We need to be ambitious in this and continue to raise the standards so that the level meets our expectations. The quality assurance of doctoral studies implies all of this.

The legal framework for quality assurance in Spain is demanding and is based more on control of, as to trust in, the universities; for this reason, there is ex-ante accreditation, monitoring and then reaccreditation. The legal framework also requires universities to have an internal quality assurance system that fosters continuous improvement, and this is very positive. This approach is widely followed in Catalonia and all Catalan universities, except for one private university, have a certified internal quality assurance system for study programmes.

The ex-ante accreditation of programmes initially led to a significant percentage of the members of the university community being confused and mistaking accreditation for bureaucracy. I trust this does not happen with doctorate degrees. Those who will be involved in developments at the doctoral programme level are already accustomed to project evaluation and probably won't be surprised at having to carefully design and submit for evaluation the design of something as fundamental as training to be researchers and people (personal development) for PhD students. All of Europe is currently immersed in the movement to train PhD students in what are known as core competences. Various university associations, such as the League of European Research Universities (LERU), organise summer schools along these lines, and the impressions of the students who take part are highly positive.

AQU Catalunya, which has always worked with the universities and is committed to external quality assurance systems that take into account the internal work carried out by universities in quality assurance, now faces another challenge: the review of doctoral studies. The possible new organisation in the form of doctoral schools, which are institutions where doctorate degrees are taught, but with very different rules to HEIs where Bachelor and Master's degrees are offered and taught, would facilitate the planning of programme content by the universities, on the one hand, and review and evaluation by the Agency, on the other.