Postgraduate Research

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(No Transcript)
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Postgraduate Research

• Professor D Howard Green
• Chair UK Council for Graduate Education

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Structure

• Change some numbers
• Awards - diversity
• The Quality Agenda
• Recruitment
• Europe

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Postgraduate growth

• Numbers
• FT PT
• 1961/62 19,400 6,300
• 1994/95 128,300 187,100
• 1999/00 151,330 257,290
• Relative position
• Total PG
• Population
• 1979/80 787,000 100,900 (13)
• 1994/95 1,528,000 315,400 (21)

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The Distribution of Doctorates Awarded by
Institution (2000)

• Quartile Number of Institutions
• Upper 5
• Second 9
• Third 18
• Lower 97
• Source Millichope, 2001

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Total Number of Doctorates Awarded by UK HEIs,
1996-2003
Year Total Annual Growth ()
1996 10,800
1997 11,860 9.8
1998 12,660 6.7
1999 13,140 3.8
2000 13,670 4.0
2001 14,115 3.2
2002 14,210 0.6
2003 14,875
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RAE Grade and Student FTE

• RAE Grade Submissions Student FTE Mean
• N ()
• 3b 278 (11) 996 3.6
• 3a 499 (19) 2,800 5.6
• 4 664 (26) 6,545 9.9
• 5 715 (28) 14,144 21.3
• 5 284 (11) 8,984 31.6

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Students by Institution and mode 2001

• Total FT PT Total
• Old universities 47158 44949 92107
• New universities 5095 8175 13270
• Colleges of Higher Education 631 1164
  1795
• Grand Total 52884 54288 107172

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PG First Year UK 2002/3
PGR
FT PT
under 21 50 5
21-24 6250 600
25-29 1755 925
30 plus 2115 3980
Total 10100 5510
Source HESA Table 1d 1h
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Bristol

• 2003/4 Total all students 22,705
• Postgrads
• Total F M FT PT
• 7850 3,870 3,975 2,695
  5,150
• 1999/2000 Total all students 17,920
• Postgrads
• 5360 2,610 2,750 1,820
  3,540

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Origins

• 1999/2000 2003/4
• FT FT Total
• UK 1230 1545 5445
• EU ) 605
• Not EU ) 590 1155 1805

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Doctorates Awarded 2003/4

• UK 15,255
• Cambridge 920
• Oxford 705
• UC 655
• Birmingham 570
• Imperial 515
• Manchester 515
• Leeds 465
• Nottingham 460
• Sheffield 455
• Bristol 410

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Diversity of Doctorates

• Standard PhD ( What is that?)
• Practice based doctorate
• New route PhD
• By thesis, by papers, by practice,
• Professional doctorate

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Quality Agenda

• Origins in Harris 1995
• QAA Code 1999
• Improving Standards (HEFCE/SHEFC)
• QAA Code 2004

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Drivers

• Value for money
• 1993 White Paper Realising our potential
• Funding
• Limited
• Numbers
• International markets
• Evidence

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Code

• Precepts
• Explanation

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Some elements

• Research Environment (P5)
• to do and learn about research
• located in or across one or more institutions
• Supervisors (P11,12,13,14)
• NPC Wellcome Trust
• Assessment (P22,23,24)
• Training (P18/19/20)
• Personal and professional development

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Roberts

• Training budgets
• UKRCs including AHRC
• Review and evaluation

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Code

• Does it establish the ground rules?
• No targets
• Levels of discretion?

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Recruitment
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Home domiciled PhD starters by subject area,
1997-98 and 2001-02

• 1997 2001
• Medicine and dentistry 1,004 9 1,275 11
  27
• Subjects allied to medicine 640 5 722
  6 13
• Biological sciences 1,995 17 1,873 16 -6
• Chemistry 909 8 789 7
  -13
• Physics
  466 4 475 4 2
• Other physical sciences 491 4
  458 4 -7

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• Money (STIPENDS ETC)
• Career structures
• Recruitment process

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• Stipends
• Roberts provides a useful analysis and the
  13,000 rise
• Impact on other funders and numbers
• International comparisons
• US 30,000 IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education
  and Research traineeship NSF) (17,191)
• Canada 30,000 Canadian (14,679)
• Salary or stipend

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Stipend

• Takes more than three years so who funds final
  years
• Long hours in labs little time for PT work
• National insurance
• Maternity leave
• Contribution to pensions (lost 3/80ths) for FT.

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Career Structures

• Post docs what do they do?
• What are their rights?
• Research Careers Initiative BUT
• What are they paid Roberts recommended at least
  20,000 - This at the end of 7 years plus HE
• Maths/Chemistry BSc with 1st or 2.1 will start at
  25,000 30,000 in the City

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Progression 2002-03 (non-permanent research
assistants)

• Total
• Permanent 550 3
• Non permanent 14,750 69
• None 5,964 28

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Progression 2002-03 Permanent Contract in
following year

• Chemistry 1,530 2
• Physics 1,505 2
• Other physical sciences 623 4
• Mathematical sciences 631 3

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Institutional funding

• HEFCE Dec 2004
• Impact
• On institutions
• On disciplines
• Regional possibilities

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Units of assessment (UoA) with 50 or more
submissions rated below 4

• 10 Nursing
• 11 Other Studies and PAM
• 16 Food Science and Technology
• 21 Environmental Sciences
• 26 General Engineering
• 29 Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• 33 Built Environment
• 43 Business and management
• 61 Library and Information Management
• 64 Art and Design
• 65 Communication, Cultural and Media Studies
• 66 Drama, Dance and Performing Arts
• 68 Education
• 69 Sports Related Subjects
• (Units in receipt of Capability Funds are
  italicised)

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Recruitment conclusion

• Is there a process?
• Is it a market?

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Europe anew challenge

• European Higher Education Area
• European Research Area
• Bologna three cycle model
• 323
• Salzburg Recommendations

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• Advancement of knowledge through original
  research
• Embedded in institutional policies and strategies
• Diversity of programmes
• As early stage researchers
• Crucial role of supervision and assessment

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• Achieving critical mass
• Duration (3-4 years as a rule)
• Innovative structures
• Increasing mobility
• Appropriate funding
• For agreement by Ministers in 2007 in Bergen

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European Charter for Researchers and Code of
Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. (2005)

• Develop and maintain a supportive research
  environment esp. early stage researchers
• Create transparent and equal recruitment and
  career development
• Sort out problems inhibiting mobility
• Equality of employment rights and benefits

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Conclusion

• Lots going on
• Who is influencing
• Who is deciding
• Need a pause to evaluate