PhD Education for Biomedical Scientists in the United States

Transcription

Proceedings:
6th ORPHEUS Conference on PhD Quality Indicators for Biomedicine and Health Sciences
28-30 April 2011, Izmir, Turkey
6th ORPHEUS CONFERENCE
“PhD QUALITY INDICATORS FOR BIOMEDICINE AND HEALTH SCIENCES”
27-30 April, 2011, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Türkiye
www.orpheus2011izmir.org
ÖZEL SAYI EDİTÖRLERİ
(SUPPLEMENT ISSUE EDITORS)
Gül Güner Akdoğan <[email protected]>
Güldal Kırkalı <[email protected]>
Mine Doluca <[email protected]>
ÖZEL SAYI DANIŞMA KURULU
(SUPPLEMENT ISSUE ADVISORY BOARD)
Zdravko Lackovic <[email protected]>
Mike Mulvany <[email protected]>
Miroslav Cervinka <[email protected]>
Petr Hach
<[email protected]>
Seppo Meri Kalevi <[email protected]>
Chris van Schravendjik <[email protected]>
Osman Sinanovic <[email protected]>
Hannes Stockinger <[email protected]>
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http://www.TurkJBiochem.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Editorial Board- Scientific Editorial Board
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Articles
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Forward
Michael Mulvany, Zdravko Lackovic, Gül Güner-Akdoğan
Standards for Doctoral Degrees in the Molecular Biosciences: Recommendations of
the Committee on Education of the International Union of Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology
Susan Hamilton
PhD Education for Biomedical Scientists in the United States
Joey Barnett
Postgraduate Education in Turkey and the Contribution of Turkish Biochemical
Society
Nazmi Özer
PhD Quality from the Standpoint of Employers
Mike Hardman
Standards for PhD Education in Pharmacology in the UK
Nicholas Goulding
Implementation of Orpheus Standards-Charles University of Prague
Tomas Zima, Petr Hach, Cervinka Miroslav
System of Research Training in Russian Federation
Konstantin G. Gurevich, Nikolay D. Yushuk
An Overview of the Doctoral education in Health Sciences in Turkey
Hakan S. Orer
Current Status of PhD Education in Biomedicine and Health Sciences in Pakistan
Abdul Haque
PhD Education in Bulgaria
Diana Petkova
The Master of Science Degree (MSc) in Clinical Biochemistry and Molecular
Diagnostics, Which Offers the Option for Obtainment of a PhD, as a Model Example
for Postgraduate Studies in Greece
Manolis Fragoulis
Doctoral Education in Biomedical Science: Practice at the Manchester Metropolitan
University
Nasser Ahmed
Key Performance Indicators for PhD Education in Biomedicine and Health Sciences
Marvin J.R. Lee
Standards on Post-Graduate Biochemical Education in Greece
Constantin Drainas
Quality Assurance in Doctoral Education -Experiences from Karolinska Institutet
Ingeborg van der Ploeg
Achievement of Doctoral Study: Tunisian PhD Students’ View
Emna EL Golli-Bennour
Research Environment for PhD Students in Biochemistry in the Medical UniversitySofia
Tanya Monova, Alexey Alexeev, Ganka Kossekova
“PhD study and program: from ex-student to student – “A LESSON LEARNED”: A
PhD course proposal
Goran Ćurić, Ljubica Glavaš-Obrovac
New Paradigm of PhD Education at Tbilisi State University Faculty of Medicine In
Georgia
Nato Pitskhelauri
Keynotes for Doctoral Educatıon in Food Engineerıng to Health Sciences
Haydar Özpınar, İsmail H.Tekiner
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Forward
The modern concept of the PhD degree, research training under supervision, was developed in the nineteenth
century and has since spread to most of the World (ref. 1). The overall aim is to produce a qualified researcher,
evaluated by the PhD thesis and an oral defence of the scientific results.
At a meeting of European Union ministers in Berlin in 2003 (ref. 2), the previous two cycles of the “Bologna
Process” (ref. 3) were extended to a third cycle covering doctoral studies. By implication these include the PhD,
but not exclusively. This has accentuated the need to define more carefully what is meant by “PhD studies” and
the standard of the PhD degree. In particular there is a need to distinguish the PhD from the "professional
doctorates" awarded in some countries, and which are often based on shorter research training periods.
To address this question the ORPHEUS (Organization for PhD Education in Biomedicine and Health Sciences in
the European System) project was started in 2004, when the first conference was held in Zagreb. Here the
standard for the PhD thesis was defined as containing the equivalent of three articles published in international
journals. At the second conference, also in Zagreb, the topic was the content of PhD programmes, where it was
agreed that programmes should be structured over 3-4 years, and that they should include about half a year of
courses. The third conference in Helsinki discussed "clinical PhDs", and there was agreement that a clinical PhD,
even if performed together with clinical studies, should meet the same standards as other PhDs as regards the
level of the PhD thesis. The fourth conference in Aarhus, combined the previous consensus documents in a
“position paper” (ref. 4) describing admission requirements, contents of a PhD programme, supervision,
standards for the thesis, and evaluation of the thesis. The fifth conference in Vienna concerned mobility.
The results of the various ORPHEUS conferences are in full agreement with those of the European Universities
Association:
"The core component of the third cycle is the advancement of knowledge through original research, and
this makes the third cycle unique and different from the first and second cycles. The doctoral training
phase constitutes the main link between the European Higher Education and Research Areas, and high
quality doctoral programmes are therefore crucial in achieving Europe’s research goals." (ref. 5) The aim
of the present sixth conference is to discuss implementation of the position paper. In part, through
discussion of quality indicators that can be used to evaluate the various sections of the position paper. In
part, through presentation of a proposal for formal standards developed from the position paper in
collaboration with the World Federation for Medical Education and the Association of Medical Schools
in Europe.
The overriding aim of the conference is to continue the ORPHEUS project by ensuring that the quality of the
PhD degree in biomedicine and health sciences is maintained and strengthened throughout Europe. Above all to
ensure that the PhD remains a research degree.
The present volume contains a number of articles showing how these questions are being addressed in various
countries.
Michael Mulvany, Vice-president ORPHEUS, Aarhus University, Faculty of Health Sciences, [email protected]
ZdravkoLackovic, President ORPHEUS, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, [email protected]
Gül Güner Akdoğan, Organizer ORPHEUS 2011, Dokuz Eylül University, School of Medicine, Izmir,
[email protected]
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References:
1.
Nerad M, Heggelund M (eds): Toward a Global PhD, Univ Washington Press 2008
2.
“Realising the European Higher Education Area”. Communiqué of the Conference of Ministers responsible
for Higher Education in Berlin on 19 September 2003 (see www.eua.be).
3.
The Bologna Declaration of 19 June 1999; Joint declaration of the European Ministers of Education.
http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/educ/bologna/bologna.pdf
4.
ORPHEUS 2009 position paper: Towards Standards for PhD Education in Biomedicine and Health
Sciences. 2009. See ORPHEUS website: www.orpheus-med.org and www.orpheus2009.org/
5.
TRENDS V, European Universities Association (see www.eua.be)
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Türk Biyokimya Dergisi [Turkish Journal of Biochemistry–Turk J Biochem] 2011; 36 (1); 6-8.
EDUCATIONAL ARTICLE
Published date 27 April, 2011
Standards for Doctoral Degrees in the Molecular
Biosciences: Recommendation of the International
Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Susan Hamilton
Abstract
Academic Board, The
University of Queensland, St
Lucia, Queensland, Australia
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In 1989, the (then) International Union of Biochemistry published for
the first time a set of Standards for the PhD Degree in Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology. This was a time of unprecedented growth in the
molecular biosciences, and also of fragmentation into specialisations such as
developmental biology, neuroscience, molecular cell biology, structural
biology and molecular pharmacology. The IUB document articulated a
clear and relatively generic set of standards for the PhD across these
specializations.
These standards have been revised in 2010 to accommodate the
additional significant changes to the research environment in the
molecular life sciences research in the 21st century, in particular the
advances in genomics and associated use of computing, the increase in
interdisciplinary research and systems-based approaches, the impact of
industry funded research, the drive to develop applications of basic
science and the associated emphasis on intellectual property.
These revised Standards emphasize (i) the desired characteristicsof those
awarded a doctor’sdegree inaMolecular Bioscience; (ii) suggestions as
tohowtheseabilitiesmaybe acquired and how their attainment maybe
assessed; and (iii) suggestions regarding the criteriafortheoverall
evaluation of candidates. They are intended as an aid to university
departments and boards of graduate studies, to national organizations
that set standards for graduate education, to those scientists who serve
as external examiners toevaluate theses, and to candidates for adegree
in these sciences.
Key Words: PhD education, Standards, IUBMB
Introduction
The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular biology seeks
to advance the international molecular life sciences community by:
 Promoting interactions across the diversity of endeavours in
the molecular life sciences
 Creating networks that transcend barriers of ethnicity, culture,
gender and economic status
 Creating pathways for young scientists to fulfil their potential
 Providing evidence-based advice on public policy
 Promoting the values, standards and ethics of science and the
free and unhampered movement of scientists of all nations.
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One of the key focus areas for the Union is
education. The associated vision statement is:
Enhancing teaching and learning in the molecular
life sciences through international collaboration.
the molecular life sciences. A working knowledge
of English is also highlighted as a prerequisite for
functioning in a modern scientific community.
The document also gives emphasis to flexibility of
approach – recognising firstly that different
pathways can lead to research excellence, and
secondly that there is a need for flexibility in areas
of the molecular life sciences that are rapidly
evolving. Rather than proposing an ”ideal PhD
training program” the goal has been to recommend
(i) a set of graduate attributes for the PhD graduate
(i.e. Standards) , (ii) some strategies by which these
attributes might be achieved and (iii) criteria by
which the work of the candidates might be
appropriately evaluated.
In 1989 the Committee on Education of the
International Union of Biochemistry first published
its Standards for the Ph.D. Degree in Biochemistry
and Molecular Biology. These were well received
internationally, and a second iteration was
published in 2000 that was broader in scope,
addressing not only Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology but all the Molecular Biosciences.
A further revision has now been undertaken [1],
necessitated in large part by the dramatic changes in
the molecular life sciences over the past decade.
The introduction to the new Standards paper
expresses this environment very well:
There is also emphasis on breadth and diversity as
opposed to narrow specialisation, and on support
for the acquisition by doctoral students of generic
and transferable skills such as communication
skills, time management, independence and
collaborative skills, with a corresponding deemphasis on over-specialisation. Understanding the
importance of integrity in science, and what
constitutes ethical behaviour as a scientist, is also
seen as integral to the training of doctoral students.
(See IUBMB Code of Ethics).
“Biological Science has been changing at a
stunning pace with unprecedented growth, a
deepening of knowledge and proliferation of
methods of investigation. At this time
interdisciplinarity has become commonplace and
even essential as the barriers among the
traditional biosciences disappear. Biochemistry
and molecular biology, cell biology, structural
biology, developmental biology, genetics,
immunology,
microbiology,
neurobiology,
nutrition, physiology, pharmacology, and
molecular medicine now speak the same
scientific language and use the same molecular
tools. It is not unusual for elements of these
molecular biosciences to be combined in a single
degree. In addition, informational science has
made possible the birth of genomics, proteomics
and bioinformatics, while interest has been
moving from molecules to mechanisms and to
whole organisms, from a focus on individual
components to biological systems.”
Standards
The Standards proposed for PhD graduates in the
molecular sciences are [1]:
1. The candidate should demonstrate a general
knowledge of physics, organic and physical
chemistry, mathematics (including calculus,
probability and statistics), computer science,
biology and cell biology, genetics, biochemistry
and molecular biology, bioinformatics, the
particular Molecular Bioscience, and good
knowledge of the topic of research.
2. The candidate should be familiar with the
research literature of the particular Bioscience
should have the ability to keep abreast of major
developments and to acquire a working
background in any area.
3. The candidate should demonstrate skill in the
recognition of meaningful problems and
questions for research in the particular Bioscience.
The 2010 Standards document is international in
emphasis. It recognises that some institutions may
have lower research capability than others, and
these institutions are encouraged to develop
external networks that improve opportunities and
outcomes for students. One specific requirement
identified for doctoral students is ready access to
the scientific literature and electronic databases,
now regarded as essential for modern research in
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4. The candidate should possess technical skill in
the laboratory, including computational and
mathematical, manipulations.
5. The candidate should demonstrate the
acquisition of oral, written and visual
communication skills.
6. The candidate should demonstrate skill in
designing experiments and in conducting
productive self-directed research.
clarity of experimental methods such that they
can be reproduced; rigorous experimental design,
clear presentation of results and appropriate
interpretation and conclusions, attribution of the
contributions of others. Rejection of the thesis is
appropriate if defects cannot be easily remedied
to the satisfaction of the supervisory committee in
a reasonable timeframe.
Conclusion
A final theme that permeates the Standards
document is the importance of the development
of doctoral students as independent and creative
thinkers. Pertinent statements include:
 The naive beginner must evolve into a
self-reliant and professional investigator
during the thesis work.
 Candidates should have opportunities to
practice looking at problems from
different perspectives and applying
integrative thinking
 Candidates should participate actively in
selection of the [research] problem.
 The original description of the doctoral
thesis problem should not be too
restrictive.
 The supervisor must decrease detailed
direction as the project proceeds and the
candidate becomes more self-reliant, and
may have to accept, within reasonable
limits, a degree of loss in efficiency in
the work of the laboratory as part of the
cost of professional education.
Strategies
Formal and informal courses, student-run
seminars, contributions to undergraduate
teaching, presentation at group meetings, journal
clubs, seminars and conferences and are among
the range of activities that can usefully contribute
to a graduate program of study leading to
increasing confidence and sophistication as a
scientist and independent thinker. The role of
the research supervisor in this development is
seen as critical, requiring careful judgement
regarding the amount and type of guidance
needed as the thesis progresses. The valuable
contribution that other academics can make to
the supervisory process, especially in the form of
a supervisory committee, is recognised.
Processes for enriching the graduate student
experience at a departmental level and for
facilitating active involvement of students in
their departmental community are also
suggested.
Thesis
The thesis should demonstrate “.. that the
candidate has conducted successfully
and
meaningful research by solving an original
problem with an increasing degree of
independence, has made significant contributions
to the work and understands how the results fit
into the scheme of current knowledge” [1].
Recommendations for the preparation of the
thesis include: (i) consideration of the options of
a written thesis with standard literature review,
methodology, results and discussion vs
a
collation of published papers with an introduction
and
discussion,
as
well
appropriate
supplementary information. For thesis defence,
an oral defence before at least one external expert
and the supervisory committee is recommended.
Elements of the thesis recommended to be
considered in assessing quality include: fluency
of style, quality of critique of the literature;
The IUBMB offers these Standards for Doctoral
Degrees in the Molecular Biosciences with the
hope that they will be helpful to the international
community of researchers and educators across
the broad landscape of investigation that shares in
common the study of living processes at a
molecular level.
Acknowledgements
The revised standards document was
prepared through the work of a committee
appointed by the IUBMB, whose membership
was: George Kenyon (chair), Dagmar Ringe,
Adele Wolfson, Frank Vella, Susan Hamilton
References.
[1].
Standards for the PhD degree
http://www.iubmb.org/index.php?id=164
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EDUCATIONAL ARTICLE
PhD Education for Biomedical Scientists in the
United States
Joey Barnett
Abstract
Department of Pharmacology,
Vanderbilt University School
of Medicine, Nashville, TN
27232 USA,
[email protected]
Most students in the U.S. enter PhD programs in the biomedical
sciences after completing a Bachelor’s Degree. Academic achievement
and laboratory experience are major criteria for admission. Students are
paid a competitive stipend and have all fees paid by the program or
mentor. Often admission is into an interdisciplinary umbrella program
where additional didactic material and laboratory rotations are
completed prior to choosing a mentor. This allows students to sample
several disciplines, training programs, and mentors. Mentor selection is
accompanied by the selection of a degree-granting program which may
have additional didactic or programmatic requirements. After the
completion of programmatic requirements, a comprehensive qualifying
examination in the student’s area of study must be successfully
completed after which the student is referred to as a doctoral candidate.
Qualifying Examinations often contain both an oral and written
component that may cover discipline specific and general knowledge,
research plans for degree completion, or both. Doctoral candidates
spend most of their effort in directed research with the mentor. The
candidate’s research is overseen by a faculty committee that must
approve both the body of work and the written document. Most trainees
publish at least one, nonreview, peer reviewed, first author paper. The
average time to PhD in the biomedical sciences is 5.5 years. Best
practices in graduate training are addressed by several groups with the
most influential being the National Institutes of General Medical
Sciences.
To whom correspondence
should be addressed:
Joey V. Barnett, Ph.D.
Department of Pharmacology
Vanderbilt University Medical
Center Room 476 RRB 2220
Pierce Avenue Nashville, TN
USA 37232-6600
Telephone: (615) 936-1722
Fax: (615) 343-6532
e-mail:
[email protected]
Key Words: PhD education, Biomedical sciences
Several models exist for training PhD students in the biomedical
sciences. In the United States most students enter PhD programs
directly from Bachelors degree granting programs. Successful student
applicants to PhD programs generally have significant research
experience in addition to academic credentials. Graduate school time to
degree in the biomedical sciences in the United States averages 5.5
years [1] placing the total time to degree, including the 4 year Bachelors
degree, of under 10 years.
Overview of PhD Training in the United States A feature of many
PhD granting programs is student participation in an umbrella or
interdisciplinary training program (for an example of a typical such
program, see 1). Here students do not apply to a specific faculty
member or even department for admission but to the umbrella program
where applicants may be evaluated by faculty representing several
different disciplines. Upon gaining admission, students are placed in a
core curriculum, which often includes elements of biochemistry, cell
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biology, and genetics, that forms the foundation for
future graduate, discipline-specific coursework.
While completing the core curriculum which may
last up to 1 year students perform rotations in
faculty laboratories where they are exposed to
available research projects, discipline-specific
approaches, and departmental or program PhD
requirements. At the conclusion of the umbrella
program, successful students will have identified a
mentor, a research problem, and completed a
coursework foundation for discipline-specific
coursework. This model has advantages for both
students and faculty. Admission to the umbrella
allows student to sample several disciplines as well
as faculty laboratories before committing to a PhD
program. Similarly, faculty members have the
opportunity to determine the suitability of students
for their program and laboratory prior to formally
admitting them. These advantages are generally felt
to outweigh potential disadvantages such as
delaying entry into discipline-specific training and
extending time to degree.
time the student is monitored by a faculty
committee that includes the student’s faculty
mentor and a variable number of faculty members
representing the discipline and often a faculty
representative from another discipline. This faculty
committee has the majority of the responsibility for
ensuring that the student progresses and completes
degree requirements. Once the body of work is
judged to represent an original and substantial
contribution to the field the student is given
approval to write the dissertation. This document is
evaluated by the committee and accompanied by a
public oral defense of the work, after which the
student is awarded the PhD.
Organizations with a Stake in PhD Training
Several organizations in the United States provide
input into graduate education in the biomedical
sciences although none have a recognized
regulatory role. The National Research Council
operating under the auspices of the National
Academy of Science has addressed graduate
programs across the United States including the
recent publication (2010) of “A Data-Based
Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs in the
United States” [2] which continues a several
decade’s tradition of collecting information from
PhD granting programs and providing comparisons
based on parameters such as quality of applicants
and admitted students, faculty productivity,
institutional support, and student outcomes. More
recently (2011), the National Research Council
released “Research Training in the Biomedical,
Behavioral, and Clinical Research Sciences” which
addressed national workforce needs in these areas
along with recommendations for investing
resources to support the training of an adequate
number of scientists to meet projected needs [3].
Many biomedical programs are based in medical
centers which have garnered attention from the
Association of American Medical Colleges which
has formed a Graduate Research Education And
Training (GREAT) Group that monitors and
comments on aspects of graduate education
associated with medical schools, particularly
mentoring [4]. Discipline-specific associations and
professional societies often have committee
structures to monitor graduate education and
address issues that arise. Recent efforts by
professional societies have included supporting
national meetings of graduate program directors to
improve discipline specific training [5]. However,
Once students enter discipline-specific PhD
programs, either through an umbrella mechanism or
direct admissions, students may spend a year
completing discipline specific-coursework while
beginning laboratory work and formulating a
research problem. At the end of this period students
must complete qualifying examinations after which
they are admitted to candidacy for the PhD,
transitioning from predoctoral students to doctoral
candidates. Qualifying examinations vary widely
across not just institutions but across departments
and programs within an institution. Most
examinations have both a written and oral
component that may test general knowledge,
discipline-specific knowledge, and the ability to
define and articulate experimental strategies and
design. Examinations are scored by members of the
faculty and the student’s faculty mentor may or
may not have a formal role in the process. If the
student cannot pass the examination they are
dismissed from the program.
Students who are admitted to candidacy spend the
remainder of their time focused on laboratory-based
research although most programs will require
participation in journal clubs, seminar series, or
other events to continue to expose students to
research approaches and provide students the
opportunity to present their research. During this
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the organization with the most direct impact on
graduate education in the biomedical sciences is the
National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH, by
virtue of funding both individual fellowships and
institutional training programs, has developed
criteria that are used in the evaluation for funding
of graduate programs. This has led to the adoption
of these criteria by many programs as “best
practices” that are applied to students even when
not directly funded by the NIH. The NIH, National
Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
funds most of the institutional predoctoral training
program awards in the biomedical sciences and has
just completed a strategic plan for the future of
training funded by the Institute [6].
coursework and other training components of the
program. Interdisciplinary or multi-disciplinary
training is seen as advantageous as is demonstrated
commitment from the institution to support
graduate training.
Training Program Director-A primary criteria is
whether the director has the scientific background,
expertise, and experience required to organized,
direct, and administer the training program. This is
evidenced by a funded research program,
publications in the field, and a record of teaching
and training PhD students. The Director must also
have sufficient time for administration and
interacting with students. Administrative support
should be provided and is seen as an indication of
institutional support.
Best Practices as Established by the National
Institutes of Health, National Institute of
General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) The NIGMS
funds institutional predoctoral training programs in
the biomedical sciences in the areas of BehavioralBiomedical Sciences Interface, Bioinformatics and
Computational
Biology,
Biostatistics,
Biotechnology,
Cellular,
Biochemical, and
Molecular Sciences, Chemistry-Biology Interface,
Genetics, Medical Scientist (MD,PhD) Training
Program, Molecular Biophysics, Molecular
Medicine, Pharmacological Sciences, and Systems
and Integrative Biology [7]. These are highly
competitive awards that fund trainee stipends and
provide funds for programmatic needs. For award
consideration programs are evaluated on specific
criteria or “best practices” The review criteria [8]
are divided into areas that are dealt with in turn
below.
Preceptors and Mentors-Sufficient numbers of
faculty should be identified to provide a critical
mass of mentors to support the program. Faculty
members should be funded and productive with
evidence of collaboration and participation in the
program. Strong records of training PhD students
are expected of senior faculty members. Junior
faculty members associated with the program
should be mentored by senior faculty and assisted
in the supervision of students. Regular evaluation of
faculty members for continued participation in the
program should be outlined. Specific criteria for
allowing faculty members to mentor students may
be enumerated along with the measures that are
used to admit mentors to the program.
Trainees-Programs must articulate a recruitment
plan that attracts quality applicants that are
evaluated by well-defined selection criteria. Ideally
the recruiting strategy may include broad
participation of the training faculty and students.
These approaches are best coupled with retention
strategies that support students throughout their
training. Retention strategies should include
resources to address academic or personal issues
that present barriers to training.
Training Program and Environment-Criteria that
are evaluated include facilities which should
include the space, equipment, and access to core
facilities required for state-of-the-art research
within the discipline chosen for training. Although
the strength of specific components may vary
between institutions, programs should demonstrate
that trainees have available the necessary
environment to complete the contemplated
research. The objectives, design, and direction of
the training program should be consistent with the
effective training of scientists and the overall
program of training should ensure that students are
prepared for successful and productive scientific
careers. This relevance to program goals and to
start-of-the-art approaches also applies to
Training Record-Training outcomes are the best
measure of training programs. Parameters that are
particularly relevant include the completion rate
and time to degree of admitted students. If the
selection criteria and retention strategies are
effective the majority of students admitted should
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complete a degree in a reasonable time frame as
determined by comparison to time to degree in peer
programs. Student productivity can be measured by
the record of publication and presentations at
national meetings. Productivity may also be
reflected in the success of program trainees in
obtaining fellowships and awards. In addition to
these measures, programs should track and report
on the careers of program graduates to demonstrate
that the program generates successful graduates
who contribute to the scientific community. An
evaluation plan for the program that specifically
monitors the issues outlined above must be in place
and include mechanisms for feedback from
graduates and a long term monitoring plan for
graduates.
Programs in the United States. Washington,
DC:The National Academies Press.
[3]. National Research Council (2011) Research
Training in the Biomedical, Behavioral, and
Clinical Research Sciences. Washington,
DC:The National Academies Press.
Program support by the NIGMS generally supports
only a fraction of the total number of trainees in a
particular program. However, the prestigious nature
of these institutional awards and the significant
financial support provides a significant incentive
that stimulates programs to adopt best practices that
improves training for all trainees. These guidelines
also encourage broader recruitment efforts, a focus
on the retention of trainees, and a commitment to
mentoring and monitoring students.
[5]. Barnett, JV. (2006) Directors of Pharmacology
Graduate Programs: Pharm Phorum. Molecular
Interventions 6: 4-7.
http://www.nap.edu/rdp/
http://www.nap.edu/rdp/#download
[4]. Compact Between Biomedical Graduate
Students and Their Research Advisors (2008)
American Association of Medical Colleges
Group on Graduate Research, Education, and
Training (GREAT). Washington, DC.
www.aamc.org/gradcompact
[6]. Investing in the Future, (2011) National
Institute of General Medical Sciences Strategic
Plan for Biomedical and Behavioral Research
Training. Washington, DC
Acknowledgements
http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/training/NIG
MS_Research_Training_Strategic_Plan201101
.pdf
Professor Barnett would like to thank the
ORPHEUS committee, and especially Professor
Lackovic, for the kind invitation to participate, the
American Society for Pharmacology and
Experimental Therapeutics for a travel award to
attend the meeting, and Vanderbilt University for
continuing support.
[7]. NRSA Institutional Predoctoral Training
Grants Program Description and Guidelines
(2011) National Institute of General Medical
Sciences. Washington, DC
References
http://www.nigms.nih.gov/Training/InstPre
doc/PredocTrainingDescription.htm
[1]. Handbook for Graduate Students in the
Training Program in the Pharmacological
Sciences (2010) Vanderbilt University.
Nashville, Tennessee USA
[8]. Items Considered by Reviewers in Evaluating
Institutional Training Grant Applications
(2009) National Institute of General Medical
Sciences. Washington, DC
http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/documents/phar
macology/files/Graduate%20Student%20Hand
book%20_2009_.pdf
http://www.nigms.nih.gov/Training/NRS
[2]. National Research Council (2010) A DataBased Assessment of Research-Doctorate
S12
EDUCATIONAL ARTICLE
Postgraduate Education in Turkey and the
Contribution of Turkish Biochemical Society
Nazmi Özer
Abstract
Department of Biochemistry,
Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe
University, 06100 Ankara and
Faculty of Medicine, Near East
University, Nicosia, Mersin-10,
Turkey
Postgraduate education has two phases in Turkey. Before 1980,
universities were administered according to the law 1750. According
this law, even govermental universities, were more independent in their
budget managements but there were no coordination between
universities. Each university had its own rules for accepting students to
both undergraduate and graduate education. Some universities had MSc,
PhD programmes but some did not. In medical faculties, in our
knowledge till 1980 only Hacettepe Medical Faculty had MSc and PhD
programmes. Other universities had only medical specialist
programmes. After 1981, a new Constitution was prepared and a new
university law based on items 130 and 131 in that Constitution, “Higher
Education Law 2547, YOK Kanunu”, was prepared. According to 2547
YOK Kanunu undergraduate and graduate education was re-organised.
Turkish Biochemical Society (TBS) established in 1975 and after its
establishment it became a member of FEBS (1978), IUBMB (1978),
BCLF (1996), EFCC (FESCC, 1997), IFCC (1997). TBS had organised
several workshops to contribute to the undergraduate and graduate
education in biochemistry, molecular biology and clinical biochemistry.
Four workshops on undergraduate and graduate education were
organised together with the Educational Committee of IUBMB (in
1989, 1991, 1998 and 2000). Turkish Biochemical Society had
organised 23 National Congresses with International Participation. TBS
also had organised three BCLF meetings, three BBBD meetings, one
FEBS Congress. A Worldlab Congress is going to be organised in 2014
in Istanbul. Thirty two (32) theoretical and practical workshops on
different areas of biochemistry, molecular biology, statistics, and
clinical biochemistry were also organised by TBS.
TBS also contributes to biochemistry, molecular biology and clinical
biochemistry education via its journal “Turkish Journal of
Biochemistry” (TrJBiochem) which has been published since 1976, on
quarterly basis. Basic and clinical research, as well as reviews, are
accepted for publication. It is indexed by SCI Expanded, Journal
Citation Reports/Science Edition, Chemical Abstracts, Directory of
Open Access Journals, Index Copernicus, Embase, Scopus, Ulakbim
Türk Tıp Dizini, Ulrich’s Periodical Directory, EBSCO.
Key Words: Postgraduate education, Turkish Biochemical Society
S13
degrees obtained very easily and the necessity
for academic maturation was disregarded.
Academic advancement was based on
publication in international journals. Although
this resulted in increase of the number of the
publications but it also resulted in a lot of
fabrication.
Introduction
I. The history of the universities in Turkey
i. The history of universities in Turkey has three
phases. In the first phase, till university reform
at 1933, professorial chair system was
dominant and every professorship behaved
like seigniory. In some universities more
extreme situations observed were the transfer
of the professorial chair from father to his son.
Professors instead of doing scientific work
they were dealing with daily politics.
II. The history of postgraduate education in
different countries
ii. In 1933 Ataturk made the university reform.
Several professors were discharged from the
university. Ataturk sent many young scientists
to Europe to do their PhD’s. He also invited
many scientists from European countries. At
that time, especially Jewish scientists living in
Germany were under restraint by nazists.
After Atatürk’s invitation many of them came
to Turkey and took a role in the establishment
of new universities such as Ankara University
or/and in reorganisation of Istanbul
University. During this period, feudality
system in universities weakened and they were
transformed to modern universities but
unfortunately after Ataturk’s death and
especially after 1950’s,
most of those
scientists returned back to their countries or
moved to USA. The universities and other
education institutions were despised by the
goverment. Although universities did not have
enough budget for research, stil they were
improving. Unfortunately, universities were
blamed as the source of many terrorist actions
during 1965 to 1980. After the take-over of
army the most harmfull effect was observed
on the universities.
i. In Islamic countries; the first established
postgraduate education was at the medieval
madrasahs (9th century), was doctorate (PhD)
which originates from the permission (ijazet
attadris wa ‘l-ifttd = PhD) in madrasah where
the proficiency of “license to teach and issue
legal opinions” were tought.
ii. In other countries;
iii. The third phase of the universities started with
the army take-over at 1980; A new
constitution and and new university law
(number 2547) based on the items 130 and
131 of the new Constitution were prepared.
The aim of this law was to harmonise and
control the universities. It was an
undemocratical and did not obey to academic
customs. According to this new law academic
In France: the first PhD was given in Paris
at 1150.
-
In Germany: PhD started at 17th century
but it was only on Theology (Th.D.), Law
(J.D.) and Medicine (M.D.). In Germany
the use of PhD term started at the 19th
century.
-
In United States of America (USA): Yale
university accepted German’s system and
started to use Ph.D. term starting from
1861.
-
In Canada: PhD started at 1900.
-
In England: The use of Ph.D. term started
at 1917.
-
In Turkey: The PhD education started after
the university reform at 1933.
Some universities first used DPhil but later
they started to use PhD. As shown in the
Scheme 1, below the graduate and postgraduate
education
establishment
followed
an
unexpected pathway:
S14
-
Doctorate
(PhD)
Master (MSc)
Doctorate
Undergraduate
Bachelor of Science (BSc)
(PhD)
(BSc)
Scheme 1. Historical development of academic
career pathway
2547, YOK Kanunu”, was prepared.
According to 2547 YOK Kanunu
undergraduate and graduate education were
re-organised.
Why PhD is so important? PhD is very important
because it is an advanced academic degree given by
universities, it is the highest receivable academic
degree in some countries, it is necessary to be an
academician in universities and it is a necessity, in
order to be a researcher in some areas.
B. The present situation of postgraduate
education in Turkey: What are the general
criteria for accepting students to MSc or PhD
programmes in biochemistry?
Although legislation is prepared according to
criteria in “YOK kanunu” there are quite big
differences between universities.
III. The history and present situation of
postgraduate education in Turkey
1.
A candidate should have an ALES
(Academic
postgraduate
education
Examination) score above 50 (In some
universities higher e.g. 70)
2.
A candidate should have a CGPA
(Cumulative Grand Point Average) 2.4 / 4 or
60 / 100 (In some universities 2.8/4 or
70/100)
3.
University Language Examination 70/100 or
its equivalence in TOEFL, KPDS, UDS,
FCE, CAE, CPE, IELTS (Academic).
4.
Candidate should be successful in oral
interview
A. The history of the postgraduate education in
Turkey;
i.
ii.
The first phase starts with the university
reform. Before 1980 universities were
administered according to the law 1750.
According this law, even govermental
universities, were more independent in their
budget managements but there were no
coordination between universities. Each
university had its own rules for accepting
students to both undergraduate and graduate
education. Some universities had MSc, PhD
programmes but some did not. In medical
faculties, in our knowledge till 1980 only
Hacettepe Medical Faculty had MSc and
PhD programmes. Other universities had
only medical specialist programmes.
For accepting to MSc or PhD programmes 50
% of item 1, 20 % item 2 and 30 % item 4 are
taken into consideration but in some
universities item 4; 30 % is divided between
item 3 and item 4 , each contributes 15%.
After army take-over in 1980, a new
Constitution was prepared and a new
university law based on items 130 and 131
in that Constitution, “Higher Education Law
IV. Turkish Biochemical Society (TBS): The
history and the contribution of TBS to the
graduate and postgraduate education in Turkey
S15
i.
ii.
iii.
Turkish Biochemical Society (TBS)
established in 1975 and after its
establishment it became a member of FEBS
(1978), IUBMB (1978), BCLF (1996),
EFCC (FESCC, 1997), IFCC (1997).
V. References
[1]. University law No. 1750.
[2]. University law No.
Education Law, YOK)
(Higher
[3]. De Meis, L., Mehler, A.H., Rombauts, W,
White, H.B., Wood, E.J. (1999, revised
2006) Standards for the Ph.D. degree in
the
molecular
biosciences,
Recomendations of the committee on
education of IUBMB.
TBS had organised several workshops to
contribute to the undergraduate and graduate
education in biochemistry, molecular
biology and clinical biochemistry. Four
workshops on undergraduate and graduate
education were organised together with the
Educational Committee of IUBMB (in 1989,
1991, 1998 and 2000). Turkish Biochemical
Society had organised 23 National
Congresses with International participation.
TBS also organised three BCLF meetings,
three BBBD meetings, one FEBS Congress.
A Worldlab Congress is going to be
organised in 2014 in Istanbul. Thirty two
(32) theoretical and practical workshops on
different areas of biochemistry, molecular
biology, statistics, clinical biochemistry
were also organised by TBS.
[4]. Wellington, J. Bathmaker, A._M. Hunt, C.,
McCullough, G. & Sikes, P. (2005).
Succeeding with your doctorate. London:
Sage. ISBN 1-4129-0116-2
[5]. Wilkinson, D. (2005) The essential guide
to postgraduate study. London : SAGE
ISBN 1-4129-0062-X (hbk.)
[6]. Wisker, G. (2005) The Good Supervisor:
Supervising
Postgraduate
and
Undergraduate Research for Doctoral
Theses and Dissertations. Palgrave
Macmillan. ISBN 1-4039-0395-6.
TBS also contributes to biochemistry,
molecular biology and clinical biochemistry
education via its journal “Turkish Journal of
Biochemistry” (TrJBiochem) which has
been publishing since 1976, on quarterly
basis. Basic and clinical research as well as
reviews are accepted for publication. It is
indexed by SCI Expanded, Journal Citation
Reports/Science
Edition,
Chemical
Abstracts, Directory of Open Access
Journals, Index Copernicus, Embase,
Scopus, Ulakbim Turk Tıp Dizini, Ulrich’s
Periodical
Directory,
EBSCO.
S16
2547
EDUCATIONAL ARTICLE
PhD Quality from the Standpoint of the Employers
Mike Hardman
AstraZeneca,
Policy,UK
Abstract
R&D
Science
PhD students are the new generation of scientists. They are enthusiastic,
innovative and question traditional wisdom – all of these are essential
for the future of science. They create the new ideas, which need to be
nurtured in a “greenhouse” until we know which ones will grow.
The model for PhD training has evolved and not only includes
developing scientists capable of excellence in research, but also includes
an understanding of innovation, entrepreneurship and collaboration.
This is an enhanced skill set combining “blue sky” research and the
application of science.
The industry employers are increasingly recognizing the need for
collaboration with academia, and Public Private Partnership (PPP) PhDs
are an important element in achieving this. These PPPs allow the PhDs
to work across boundaries and develop a better understanding of the
different needs of academia and industry. This is important for both
their initial research and for future collaborations. These PPP PhDs are
also better equipped to move across boundaries, thus promoting another
critical success factor – mobility.
EMTRAIN is working to increase and strengthen the PPP PhDs. We
aim to develop a cohort of industry-aware PhD students, with an
enhanced skill set (including innovation, entrepreneurship and drug
development) and to establish an interactive community thus promoting
greater communication and mutual support.
Key Words: Public Private Partnership PhDs, EMTRAIN
PhD students are the new generation of scientists. They are enthusiastic,
innovative and question traditional wisdom – all of these are essential
for the future of science. They create the new ideas, which need to be
nurtured in a “green-house” until we know which ones will grow.
Naturally the employers have an interest in the quality of the PhD
students.
The employers that I represent are the Pharmaceutical Industry. The
European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associates
(EFPIA) was very conscious of the issues facing biomedical research in
Europe and partnered with the EU commission to address them. The
partnership is called the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) and is the
largest public-private partnership in biomedical science in Europe. The
IMI projects are designed to address issues in safety, efficacy,
knowledge management and education and training. It is the education
and training pillar which addresses the requirements for PhD students.
S17
The European Medicines Research Training
Network (EMTRAIN) focuses on strengthening the
pan-European community of scientists in drug
development. Fostering mobility, integrating
education and training and helping scientists to
navigate the jungle of courses are the three main
areas of activity. Building a programme for public
private partnership (PPP) PhDs is part of this
strategy.
employers and National Ministries so that together
we can ensure that science in Europe regains it’s
status. Then we can ensure that there will always be
a thriving environment for future new scientists.
Reference
Analysis of the industrial PhD programme, 2011.
Danish agency for science technology and
innovation. http://en.fi.dk/research/industrial-phdprogramme
Why are public private partnership PhDs so
important to us? The industry is increasingly
looking to the academic community for
partnerships/collaborations in all areas of research.
Having scientists who better understand both the
world of academia and the world of drug
development, is essential. Therefore, quality for us
includes: scientific excellence, awareness of the
industry needs and the application of science,
additional
transferable
skills
(innovation,
entrepreneurship and collaboration) as well as
communication across this community. These
elements are critically important if Europe is going
to remain competitive. A recent report from
Denmark on a large cohort of industrial PhD
students showed clear benefits in terms of salaries
and job prospects as well as benefits to the
companies in terms of innovation (patents) and
growth [1].
In support of this we are increasing the number of
public-private partnership PhDs by simplifying the
contracts and helping companies and academia as
well as by supporting the student communities with
workshops and social networking. Having an
agreed syllabus for courses also helps us to
understand what the PhD graduates can do and this
transparency is a part of the quality we are looking
for. However, it doesn’t stop there. We are looking
to map the benefits of these interventions and drive
life-long learning to ensure that our scientists
continue to develop their professional competency.
Another way in which EMTRAIN can support the
scientific community is to provide a simple, onestop-shop for all Masters, PhD and Continuing
Professional Development courses. This will be
achieved by the “on-course” catalogue/resource
centre which will be launched this summer.
Finally, we are looking to bring together the
scientific community, the academic community, the
S18
EDUCATIONAL ARTICLE
Standards for PhD Education in Pharmacology in the
UK.
Nicolas J Goulding1, Annie
Geraghty2
Corresponding author:
Nicolas J Goulding1
1
William Harvey Research
Institute, Barts & the London,
Queen Mary University of
London UK and
2
The British Pharmacological
Society, UK.
Abstract
The British Pharmacological Society undertook a study to discover the
views of UK pharmacologists on joining current initiatives for the
harmonization of PhD education across Europe. This was achieved by a
survey of the membership and subsequent triangulation by interview
and the convening of a London Workshop on PhD Standards in
Pharmacology in April 2011. Consensus with the ORPHEUS position
was achieved for many aspects of the PhD process, including its central
focus on research, three year duration and outcomes for careers in
research.
Significant differences were revealed in admission
requirements, the extent of formalized teaching programmes and types
of assessment. UK institutions would continue to offer PhD places for
three year Bachelor level qualifications whilst the European ‘standard’
calls for three year Bachelor plus two year Master’s entry criteria.
ORPHEUS calls for up to 6 months of formalized taught courses
during the three year PhD. In the UK this is significantly less. The UK
monographic thesis and viva voce examination with an internal and
external examiner was preferred to the European model of published
scientific articles and full review of the literature assessed by committee
with iteration and public defense. This study highlights the need for
continued and amplified discussion and cross-fertilization between UK
and European institutions in order to influence future UK and European
policy makers in doctoral education and ensure the future success of
biomedical research across Europe.
Key Words: PhD standards, pharmacology, biomedical research
Introduction
The award of the PhD degree has been operational in the United
Kingdom since 1917, when Oxford University instigated the first
doctoral DPhil degree by research [1]. This degree standard was ratified
by major UK universities in 1918 at the only national consensus
meeting on the PhD to be held in the UK. London University did not
accept this consensus until 1919. The inception of the UK PhD was war
and market-driven. Before 1917, students from within the British
Empire and the United States of America in search of research
experience tended to migrate to German universities to be awarded a
PhD which had gained research kudos. UK and US universities
accepted the PhD standard in order to prevent a significant exodus of
students to Europe. Whilst this might be perceived as a negative reason,
the introduction of doctoral programmes was hugely successful and the
ensuing century has seen the maturation and widespread acceptable of
the PhD as the ‘Gold Standard’ qualification for a career in research.
S19
Since its inception, higher education institutions in
the United Kingdom have maintained responsibility
for developing their own PhD format and
regulations.
Despite minor variations, there is a
remarkable consistency between UK universities in
the academic format required for the award for a
PhD degree; the style of the PhD thesis and the
process by which PhD examinations are conducted
[2]. .
Doctoral degrees are awarded to students who
have demonstrated:


Universities in the UK are often categorized into
two camps: those who received a Royal Charter
prior to 1992; the ‘traditional’ universities and the
so-called ‘new’ post-1992 universities previously
known as polytechnics, running courses of a more
vocational nature. Whilst these distinctions are
beginning to blur, comparison of PhD regulations
from pre- 1992 universities reveals more flexibility
and less prescription than that exhibited by
regulations and policies from the post-1992
universities [3]. This is a distinction can be
explained by the need for newer institutions to
establish standards and principles as they seek to
gain reputation. The first serious attempt to provide
a national framework for higher degree
qualifications in the UK occurred in 2008. Before
that time, attempts at improving quality standards
of the PhD were driven by individual funding
agencies who sought to assess value-for-money and
to enhance completion rates [4]. In 2008, The
Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education
(QAA) published an outline framework [5] which
formulated outcomes for European Qualifications
Framework (EQF) level 8 equivalent doctoral
degrees and described the skills attained by holders
of a PhD qualification in the broadest terms (Figure
1).


the creation and interpretation of new
knowledge, through original research or
other advanced scholarship, of a quality to
satisfy peer review, extend the forefront of
the discipline, and merit publication
a systematic acquisition and understanding
of a substantial body of knowledge which
is at the forefront of an academic discipline
or area of professional practice
the general ability to conceptualise, design
and implement a project for the generation
of new knowledge, applications or
understanding at the forefront of the
discipline, and to adjust the project design
in the light of unforeseen problems
a detailed understanding of applicable
techniques for research and advanced
academic enquiry.
Typically, holders of the qualification will be
able to:


make informed judgements on complex
issues in specialist fields, often in the
absence of complete data, and be able to
communicate their ideas and conclusions
clearly and effectively to specialist and
non-specialist audiences
continue to undertake pure and/or applied
research and development at an advanced
level, contributing substantially to the
development of new techniques, ideas or
approaches.
And holders will have:

the qualities and transferable skills
necessary for employment requiring the
exercise of personal responsibility and
largely autonomous initiative in complex
and
unpredictable
situations,
in
professional or equivalent environments.
Figure 1: Doctoral degree outcomes and descriptors
(QAA Framework for Higher Education August
2008)
S20
In 2011, the QAA published draft characteristics of
UK doctoral degrees, including the PhD, as a
consultation paper [6]. This document sought to
flesh-out the quality assurance mechanisms with
regard to content and assessment. This was an
important initiative to stimulate discussion on UK
PhD standards at a national level, which has
previously been lacking.
individuals over a two month period. These
responses were triangulated by individual
interviews and a UK workshop on PhD standards in
Pharmacology held in London in April 2011 to
which 14 representatives of the UK PhD
pharmacology education community and 2
representatives from ORPHEUS were invited.
Survey Results
There has been much more advanced activity at the
European level over the past decade. The Bologna
Process has begun to focus on the potential
harmonization of PhD education across Europe in
its third cycle. The Bergen Communiqué (2005) by
European Ministers Responsible for Higher
Education indicated an aspiration of doctoral
degrees being “fully aligned with the European
Higher Education Area
(EHEA) overarching
framework for qualifications using the outcomesbased approach” [7]. Subsequent communiqués
from London (2007) [8] and Leuven / Louyain-laNeuve (2009) [9] added some aspirations towards
increasing the variety of doctoral programmes and
transparency in access, supervision and assessment.
The 2009 communiqué highlighted the need for an
impact on the quality of both disciplinary and interdisciplinary programmes. These discussions have
been informed by a framework for alignment of
biomedical and health science PhDs produced and
updated by the Organisation for PhD Education in
Biomedicine and Health Sciences in the European
system (ORPHEUS) [10] between 2004 and 2010.
All 41 respondents were PhD supervisors with 85%
working within a university or university hospital
setting. The remain 15% of respondents were from
the pharmaceutical industry or other commercial
enterprises. Together these respondents had
supervised 207 PhD students in the UK over the
past 5 years. These students were funded either
from internal institutional resources (18%); selffunded (13%); funded by UK Research Councils or
research charities (58%); European sources (2%) or
industry (9%).
Table 1 illustrates the answers provided by these
supervisors in relation to the suggested ORPHEUS
standards identified in the 2009 position paper [10].
.
Aims and Objectives
The British Pharmacological Society recently
instigated a project with the aim of better
understanding the potential benefits and risks to UK
institutions from the European harmonization of
PhD education with particular reference to
pharmacology. The methodology was to develop a
short questionnaire based upon the main themes of
the ORPHEUS 2009 position paper 10. These were
issues of a) admission criteria, b) content and
nature of the programme, c) supervision and d)
assessment.
The survey was advertised to members of the
British Pharmacological Society by means of email
and the BPS newsletter and delivered electronically
(SurveyMonkey® - Palo Alto, CA, USA).
Anonymous responses were received from 41
S21
Table 1. Survey responses to ORPHEUS suggested PhD standards
Agree
Disagree
No opinion
PhD studentships should always be recruited in advertised
open competition
68%
28%
4%
PhD applicants for 3 year programmes should normally be
qualified to Masters level
15%
75%
10%
Across UK
63%
30%
7%
Across Europe
33%
55%
12%
Global
25%
63%
12%
74%
23%
3%
25%
70%
5%
63%
30%
7%
25%
65%
10%
38%
50%
12%
82%
28%
26%
11%
64%
69%
7%
8%
5%
44%
36%
20%
64%
26%
10%
39%
39%
22%
11%
82%
7%
29%
58%
13%
Statement
a) Admissions
b) Standardization of a PhD in Pharmacology
c)
The Nature of the PhD
PhD programmes should contain a significant component of
transferable skills
The main focus of the PhD should be scientific training
rather than original research
d) Supervison
New PhD supervisors should have a formal training
programme
PhD supervisors should have 3 yearly refresher
e)
Thesis and submission
Submission of thesis within a set period irrespective of
scientific progress of project
Thesis as monograph
Thesis as papers & review
Content equiv to 3 papers in international journal
f)
Assessment
Defended in English across Europe
Viva voce examination alone
Panel of examiners and public defense
PhD supervisors should have role in examination
Examiners should include one international member
S22
The main conclusion drawn from the survey was
that that there was a general reluctance on the part
of UK PhD educators for any harmonization wide
than within the UK. Specifically, there was no
desire to recruiting purely Masters level candidates
into PhD programmes. There is a long track record
in the UK of recruiting graduates from three year
Bachelor of Science (BSc) courses straight into
three year PhD programmes. This is different to
most European models and the ORPHEUS
suggested standard. UK researchers were of the
firm opinion that PhD courses should maintain a
high level of research content and that the
supervision of students should be of high quality
but low impedance.
The large majority of
supervisors wished to retain the monographic PhD
thesis with examination by viva voce with two
examiners, one internal to the institution and the
other from another UK university.
science and the probability that the student will
complete a coherent body of research within the
time frame. The project should judged on scientific
merit as well as the supervisor’s track record. Open
competition for places and an interview process
was also deemed to be the best scenario.. Whilst the
ORPHEUS position indicates a Masters level
qualification for entry to a PhD programme, a BSc
degree is deemed sufficient in the UK, although it
was agreed that the increasingly popular 1+3 year
model of PhD education in the UK where a student
obtains a Masters in Research (MRes) and then
enrolls in a PhD is preferable as long as funding is
available.
The panel came to consensus that the primary
supervisor should have a stable position within the
institution, be active in research with an extensive
network of collaboration. It is advisable to have a
second supervisor associated with each project.
These sentiments were reinforced by triangulation
by interview where the general consensus was that
there was some need to improve the consistency
and quality control between institutions in the UK
but that there was no enthusiasm for pan-European
harmonization or any major change in the UK
system of PhD education which was perceived to
generate highly qualified and employable graduates
in the sphere of pharmacological and
pharmaceutical research.
Supervisor training was thought critical for new
supervisors, less so for established supervisors and
may be resisted by some senior academics.
A good student – supervisor relationship was
deemed to be paramount. Some institutions have
developed codes of conduct and agreements to
highlight this importance.
Plenary Session:
content
UK participants agreed with European delegates
that 3 years should remain the base duration for the
PhD study. It was recognized that many students
can take longer, but UK funding bodies and quality
assurance agencies are now requiring institutions to
put in place mechanisms to ensure low drop out
rates and to maximize rates of thesis submission
within 4 years.
UK Workshop on PhD Standards in Pharmacology
A UK workshop on PhD standards in
Pharmacology was convened in early April 2011 to
further triangulate the results of this survey.
Fourteen representatives of the UK
PhD
pharmacology education community joined the
President and Vice-President of ORPHEUS in an
open format meeting with presentations, breakout
sessions and plenary feedback.
The workshop picked up on a process rather underevaluated by ORPHEUS, that of monitoring student
progress. All universities represented had similar
systems with a progress report within the first 6-12
months. This is a pivotal point in determining
whether the student was capable to complete a PhD
degree. This is followed by at least two monitoring
meetings during the proceeding 30 -40 months.
Some funding bodies ask for additional reports at
different time points. The working group
Discussion focused upon agreed positions between
the draft QAA UK position paper of 2011 6 and the
ORPHEUS position paper of 2009 10.
Plenary Session: PhD recruitment and supervision
The UK position agrees well with the ORPHEUS
position on recruitment. Peer review of proposed
projects is important to maintain the quality of
S23
PhD duration, structure and
considered it is vital to pick up failing students as
early as possible in their studies.
It was deemed appropriate that supervisors should
be involved in the selection of examiners in
conjunction with other institutional representatives,
to ensure fairness and no degree of partiality. The
examiners should be subject experts but not
necessarily exactly in the specific area of
investigation. The selection process should be
ratified by the university and there should be one
internal and one external examiner. Although
public presentations are common in Europe, there is
little appetite to adopt this model widely in the UK.
Work-life balance was another issue. Students’
expectations are changing; they are not necessarily
willing to work excessive hours that may have been
expected by supervisors in the past. The EU states
37.5 hours in a working week max of 45 hours in
the working directive. Many students work longer
than this and think it is reasonable. There was
debate as to whether research study is covered by
the directive and whether it is appropriate for
ORPHEUS to consider average and maximum
working hours for students.
Conclusions
A general reluctance by the UK Pharmacological
academic community for significant changes to the
nature of the PhD was evident in all aspects of this
study. The survey results were confirmed by
individual interview and in the workshop meeting.
This study concludes that
whilst
UK
pharmacologists see the need for higher quality
PhD supervision and to maintain the perceived high
existing standards of training offered, they are
generally disinclined to adopt a Europe-wide model
of PhD education, preferring to retain key elements
of recruitment of students after EQF level 6
Bachelor-level
training,
apprenticeship-style
research and examination by monographic thesis
and viva voce by two examiners.
It was agreed that transferable skills were vital for
PhD students to obtain but must be balanced with
the need to carry out research. ORPHEUS suggests
a standard of up to 6 months of formalized taught
courses during the three year PhD (~30 ECTS
points). In the UK this is significantly less. Some
biomedical science PhDs have formalized input of
less than 4 weeks duration, although it was noted
that there was flexibility in interpretation of a
taught course.
Plenary Session: PhD thesis and examination
This group was happy with the UK methods of
assessment and felt that ORPHEUS could learn
lessons from the UK and vice versa, particular
regarding public engagement. In a difference of
opinion from ORPHEUS, a monograph was
considered the best way to judge a student’s
contribution to the work they presented.
Publications could be included in a monograph as
an appendix.
Now that a link has been established within the
domain of pharmacology, it is hoped that dialogue
between UK biomedical researchers and their
continental European partners will accelerate. It is
vital to maintain the momentum of discussion, and
to cross-fertilize UK perspectives with those of
European institutions in order to influence UK and
European policy makers in the arena of doctoral
education These are early steps in a vital long-term
process which seeks to improve the research base in
the biomedical sciences and improve the global
career prospects and mobility of PhD graduates in
the biomedical sciences.
The group confirmed the overwhelming survey
opinion that the viva voce is a rigorous and robust
opportunity for examiners to test students detailed
understanding of the project, determine their role in
the research and their understanding of the wider
context of their work.. The group was skeptical
about the robustness of the ORPHEUS model of
written iterations of the thesis based on committee
direction.
References
This panel emphasized the supervisor’s role in
ensuring the student is ready to submit their thesis
with a high probability of success. It also stressed
the opinion that they should not be present at the
viva.
[1]. Simpson R. (1984) How the PhD came to
Britain : A Century of Struggle for
Postgraduate Education. Taylor and Francis,
London
S24
[2]. Tinkler P, Jackson C. (2000) Examining the
Doctorate: institutional policy and the PhD
examination process in Britain. Stud. Higher
Educ. 25: 167-180
[3]. United Kingdom Government. (1992) .Further
and Higher Education Act 1992. The
Stationary Office Ltd, London ISBN 0-10541392-5
[4]. Booth A, Satchell S. (1996) British PhD
completion rates: some evidence from the
1980’s. Higher Educ. Rev. 28: 48-56.
[5]. Quality Assurance Agency for Higher
Education. (2008) The framework for higher
education qualifications in England, Wales and
Northern Ireland. QAA, London. ISBN 978 1
84482 871 5
[6]. Quality Assurance Agency for Higher
Education,
(2011)
Doctoral
Degree
Characteristics:
A Draft Consultation
Document
QAA,
London.
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/standardsandquality/doct
oralqualification/Doctoraldegreechara.pdf
[7]. The European Higher Education Area –
Achieving the Goals: Communiqué of the
Conference of European Ministers Responsible
for Higher Education, Bergen (2005)
http://www.bologna-bergen2005.no/Docs/00Main_doc/050520_Bergen_Communique.pdf
[8]. Towards The European Higher Education
Area: Responding To Challenges In A
Globalised World (2007) , Communiqué of the
Conference of European Ministers Responsible
for Higher Education
http://www.enqa.eu/files/London%20Commun
ique%20-%2018-05-2007.pdf
[9]. The Bologna Process 2020 - The European
Higher Education Area in the new decade.
Communiqué of the Conference of European
Ministers Responsible for Higher Education
(2009). Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve.
http://www.ehea.info/Uploads/Declarations/Le
uven_Louvain-la
Neuve_Communiqu%C3%A9_April_2009.pdf
[10].
ORPHEUS – Vienna Consensus Papers
(2004-2010) http://www.orpheus-med.org/
S25
EDUCATIONAL ARTICLE
Implementation of Orpheus Standards-Charles
University of Prague
Tomas Zima, Petr Hach,
Cervinka Miroslav
Tomas Zima
First Faculty of Medicine,
Charles University Prague,
Faculty of Medicine Hradec
Králové, Charles University
Prague
[email protected]
Abstract
The Charles University of Prague was founded in 1348 and now,
including 17 faculties
with 52 000 students on different educational
levels, important part of them are PhD students. There are 5 medical
schools, school of pharmacy, mathematics and physics and natural
sciences. These Schools have accredited many PhD programs focusing
on biomedicine. The admission to our PhD programs totally free, it can
be made concurrently after Master's program. Our admission criteria
includes the project proposal, approval of supervisor and the head of
department. The entry oral exam consists of basic knowledge of studied
subject, knowledge of English and discussion of proposed PhD project.
The criteria for enrolling the students are - the scientific quality of the
commitment and stipend and the maximum by our law is 8 years. The
stipend was done by University, our research oriented university fully
granted the enrolling the PhD students. The program of biomedicine is
program organized together with Academy of Sciences. The structure of
PhD program contains daily research and scientific training,
international exam in English, participation on 1 or 2 courses organized
by scientific board of PhD program (focusing on modern trends in the
scientific disciplines, etc.). During the study the PhD student must be
minimally the main author of original article published in IF ranking
journal and co-author of one or more original papers related to the PhD
project. Before the evaluation of PhD thesis, the students must
successfully pass the governmental oral exam of the studied subject.
The PhD thesis should be written in Czech or English language.
Assessment committees are appointed by the dean of the faculty. The
committee selects the two external persons for independent review. The
PhD student oral presented his scientific results and thesis, reacted to
the report of reviewers and questions by the committee and auditorium.
The secure voting made the results with is approved by the Faculty. In
2009, 158 PhD students successfully graduated on the five medical
faculties. The Charles University is comparable to the Orpheus
standards approved in Denmark in 2009.
Key Words: Charles University of Prague, PhD education
S26
The Charles University in Prague was founded in
1348 and now, including 17 faculties with 52 000
students on different educational levels, important
part of them are PhD students. There are five
medical
schools,
Faculty
of
Pharmacy,
Mathematics and Physics and Natural Sciences.
These Faculties have accredited many PhD
programs focusing on biomedicine. Some medical
schools have clinically oriented PhD programs or
there are comparable programs with medical
specialization and PhD program organized together
with university hospitals (Table 1, 2). A Doctor
degree study programme is focused on scientific
research and independent creative work in the field
of research or development.
The objective of PhD studies is preparation of
graduates of Master degree programmes for
independent work in the sphere of basic and goaldirected research in one of the basic biomedical
fields. The concept of the studies and requirements
in each field are specified by the Field Board,
composed of experts from all participating institutions. For students in doctoral study programmes,
basic profile courses are provided with theoretical
or practical (laboratory) bias. The programme is
available for all Czech or international graduates of
Master degree programmes of university-level
schools who pass the entrance procedures
successfully. Studies in a doctoral study programme
can be in full-time or combined form.
Further studies at the Faculty are provided in
doctoral study programmes in Czech language, and
in selected study programmes in English language
as well. The graduates are awarded the academic
degree “Doctor” (in abbreviation “Ph.D.”, affixed
after their names). Studies in doctoral study
programmes in biomedicine, which are provided by
Charles University in co-operation with the
Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and
relevant institutes of the Ministry of Health of the
Czech Republic, are supervised and evaluated by
the respective Co-ordinating Board of PhD studies
in Biomedicine.
The admission to our PhD programs totally free, it
can be made concurrently after Master's program.
The application includes CV, proofs of education
completed at the Master degree programme level
(or affidavit on being a student in the last year of
studies at the faculty), abstract of the research
project and other relevant documents (e.g. list of
publications, certificates of State Examination in a
language, proof of practical experience, etc.). Our
admission criteria includes the project proposal,
approval of supervisor and the head of department
(declaration of the resources needed to complete the
project). The student is directed by the Supervising
Tutor. The Supervising Tutor’s duties include in
particular assigning the topic of the research work
and prepare the plan for its solution together with
the student.
The Accreditation process of PhD programmes
started at the faculty with preparation of the
programme including the relevances to the research
on the faculty and list of the members of Field
Board for each programme which include the
respected scientists. The proposals for appointment
of members of Field Boards can be submitted to the
Dean by the Scientific Board of the Faculty and
scientific boards of the partner institutions. The
Field Boards submit proposals to the Dean for
composition of entrance procedure boards,
appointment of Supervising Tutors and Consulting
Tutors. They appraise and approve the students’
individual curricula, according to the study
programme stipulate the requirements for the
Doctoral State Examination, propose the members
of the Boards on Defence of Doctoral Dissertations
and Doctoral State Examination Boards, organize
these examinations and defences, organize courses
of lectures and seminars for the students and make
their lists public.
The entry oral exam consists of basic knowledge of
studied subject, knowledge of English and
discussion of proposed PhD project. The criteria for
enrolling the students are - the scientific quality of
the project, the quality of the supervisor
(experienced with PhD education, PhD or an
equivalent degree, researcher which published in
journals with IF).
Standard duration of studies in doctoral study
programmes is four years full time commitment and
scholarship. Maximum duration of studies in a doctoral study programme is eight years, however in
the full-time form they can only be studied for the
period that is equal to the standard duration of
studies in the respective study programme. The
student in a doctoral study programme has the
S27
status of the student to the effect of the Act on
Schools of Higher Education, with all legal and
social consequences thereby ensued. Form of
studies are full-time with scholarship and combined
(while being employed; the employer’s consent
bust be prooved). The stipend was done by
University, our research oriented university fully
granted the enrolling the PhD students. The
stipends will be sufficient as 50% of junior
academics salary. PhD students are selected on the
basis of a competitive and internationally open
process. We have also accredited PhD programs in
English but there is the problem that the stipend
which should not be the supportive living expenses
in our country.
abstracts are submitted in both Czech and English
language. The abstracts must include the goal of the
work, methodology, major findings, summary and
list of author’s publications. For the defence, are
documents must be submitted - record of the
Doctoral State Examination, short curriculum vitae
with basic personal details, the Supervising Tutor’s
opinion on the student and the Dissertation, list of
publications and their possible responses in
quotations.
The PhD thesis – dissertation should be written in
Czech or English language. There is no minimum
standard for pages, some thesis is fully written or
some of them are the comments of publishing
papers. The chairperson and members of the
Doctoral State Examination Board are appointed by
the dean of the faculty, following discussion in the
Field Board as well; one of the members of the
board is the Supervising Tutor as a rule, and at least
one of the members of the board is not a member of
the academic community of the faculty.
Assessment committees are appointed by the dean
of the faculty. The board will establish two
examiners to give their expert opinion –
independent review on the dissertation submitted.
The structure of PhD program contains daily
research and scientific training, international exam
in English, participation on 1 or 2 courses
organized by Field Board of PhD program
(focusing on modern trends in the scientific
disciplines, research management, bioinformatics,
statistics etc.). The students must passing an
examination of English language at the University
Institute for Foreign Languages, State Examination
in the language, or an internationally recognized
language examination (e.g. TOEFL, Cambridge
examination).
The defence of the dissertation is public and oral.
The PhD student presented his scientific results and
thesis, reacted to the report of reviewers and
questions by the committee and auditorium. The
secure voting made the results with is approved by
the Faculty. Successful completion of the studies
requires passing the Doctoral State Examination
and defending a Dissertation. If the board states the
classification as failed, at a time it will decide
whether the dissertation should be revised or
extended; a repeated defence of the dissertation is
possible in six months at the earliest.
During the study the PhD student must be
minimally the main author of original article
published in IF ranking journal and co-author of
one or more original papers related to the PhD
project. The evaluation of students organized
annually by the supervisor and head of the scientific
board of PhD program. This report was approved
by scientific board of the Faculty. Before the
evaluation of PhD thesis, the students must
successfully pass the State oral exam of the studied
subject.
In 2009, 158 PhD students successfully graduated
from the five medical faculties (Table 3). The
Charles University PhD programmes in field of
biomedicine are fully comparable according the
Orpheus standards approved in Denmark in 2009.
The studies are duly completed with the Doctoral
State Examination and the defence of a
Dissertation. The Dissertation is to prove the ability
and skill for independent activity in the field of
research or development, or for independent
theoretical and creative artistic activity. The
Dissertation must contain original and published
results, or results accepted for publication. The
Dissertation is submitted in printed form in four
bound copies and in electronic form on a physical
medium. Together with the Dissertation, its
References:
[1]. Studies and Examination Regulations of
Charles University in Prague (from of 28th
April 2006)
S28
[2]. Rules for Organization of Studies at the First
Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in
Prague
[3]. Rules of Field Boards of PhD Studies in
Biomedicine – Charles University in Prague
[4]. Annual report of Charles University in Prague
– 2009
[5]. Orpheus Standards (Denmark 2009)
Biophysics
Name
Programme
of
1. Molecular and
Cell
Biology,
Genetics
and
Virology
2. Cell Biology
and Pathology
3.
Developmental
and Cell Biology
4.Biochemistry
and
Pathobiochemist
ry
5.Human
Physiology and
Pathophysiology
X
X
2n
d
Fa
c
Me
d
X
X
3r
d
Fa
c
Me
d
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
16. Bioethics
X
X
X
X
19. Psychology
X
20. Antropology
X
21. History of
Medicine*
X
X
X
X
X
22.
Anatomy,
Histology
and
Embryology
X
23.Clinical
Biochemistry
X
24.Clinical
Oncology
and
Radiotherapy
X
25. Dentistry
X
X
X
26.Dermatology
X
27.General
Medicine
X
X
X
X
X
7. Microbiology
X
X
X
8. Neurosciences
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
13. Gerontology
X
X
X
14.
X
X
X
Medical
Fac
Me
d
Pils
en
X
6. Immunology
9. Pharmacology
and Toxicology
10. Experimental
Surgery
11. Preventive
Medicine
12. Biomedical
Informatics
Fac
Med
Hrad
ec
Král
ové
X
17.
Imaging
Methods
in
Medicine
18.
Biomechanics
Table 1. Accredited doctoral study programmes at
Faculties of Medicine Charles University in Prague
1st
Fa
c
Me
d
15. Parasitology
X
S29
28.Gynaecology
and Obstetrics
X
X
29.Hygiene,
Preventive
Medicine
and
Epidemiology
X
X
30.
Internal
Medicine
X
X
31.Medical
Biology
X
32.Medical
Chemistry and
Biochemistry
X
33.Medical
Immunology
Toxicology of Natural Products
X
34.Medical
Microbiology
X
35.Medical
Pharmacology
X
36.Neurology
and Psychiatry
Table 3 - Number of Accredited doctoral study
programmes, students and graduates in Charles
University (Annual Report of Charles University in
Prague 2009)
X
X
37.Ophthalmolo
gy
New
accept
ed
studen
ts
Gradua
ted
students
1st
Faculty
of
Medici
ne
19
1002
160
63
2nd
Faculty
of
Medici
ne
13
385
68
29
3rd
Faculty
of
Medici
ne
13
263
34
12
Faculty
of
Medici
ne
Pilsen
17
160
24
16
Faculty
of
Medici
ne
Hradec
Králov
é
20
271
46
38
Faculty
of
Pharma
cy
3
153
36
31
X
38.Otorhinolaryn
gology
X
39.Paediatrics
X
X
40.Pathology
X
X
41.Physiology
and Pathological
Physiology
X
42.Psychiatry
X
43.Radiology
X
44.Surgery
X
X
X
Table 2. Accredited doctoral study programmes at
Faculty of Pharmacy, Charles University in Prague
Biochemistry –
Pathobiochemistry
Xenobiochemistry
and
Healthcare Bioanalytics – Bioanalytical
Chemistry
Organic
Chemistry
Chemistry
Facult
y
PhD
program
mes
Total
numb
er of
PhD
stude
nts
–
Bioorganic
Pharmacy - Clinical Pharmacy,
Pharmaceutical Analysis,
Pharmaceutical Chemistry,
Pharmaceutical Technology,
Pharmacology and Toxicology,
S30
EDUCATIONAL ARTICLE
System of Research Staff Training in Russian
Federation
Konstantin G. Gurevich,
Nikolay D. Yushuk
Moscow State University of
Medicine and Dentistry,
127473, Delegatskay st., 20/1,
Moscow, Russian Federation
Tomas Zima
First Faculty of Medicine,
Charles University Prague,
Faculty of Medicine Hradec
Králové, Charles University
Prague
[email protected]
Abstract
Russian Federation practices a two-level system of research staff
training comprising postgraduate and doctorate training. Postgraduate
training includes studying in one branches of knowledge, i.e. medicine,
biology, chemistry, pharmacy, psychology, veterinary and so on.
Postgraduate training can be full-time (3 years) or part-time (4 years).
The second level of training (doctorate training) can be full-time only (3
years). Postgraduate training implies preparation for the defense of a
thesis for the degree of Candidate of Sciences, and doctorate training –
for the degree of Doctor of Sciences. The postgraduates’ curriculum
includes courses on history of philosophy and science, a foreign
language, computer science, pedagogy, and in-depth study of the chosen
profession. Upon completion of courses in history of philosophy and
science, a foreign language and health profession, students take their
qualifying examination for the Candidate Degree that proves the
student’s academic qualification. At the same time students are engaged
in their principal research and teaching activities. The process of writing
of a research thesis ends in its public defense, meanwhile the research
results have to be published in national and peer-reviewed press.
Key Words:
Federation
Research training, Post-Graduate training, Russian
Introduction
Research Staff Training in Russian Federation is governed by regulatory
documents of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science, the
Russian Ministry of Public Health and Social Development, and internal
documents of universities or institutes provide such programs. Unlike in
European countries, Russian system of research training is doubleleveled, highly regulated by law and consists ofpostgraduate and
doctorate training. Postgraduate training implies carrying out research
based on an advanced hypothesis and preparation for defense of the
thesis for the degree of Candidate of Sciences, and doctorate training –
for defense of the thesis for the degree of Doctor of Sciences. The
postgraduate degree research shall solve a problem of significant
importance for the relevant branch of knowledge. The aim of the
doctorate research is to develop theoretical statements which as a whole
can be qualified as a new scientific achievement [1].
S31
Postgraduate and doctorate training is governed by
the RF Ministry of Education and Science [2].
Postgraduate training can be considered an
analogue of PhD. At present there are 3 or more
research works in progress that are supposed to be
defended for both the degree of Candidate of
Medical Science and PhD.
FR Ministry of Public Health and Social
Development [3]. The list of specialties is approved
by the FR Ministry of Public Health and Social
Development [4].
Postgraduate Training
Curriculum
Table 1. Full-time
Curriculum [5]
Enrolment for postgraduate training is competition
based. Only graduates of higher educational
institutions having a state-recognized diploma can
be admitted to competition. To be enrolled for
postgraduate training in medico-biologic, veterinary
and pharmaceutical specialties one must have
higher education in the relevant field. To be
enrolled for postgraduate training in clinical
specialties one shall complete a 2-year in-depth
training course in the discipline of specialty
(residency) or have at least 3 years of practical
work experience. State-financed education is
available for RF citizens only, but citizens of
former USSR-countries might free application to
the training courses with costs covered by
themselves. Entrants pass interviews with their
prospective research supervisor; pass examinations
in history of philosophy and science, a foreign
language and their specialty discipline. Usually
provides an opportunity to choose a foreign
language – English, German or French; other EU
languages are not common; Asian languages are not
applicable in field of medicine and biology. The
aim of the examination is to assess the skills
displayed while reading and translation of scientific
texts using a dictionary. The examination in the
specialty discipline is held to assess the entrant’s
knowledge in the chosen field.
Training
Recommended
number of hours
(36 hours
of
auditorium
activity and 54
hours of
full
activity per week)
Foreign
language
100
History
of
philosophy
and science
100
Special
disciplines of
the
chosen
branch
of
science
280
Student teaching (academic
practice)
100
Electives (computer science,
pedagogy and so on)
500
Research work and thesis
5940
Preparation
defense
540
Educational
and
professional
disciplines
Postgraduate training can be either full-time or parttime. The full-time course lasts for 3 years, and
part-time training lasts for 4 years. General
curriculum is shown in Table 1; however, each
postgraduate student has an individual training
schedule agreed with the research supervisor. The
postgraduate educative process includes studying
history of philosophy and science, a foreign
language, computer science, pedagogy, and indepth study of the specialty. The studies content for
general scientific disciplines is approved by the RF
Ministry of Education and Science, and the course
of studies in special disciplines is approved by the
for
the
thesis
Postgraduate training in Russian Federation is
provided in branches of knowledge (medicine,
biology, chemistry, pharmacy, psychology,
veterinary) and specialties inside branch of
knowledge
(stomatology,
obstetrics
and
gynecology, surgery, therapy, etc.). The list of
specialties is approved by the RF Ministry of
Education and Science. The annual number of
postgraduate students in each specialty whose
S32
Postgraduate
training is state-financed is approved by the
Ministry of Public Health and Social Development
or Ministry of Education and Science or local
government. However, the universities and
institutes may offer training on contract basis.
Academic Council
In the second year of studies, postgraduates
complete in-depth study of their special disciplines.
Upon its completion, an examination is held. The
examination procedure and requirements are
approved by the RF Ministry of Education and
Science [6]. In the second year of studies
postgraduates take a special course in pedagogy and
start holding seminars with students. Annual
attestation is also conducted in the second year of
postgraduate studies, in the same manner as in the
first year.
In their first year of studies, postgraduate students
shall establish the subject of their forthcoming
research work. The research subject shall be chosen
based on postgraduate’s and supervisor’s interests
and has to be relevant for the area of research work
conducted by the Chair and/or higher educational
institution. The subject is approved in several steps
(Table 2). Upon completion of the first year of
postgraduate studies, postgraduates have to pass
examinations in history of philosophy and science,
a foreign language, and a credit in computer science
in order to continue their studies. During the first
year, postgraduates shall start an experimental work
(upon obtaining a permit from the Ethics
Committee) and perform a review of literature
related to the research subject. The Attestation
Commission is formed annually. It is in charge of
verifying postgraduates’ works compliance with
individual curricula.
Postgraduates start their research work from the
first year of study. Its subject and scope shall be
determined by the research supervisor. It is
specified by the Ministry of Education and Science
that thesis research results shall be published in
national press, at that at least 3 articles shall be
published in journals included in the special list
(peer-reviewed journals having high impact factor)
[7]. This list of Russian-language journals is
available on-line [8]; foreign journals should be
listed in one or more of the following citation
indices: Web of Science: Science Citation Index
Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, Arts and
Humanities Citation Index.
Table 2: Principal Steps of Research Subject
Approval
Step
Description
Approval
of
the
research subject at the
Chair meeting
To determine whether the
chosen subject agrees
with Chairs’ research
work
Patent search
To determine the degree
of ingenuity and novelty
of the future research
work from the scientific
point of view; to assess
registrability
of
the
research subject
Basic
Research
Commission of the
higher
educational
institution
To determine conformity
of the chosen subject with
research work conducted
by the higher educational
institution
Ethics Committee
Ethical expertise of the
future research
The results of postgraduate studies are assessed by
public approbation (pre-defense) of the thesis in the
3rd year of studies. Representatives of at least 3
chairs shall take part in such pre-defense. Its aim is
to define if the resulting conclusions and practical
recommendations of the thesis are valid and it can
be presented for public defense. Usually thesis and
public defense are going in Russian; sometimes
national languages of RF or former USSR-countries
are applicable, but in this case the abstract have to
be in Russian.
Not later than one month before the defense date,
the thesis summary (abstract) shall be sent out to
the leading higher educational institutions and
research institutes in the country, and also posted
on the official site of the Academic Council.
Defense of the thesis is held as an open discussion.
All defense-related materials are submitted to a
special Attestation Commission of the RF Ministry
of Education and Science that verifies their
S33
Public discussion of the
future research
compliance with all formal requirements and also
resolves any arising disputes. The decision of the
Commission on granting academic degrees shall be
final and binding.
[2]. Order No. 814 of the RF Ministry of
General and Professional Education dated
27.03.1998 on Approval of the Regulation
on Training of Scientific and Teaching
Staff
within
the
Framework
of
Postgraduate Professional Education in the
Russian Federation
Doctorate Training
The list of specialties for doctorate training is
approved by the RF Ministry of Education and
Science. The 3-year course is a full-time one.
Training is state financed and approved by the
Ministry of Public Health and Social Development
or Ministry of Education and Science on annual
basis.
[3]. Letter No. 155-VS of the Deputy Minister
of Health V.I. Starodubov dated
15.01.2007 on Training of Health Care
Professionals
[4]. Order No. 553 of the Ministry of Public
Health and Social Development dated
20.08.2007 on Introduction of Changes
and Amendments to Order No. 337 of the
RF Ministry of Public Health dated
20.08.1999
“On
Nomenclature
of
Specialties in Health Care Institutions of
the Russian Federation"
To be admitted to doctorate persons must hold the
degree of Candidate of Sciences. Training is based
on individual curricula that combine teaching and
research activities. The subject of the research is
established in the first year of doctorate as it is done
for postgraduates training. Thesis approbation and
then its public defense take place in the third
training year.
[5]. The RF Ministry of Education. Temporary
Requirements to the Basic Educational
Programme of Postgraduate Education in
Branch 14.00.00 “Medical Sciences”.
Moscow, 2002
There are also some differences in requirements to
public defense of doctorate theses. Thus, at least 15
articles shall be published in journals included in
the special list (peer-reviewed journals with a high
impact factor). The abstract shall be posted on the
special site of the RF Ministry of Education and
Science and the thesis itself shall be posted on the
site of the Academic Council not later than 3
months before the supposed defense date. Besides,
a defense announcement shall be published in a
special release of the RF Ministry of Education and
Science.
[6]. Order No. 696 of the RF Ministry of
Education dated 17.02.2004 on Approval
of the List of Examinations for the Degree
of Candidate of Sciences
[7]. Resolution No. 38/54 of the Presidium of
the Higher Attestation Commission of the
Ministry of Education and Science of
Russia dated 10 October 2008
Conclusion
[8]. http://vak.ed.gov.ru/common/img/uploade
d/files/vak/enumeration/per-04-2008-1.doc
Thus, the system of research training in Russian
Federation is substantially different from the
European one. Participation of international experts
in further development of postgraduate research
training can be useful to establish more transparent
and understandable research qualifications.
References
[1]. Regulation No. 74 of the Government of
the Russian Federation dated 30.01.2002.
Regulation on the Procedure of Academic
Degrees Granting
S34
EDUCATIONAL ARTICLE
An Overview of the Doctoral Education in Health
Sciences in Turkey
Hakan S. Orer
Institute of HealthSciences,
Hacettepe University,Sıhhiye
06100 Ankara, Turkey
+90-312-305 1091
+90-312-309 3190
[email protected]
Abstract
Growing interest in Turkish science is an evidence of the increased
visibility of the country in the global arena. Turkey has increased its
global share of scientific output from 0.7% in 2000 to 1.9% in 2009.
Since 1990s, universities have adopted promotion rules that require
academics to publish in ISI-indexed journals. Biomedical research
dominates Turkish research, akin to West Europe. Therefore, graduate
education in health sciences could serve as a vantage point to monitor
the overall research activity. There are more than 60 graduate study
institutes in Turkey that are responsible for the administration of MSc
and PhD programs in health sciences. The number of universities has
grown fast in the last 20 years and there is a considerable gap to fill
academic positions.
Turkey performs better than average in implementing the Bologna
principles, including ECTS. Doctoral education in Turkey was modeled
after the US system. A typical study consists of a course period,
qualifying exam and followed by the thesis work that lasts overall 4
years (8 semesters) with a possible extension of 2 years (4 semesters).
Admission is competitive and transparent. The Higher Education
Council (HEC) sets the base admission criteria, rather than universities.
Although there is no such a formal distinction, doctorate studies in
health sciences could be divided into 2 broad categories: research
Doctorates and professional/applied Doctorates. Most graduates who
later wish to pursue an academic career publish their thesis works in
indexed journals. Publication incentive is low in some fields where
overrated professional expectations result in lower quality theses.
According to recent HEC rules, at least 5 academics (1 full professor)
are needed to start a Doctorate program. However, stringent criteria are
needed to assess the institutional research environment.
Keywords: Third cycle, PhD, research, education strategy, graduate
school
The organization for PhD Education in Biomedicine and Health
Sciences (ORPHEUS) is a relatively young pan-European platform,
which establishes a common understanding among faculty members on
doctoral education in the field of allied health sciences [1]. The mobility
of the qualified workforce, especially the researchers, is a strategic issue
to maintain the competitiveness of the greater European region
(covering the so-called Bologna Area) facing stiff competition from
East Asia to Latin America and the Pacific Rim. The creation of a
European Higher Education Area (EHEA) together with the European
Research Area (ERA) has urged the member countries to incorporate
the principles of the Bologna Process and the European Qualifications
Framework into their national legislations. Regarding higher education,
S35
the overall compliance to the Bologna Process in
the last two decades is promising, especially up to
the level of the second cycle, which corresponds to
the master’s degree. In that sense, Turkey’s grade
marks are generally above the average [2].
Considering the emphasis put in integration, it is
not surprising that there is a growing interest for
building research networks, as well as student
exchange schemes, such as Erasmus. However, the
third cycle, which corresponds to the doctorate
(PhD) degree, is still a matter of debate since the
determination of outcomes is largely dependent on
the level of research in a particular institution[3]. It
is neither feasible nor desirable to sculpt the
researchers based on a fixed prototype. The culture,
as well as training priorities and trainee
backgrounds, is different in different countries and
a successful research environment as large as
Europe requires the transfer of not only the
knowledge and skills, but also the culture and
lifestyle. Therefore, a fundamental problem related
to the mobility of researchers is how to assess the
quality of their training and to assure that they have
acquired the necessary skills (both core and
specific) for subsequent career paths.
increased more than 15 fold to reach 318 in 2008
[6]. It is obvious that the number of publications
has increased at a pace higher than the world
average and Turkey’s share in the global scientific
publications jumped from 0.08 in 1981 to 1.56% in
2006 [7]. As a result, Turkey’s rank in scientific
publications has risen from 44th position in 1986 to
19th, in 2006 [8]. Growing interest in Turkish
science is an evidence of the increased visibility of
the country in the global arena. Clinical and health
sciences fields account for 32.8% of all
publications. Allied social sciences contributed with
a meager 2.5% over a period of 25 years. Turkey
was qualified as “medium-sized scientific
producer” in the European Report on Science &
Technology Indicators that covers 1995-99 period
[9]. According to the report, countries were roughly
clustered into 4 groups following the publication
patterns: (i) biomedical research dominant (e.g.,
UK, USA, Western Europe), (ii) engineering
dominant (e.g., Japan, Taiwan, S. Korea), (iii)
physics-chemistry dominant (e.g., Russia, former
Communist-Bloc countries), (iv) environmental &
agricultural research dominant (e.g., New Zealand,
Ireland).The Turkish research pattern is similar to
the biomedical research dominant, West European
pattern.Therefore, graduate education in health
sciences could serve as a vantage point to monitor
the overall research activity.
Here, a global description of Turkish “third cycle”
i.e., doctoral, education in health sciences will be
given in conjunction with the recent developments
on the scientific research output of the country. As
stated in ORPHEUS Aarhus position paper, handson research is the mainstay of a PhD thesis [4].
Therefore, any assessment of doctoral education is
unequivocally related to the scientific research
capacity of the country as a whole.
The number of citations also increased at an
exponential rate in the last 25 years. Total number
of citations may not give an adequate picture of the
research impact. Normalized mean citation rate
(NMCR) was used to assess the quality of
publications in a specific field, whereas relative
citation rate (RCR), the ratio of the observed
citations over journal impact factor, was used as an
index of how a publication is ranked compared to
other publications from the same journal [10].
Although, in a report by Karasözen, Turkish
publications in the fields of clinical medicine,
agriculture,
pharmacology
&
pharmacy,
engineering, botanic & zoology and environmental
sciences & ecology obtained NMCR values above
zero, Glänzel pointed out that despite the increase
in RCR over the years, NMCR failed to follow [10,
11]. Presently, it looks like Turkish publications are
on the rise in both volume and quality; however,
there is room for improvement to attain the global
field-specific standards and in that sense, health
sciences are not an exception.
Turkey is an emerging economy aspiring to become
a global player by 2023. To reach this goal, she has
to transform herself into an innovation-based and
research-driven economy. A prerequisite for this
endeavor is to increase the overall scientific output.
In mid 1990s, starting from the “elite” universities
in Ankara and Istanbul, universities have adopted
bylaws that require academics to publish in peerreviewed journals indexed by the Institute of
Scientific Information (ISI) to be promoted in
academia. That decision has changed the landscape
of Turkish science. For example, the number of
publications from Hacettepe University Faculty of
Medicine jumped from 152 to 237 (56% increase)
in a single year [5]. Starting from 1990, the number
of published papers per million people has also
S36
In 1973, there were only nine universities (all
public) in Turkey. This number reached 19 in 1981,
and in 2009 there were 154 universities (102 public,
52 private foundation-owned). At this point, all
provinces in Turkey have at least one public
university. In the same time period, population has
also increased from 38 million to 73 million.In the
2008-9 academic year, to Student Selection and
Placement Center (OSYM) figures, there were
approximately 3 million university students in
Turkey [12]. Some 110thousand students are
enrolled in master’s programs, and a meager 35
thousand in doctoral programs. Undergraduate vs.
postgraduate ratio is definitively in favor of the
undergraduate studies. Compared to other OECD
member countries, unemployment rate is high
(6.9% in 2008) among university graduates.
Although poor education quality and failure to meet
the market demand are seemingly the main causes,
the lack of demand for professionals with science
and technology degrees also contributes to the high
unemployment levels. This point has been made in
OECD reports [13]. According to OSYM, the total
number of doctorate graduates has increased at a
staggering 35% per year during the first half of
1980s. Starting from 2000s, the rate of increase
receded and the output has reached a plateau of
around 2500-3000 graduates per year [12]. In the
field of health sciences, that number has increased
almost ten- fold to reach 500-550 graduates per
year. The number of graduates from medical
specialty programs has also increased. Although the
rate of increase was lower than that of the doctorate
graduates, the existing gap, between doctorate
graduates and specialists has widened due to fivefold larger numbers of graduates in specialty
programs. In addition to universities, research and
training hospitals are also involved in specialty
training. As a result, in the last 25 years, the
specialist/doctorate ratio is further widening favor
specialist physicians [12]. If one considers that
specialist physiciansconstitute the backbone of
health care, this is indeed expected. However, in
Turkey there is also the possibility of getting
specialty training in basic medical sciences such as
anatomy, physiology, histology and pharmacology,
which are traditionally the domain of doctoral
education. For example, in pharmacology most of
the graduates are from specialty training programs.
Although in many ways specialty-training curricula
are similar to doctoral education, it is much less
structured and not adequately supervised. Besides,
thesis work does not have the same standards as
doctoral education. There is a correlation between
the number of researchers with doctorate degrees
and scientific research and between scientific
research and wealth.The increase in scientific
research potential goes hand in hand with the
increase in the number of researchers with
doctorate degrees.Among OECD members, Turkey
ranks just above Iceland and Mexico in the number
of doctorate graduates [13]. However, the increase
in the number of researchers during the last decade
(more than 12%) is the highest among OECD
countries [13].
Administrative structure of Turkish universities is a
mixture of continental faculty and North American
department systems. Like all hybrid models, it is
partly more efficient, partly not. Field-specific
(health sciences, natural sciences and social
sciences) graduate institutes have been founded for
the administration of master’s and doctorate
programs as required by lawwhereas departments
are founded under faculties. When a graduate
program is established, the department also
becomes affiliated to the graduate institute.
However, there are exceptions to the rule, in some
universities, some programs are unified under the
graduate school. Two or more departments residing
in different faculties jointly run such programs. In
addition, there is also another motif called “research
institutes”, which have their own graduate degree
programs. In that case, the research institute is
considered a department of the graduate institute
and the graduate institutes for health sciences
administer its programs. It is also possible to
establish departments proper to a graduate institute
to administer multidisciplinary programs. Such
diversity in departmental organization also causes
the fragmentation of disciplines across faculties.
Duplications of departments, such as multiple
physiology or pharmacology in the same university
are not uncommon. Fragmentation and duplication
result in isolation and confinement of the
departments and reduce thesis quality. The
distribution of programs and students according to
disciplines was given in Table 1. In a total of 1165
programs, medicine takes the biggest share in both
the number of programs and students. Medicine,
veterinary medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and
nursing constitute of 80% of all programs. The
number of students enrolled in master’s and
S37
doctorate programs are close so that
master’s/doctorate ratio is equal to 1.04.
the
in scientific publications and proliferation of
universities, the increase in the number of graduates
from doctorate programs was modest. Several
reports pointed out this weakness [15, 16].
Doctorate studies require a well-established
research environment. The fact that there was no
strong correlation with the increase in publications
and the number of graduates suggests that the
incentive for scientific research was not linked to
graduate education. Arguably, this point could be
attributed to one of the fundamental shortfalls of
Turkish
higher
education:
university
administrations consider doctorate studies an
educational rather than a research activity.
However, European Universities Association cites
doctorate theses and supervision activities in
research performance indicators [17]. As
universities mushrooming, there is an increasing
pressure to establish graduate programs before even
the necessary infrastructure and human resources
investments were made. This has a negative effect
on the quality of education. Recently, HEC has
taken measures to prevent the establishment of new
graduate programs in universities where human
resources are not adequate. According to new
regulations, at least five faculty members (one
being a full professor) should be assigned to a
doctorate program to allow student enrollment.
Similarly, three faculty members are needed for
Master’s programs. These rules are effective from
June 2011. The strategy behind this is to force
universities to establish joint-degree programs. It is
hoped that the more developed universities in the
top three cities; Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir, will
foster newly founded provincial universities.
Table 1: Distribution of graduate programs
(master’s and doctorate) in health sciences across
disciplines. Numbers are expressed as percentage of
the total. Data year is 2006 (Obtained from [14])
Disciplines
Number of
Programs
(%)
Medicine
43
Number
of
Students
(%)
30
Veterinary medicine
16
15
Dentistry
12
15
Pharmacy
11
12
Nursing
11
14
Sports sciences
4
9
Physiotherapy and
rehabilitation
Others
1
2
2
3
All program proposals should be reviewed and
approved by the Higher Education Council (HEC),
prior to accepting students. The total number of
academic personnel serving in universities is about
105 thousand, and only 42 thousand of them hold a
doctorate degree.It is clear that the current capacity
is not sufficient to fill all academic positions in
newly founded universities. To meet the demand,
efforts are needed to train research-oriented highly
motivated doctoral candidates.This alone is a strong
incentive to establish new graduate programs.
Moreover, a sustainable development in scientific
research is possible only with the concomitant
development of human resources and work
environment. According to a report prepared by a
commission to Medicine and Health Sciences
Deans’ Council in 2008, there are 60 institutes of
health sciences in Turkey[14]. Despite the increase
Student mobility is thought to be an important
emancipator for young researchers. As a general
policy, universities unanimously support student
exchange programs at undergraduate level.
Nevertheless, as departments prefer keeping
graduate students within their reach, this attitude
has not been reflected in graduate education.
Several agreements, which include the exchange of
doctorate students, have been signed between
Turkish and European Universities within the
framework of Erasmus. In addition, to promote
provincial universities and bring about junior
faculty members, HEC has developed several
programs to enhance student mobility. One such
incentive called “Al-Farabi Program”, the local
version of Erasmus. Another one is the “junior
S38
academic formation program”, in which universities
signed bilateral agreements and send promising
graduate students to more developed universities
for entire doctorate studies with a stipend and a
grant for thesis research. Parent and host
universities supervise theses jointly. After
graduation, students return to their parent
universities and start working with a seeding grant
as junior faculty member. It should also be noted
that Turkey is one of the countries sending more
students studying abroad (both undergraduate and
graduate levels).
doctorate degree with expertise in the research area
in which the candidate is working on. Asupervisor
is expected (i)to provide guidance and support for
the candidatein every step of the thesis work
starting from the proposal; (ii)to support and
discuss his/her academic progress; (iii) to meet with
the student on a regular basis and (iv) to evaluate
the candidate’s progress and report it to the
graduate school. Thesis work is conjointly
monitored by a three-member steering committee,
which consists of three faculty members including
the supervisor. The committee is responsible for the
proper implementation of the thesis proposal and
sends interim reports to the graduate school with a
clear recommendation on the progress. If the
progress is not found satisfactorytwice,the student
is dismissed from the program. Upon completion of
the dissertation, students have to defend it before a
five-member panel (one being external). The
purpose of a doctoral study is to acquire necessary
skills to embark on an independent scientific
research activity. A doctorate thesis should meet at
least one of the following criteria: (i) a discovery in
a scientific/scholarly field; (ii) development of a
new scientific/scholarly method; (iii) application of
a known method to a new field or to a new
situation. Some universities have bylaws requiring
submission of a manuscript to a peer-reviewed
journal prior to the defence. Until 2011, a doctoral
study has to be completed within a given
timeframe. However, a new law (Law Nr. 6111,
dated 2011) ended that rule. It is also possible for a
student to apply for the so-called “integrated”
doctoral program after receiving abachelor’s
degree. In this case, students have to complete
theirmaster’s courses in two semesters before
starting doctoral study.
The Council for Higher Education has defined the
national framework for graduate studies as
stipulated in Higher Education Act of 1981 (Law
Nr. 2547). Besides, universities have their own
regulations and guidelines to govern the doctoral
studies. All candidates have to take a nationwide
graduate study entrance exam (ALES) and a foreign
language proficiency test (KPDS) to apply for a
doctorate program. Candidates apply directly to the
programs to which they want to enrol, and then
universities invite the candidates for an interview.
Student placement is made using a formula based
on weighted average of the scores obtained in
ALES, KPDS, interview and GPA (of the former
study). Coefficients for ALES and KPDS are
higher than that of the interview, so that nationwide
ranking of the student determines the outcome of
the selection process.
Doctoral education in Turkey was modelled after
the US system and consists of two consecutive
periods. In the first period, students are required to
take a minimum of seven-credit hours for three
semesters (a total of seven courses, 21 credits
minimum which corresponds to 90 ECTS credits).
A tutor is assigned to each candidate to provide
guidance and help during the course period. When a
student successfully completes the first stage, s/he
has to take a qualifying exam to pursue the
doctorate thesis work. A panel of five examiners, at
least one external, conducts the qualifying exam.
Students then proceed with the second period,
which is the thesis work. Normally, this period lasts
four semesters, with a possible extension of up to 4
semesters. A thesis supervisor (usually same as the
tutor) is assigned to the candidate with the
recommendation of the department chair and the
approval of the graduate school board. The
supervisor has to be a faculty member holding a
Doctorate study is considered uniform across
disciplines. Nevertheless, outcomes reflect cultural
and professional differences in every discipline.
Since specialization in medicine has professional
benefits, there is a tendency in other disciplines to
consider doctoral education a form of professional
development, similar to specialty training. As a
result, in many allied health sciences disciplines,
such as nursing, dentistry and veterinary medicine
doctoral education has shifted from being researchoriented to professional development-oriented.
Fragmentation of the disciplines also contributes to
that phenomenon and further reduces the thesis
quality.Publications out of a department could be
S39
used as a surrogate marker to assess the research
environment in that establishment. If a department
has a prolific publication record, large academic
personnel and student appeal, it can be concluded
that it is fit for doctoral education. The number of
published articles per graduate was highest in
pharmacy (15.6), followed by medicine (10.9),
veterinary medicine (6.5), physiotherapy and
rehabilitation (3.1), nursing (1.28) and sports
science (0.7). This ranking correlates well with the
shift from research to professional doctorate [14].
promotes professional development. Although most
graduates who later wish to pursue an academic
career publish their thesis works in indexed
journals. Publication incentive is low where private
earning expectations of the graduates are high. This
“specialization versus research” dilemma could be
taken as “research dilution”. These diluting factors
all together have a negative impact on the quality of
doctorate study, yet they are instrumental in
developing the other parts of the country and
serving the people. In the future, the quality of
Turkish higher education in general, and that of the
doctoral education in health sciences in particular,
will be determined by the balance of these opposing
forces, either diluting or concentrating the precious
human resources.
In conclusion, the landscape of doctoral education
in Turkey is subject to a rapid transformation in line
with social and economic changes. As cities located
in Anatolia claim their share from the economic
development and integrate into the global
community, there is an increasing demand for
higher education and research. However, scientific
research, human resources and social-life are still
concentrated in top three big cities. Currently 64%
of all scientific publications and 57% of all exports
(2010) originate from these three cities [18, 19].
One third of the population and 50% of all faculty
members in health sciences live in these cities as
well [14]. From a global perspective, such a
concentration is a must for developing a strong
researchbase and attracts talent that is crucial for an
innovation-based economy. Indeed, most graduate
programs in health sciences residing in big cities
are getting more competitive and meet the universal
criteria. The development of a quality culture and
the acquisition of high values and standards need an
incubation time. However, as an emerging country,
contradicting factors influence the direction of
Turkish higher education system. Contrastingly, the
government also needs to spread higher education
to other parts of the vast country hungry for
development. The rapid proliferation of universities
stretches the resources that would otherwise be
allocated to large metropolitan areas. Such a
phenomenon could be termed as “geographical
dilution”. There is not a true “elite” university
system in Turkey. However, there are efforts to
differentiate the needs of newly founded
universities from the more established ones.
Moreover, the fragmentation of the disciplines,
which led the isolation and confinement of faculty
members, could be considered “administrative
dilution”. In addition, there is also the tendency to
award professional doctorates in applied fields that
diminishes the value of original research and
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S40
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S41
EDUCATIONAL ARTICLE
Current Status of PhD Education in Biomedicine
and Health Sciences in Pakistan
Prof. Dr. Abdul Haque
Abstract
Principal Scientist, Health
Biotechnology Division,
National Institute for
Biotechnology & Genetic
Engineering, (NIBGE),
Faisalabad, Pakistan
In 2003, Higher Education Commission (HEC) under the chairmanship
of Dr. Ataur Rehman replaced the existing body UGC. It has completely
revolutionized higher education in Pakistan. During last 8 years, number
of new universities has increased from 82 to 133 with enrolment
jumping from 135,000 in the 2003 to 400,000 in 2008. Nearly 5000
Ph.D. scholarships have been awarded for studies abroad beside 3,000
indigenous Ph.D. scholarships. As a result international research
publications from Pakistan increased from 600 in 2003 to 4300 research
papers in 2008. The World Bank has termed it as "Silent Revolution".
Although in biomedical subjects taught in universities, the ultimate goal
is Ph. D. nearly 200 Ph. D.s have been produced during this period, in
purely medical institutes (69 undergraduate and 5 postgraduates) the
focus after MBBS* is on FCPS** and MCPS*** instead. There are
almost110,000 registered doctors at present in Pakistan and nearly
20,000 have FCPS/MCPS diplomas, but there are not more than 300 M.
Phil. and 30 PhD.s. There are no PhD. dentists or nurses in Pakistan.
There is clearly a lack of will to direct this system towards doctoral
studies.
Adjunct Professor, Quaid-iAzam University, Islamabad
and PIEAS University,
Islamabad
Key Words: Higher education, PhD programs, medical education
General status of Higher Education in Pakistan
All higher education including medical education is controlled by HEC
(Higher Education Commission) which under the chairmanship of Dr.
Ataur Rehman replaced existing body UGC (University Grant
Commission) in 2003. It has completely revolutionized higher education
in Pakistan. During last 8 years, number of new universities has
increased from 82 to 133 with enrolment jumping from 135,000 in the
2003 to 400,000 in 2008. Nearly 5000 PhD scholarships have been
awarded for studies abroad beside 3,000 indigenous PhD scholarships
[1]. As a result international research publications from Pakistan
increased from 600 in 2003 to 4300 research papers in 2008.
HEC also established one of the finest digital libraries in the world.
Every student in every public sector university today has access to
45,000 textbooks research monographs from 220 international
publishers as well as to 25,000 international research journals. Up to
2003, there was no Pakistani university in top 600 but now there are five
with highest rating of 350 [2].
S42
The total number of PhDs produced increased from
3308 in 2002 to 6551 in 2009. The number of
students completing PhD in 2002 was 276, whereas
the figure for 2009 was 761. Similarly enrolment of
PhD students increased from 2500 in 2002 to 8200
in 2009 [2]. Nearly 20% of PhDs produced is from
biomedical
sciences
mainly
biochemistry,
microbiology and molecular biology. More than
95% students are not medical doctors [2].
requirements and universities may make them more
stringent [2].
Medical education in Pakistan
Pakistan has a reasonable medical infrastructure. In
a population of 159 million, there are nearly
120,000 doctors and 20,000 specialists. Similarly
the medical education is on strong footing. There
are 69 undergraduate and 5 postgraduate institutes.
There are numerous centres of excellence devoted
to single specialties such as cardiovascular disease,
endocrinology, ophthalmology, neuroscience, and
mental health [3].
Basic medical degree is MBBS (Bachelor in
Medicine Bachelor is Surgery). Its duration is 5
years (after 12 year education) + 1 year house job.
Main theme of medical specialization is MCPS
(Member of College of Physicians and Surgeons) or
FCPS (Fellow of College of Physicians and
Surgeons). Basic requirement for MCPS is two year
hospital training before examination. For FCPS,
Part 1 examination can be taken anytime after
MBBS, but for becoming eligible for Part 2
examination 4 years hospital training is
compulsory. MCPS/FCPS are offered for all
clinical subjects. [3] College of Physicians and
Surgeons of Pakistan (which is independent of
HEC) invites external examiners for final
examinations, mostly from UK royal colleges but
also from Australia, Singapore, and New Zealand.
[4] For teaching in basic subjects (anatomy,
biochemistry,
pharmacology,
physiology,
microbiology and pathology) the course is different.
Basic qualification is MBBS or MSc/MS. The
available specialization is MPhil or PhD. More than
90% specialists are MPhil because medical
universities are generally not capable of coming up
to the criteria laid out by HEC.
There are 11 medical universities in public and
private sectors with 74 associated institutes but not
more than 300 MPhil and 30 PhD are associated
with medical teaching. PhDs constitute only 0.42%
of the total staff [2].
PhD program
For admission to PhD, minimum CGPA 3.0 (out of
4.0 in the Semester System) or First Division (in the
Annual System) in M.Phil/M.S/Equivalent is
required. A subject test conducted by the National
Testing Service (NTS), Pakistan or ETS, USA in
the area of specialization chosen at the PhD level
must be cleared prior to admission for the PhD
Program. In GAT (graduate assessment test) and
GRE subject test at least 60% marks or percentile
score are required. If the Test is not available in
NTS subject list, a University Committee consisting
of at least 3 PhD faculty members in the subject
area and approved by the HEC will conduct the
Test at par with GRE Subject Test and qualifying
score for this will be 70% score [2].
Course work of 18 credit hours preferably in the
first year is required to be completed. It is followed
by a comprehensive examination for granting
candidacy as PhD researcher. Time period from
admission to thesis submission is 4 to 6 years. The
PhD Dissertation must be evaluated by at least two
PhD experts from technologically/ academically
advanced foreign countries in addition to local
Committee members. An open defense of
Dissertation is essential part of PhD Program after
positive evaluation. Acceptance/publication of at
least one research paper in an HEC approved
journal is a requirement for the award of PhD
degree. The Plagiarism Test must be conducted on
the Dissertation before its submission to the foreign
experts [2].
To launch a PhD Program there should be at least 3
relevant full time PhD Faculty membersin a
department. The maximum number of PhD students
under the supervision of a full time faculty member
is 5 which may be increased to 8 for those who
have produced at least 2 PhDs and have an impact
factor of more than 20. These are minimum HEC
S43
Teaching staff in medical institutes (%)
70
64.85
60
50
Ph. D
M. Phil.
FCPS/MCPS
MBBS
40
31.42
30
20
10
0.42
3.2
0
1
In dentistry, almost every medical college has a
dental section. There are independent dental
colleges as well. But none of these colleges offer
Ph.D. There is one PhD dental surgeon in the
faculty of Aga Khan University[6].
The largest medical university in public sector is
University of Health Sciences, Lahore. It has
produced 5 PhD and 123 MPhil since it inception
nearly 5 years ago. Currently 8 students are
enrolled in PhD. There are only 10 PhD (mainly in
Biochemistry and Microbiology) in a teaching staff
of nearly 3500 [5].
In sports science, only University of Punjab, Lahore
offers Masters Degree [9].
The largest medical university in private sector is
Aga Khan University, Karachi. It is a world class
university. There is no PhD program as yet but it
has 39 PhD faculty members among a total of 464
[6].
References:
[1]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_Education
_Commission_of_Pakistan
[2]. www.hec.gov.pk/
[3]. http://www.pmdc.org.pk/
Paramedical education in Pakistan:
In psychology, there are three institutes. Institute
for Professional Psychology Karachi has a PhD
program since 2000. [7] National Institute of
Psychology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad
also offers PhD[8].
[4].
[5].
[6].
[7].
[8].
[9].
There are 12 nursing institutes throughout the
country but the training provided is only up to
Bachelor level. Aga Khan University Nursing
School is an exception which has a Masters course
[6].
S44
BMJ 2004; 328 :779
http://www.uhs.edu.pk/
http://www.aku.edu/
http://ipp.bahria.edu.pk
www.qau.edu.pk/
www.pu.edu.pk
EDUCATIONAL ARTICLE
PhD Education in Bulgaria
Diana Petkova
Abstract
Institute of Biophysics and
Biomedical Engineering,
Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
The PhD education in Bulgaria is the third degree of high education
after bachelor and MC degrees. Every year Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences and Universities educate about 1000 PhD students. From
them about 120 are in Health sciences and biomedicine. The main
Universities which educate PhD students are Medical Universities in
Sofia, Varna, Plovdiv and Bulgarian academy of Sciences. PhD thesis
might be in biosciences, clinical medicine and social medicine. Each
institute and University which has permission for education of PhD
students has special rules for obligatory numbers of credits. These
credits are necessary for the successful termination of PhD education.
These numbers are different for the different Research Institutes and
Universities but they are usually about 250. These credits are from
three educational modules such as:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Common special education. This module includes successful
pass of two special courses on methodology and theory of each
PhD thesis.
Individual special education which is planned by the mentor of
PhD student.
Common academic education which include computer skills
and foreign language.
Mentor of PhD student is allowed to be only Assoc. Prof or
Full Professor.
The other credits come from publications and participation in scientific
forums.
Lecturers are well-known professors who are teaching courses on
modern methods and on recent results in the science or in
interdisciplinary science which is connected with the PhD thesis of the
student. The lecturers might be from the host university or from other
Institute or University. There are some PhD schools organized by
Universities and Research Institute for successful education of the
students. Such kind of schools are organized already in Sofia
University, Bulgarian academy of Sciences, Plovdiv University, Varna
Medical University, Medical University of Sofia. These courses are
about 30 lectures. A PhD student is allowed to defense his PhD thesis
when he finishes experiments and has fulfilled these 250 credits.
According to the new Bulgarian Law PhD students defend their PhD
thesis before a jury formed of 5 persons, who are Assoc. or Full
professors. They choose two reviewers and everyone of the scientific
jury evaluates the PhD student report.
Key Words: PhD education, Bologna declaration and Bulgaria
S45
Bulgaria has signed the Bologna declaration and the
rules
for
PhD
education
follow
the
recommendations of this document. Every year
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Universities
educate about 1100 PhD
students. From them
about 120 are in Health sciences and biomedicine.
The main Universities which educate PhD students
are Medical Universities in Sofia, Varna, Plovdiv
and Bulgarian academy of Sciences. PhD thesis
might be in biosciences, clinical medicine and
social medicine. For 2010 year the PhD students are
divided in different health sciences as follows:
Traumatology
1
Urology
2
Gynecology
4
Cardiology
3
Pediatrics
7
Social medicine
9
General Dental medicine
1
Science
Number of students
Children’s dental medicine
1
Molecular biology
4
Internal medicine
1
Genetics
2
General medicine
1
Molecular Genetics
1
Dermatology
1
Biochemistry
2
Children’s surgery
1
Microbiology
2
Pharmacology
1
Physiology
1
2
The rules in Bulgaria for PhD education are one
and the same in medical and biological sciences.
Immunology
5
Gastroenterology
3
Neurology
3
Endocrinology
4
Rheumatology
1
The PhD education in Bulgaria is the third degree
of high education after bachelor and MSc degree.
The PhD education is a research-based degree. This
level of education degree is based on the
combination of strong base of theoretical
knowledge with an individual focus to conducted
research. The purpose of this form of education is
to increase the knowledge of the student to higher
level which allows him:
Neurology
12
Psychiatry
8
Medical radiology
2
Infection diseases
5
Otolaryngology
1
Ophthalmology
7
General surgery
8
Anesthesiology
9
Parasitology
helminthology
and
S46
-
To understand and discuss the obtained
experimental data
-
To develop, apply and modify new
methods in the research
-
To develop new ideas which lead to new
original scientific results in their
investigations and to carry out independent
scientific work
-
To work in team and to take part in
scientific discussions
-
The result of their investigations might
have economical, scientific or social
outcome.
Lecturers of these courses are well-known
professors who are teaching courses on modern
methods and recently obtained results in the
science or in interdisciplinary science which is
connected with the PhD thesis of the student.
These courses are about 30 hour-lectures. There are
some seminars on education of writing proposals,
scientific publications, planning of the experiment,
preparation of PhD thesis, oral presentations of his
own results and scientific papers from other topics
of sciences. The lecturers might be from the host
university or from other Institute or University.
There are some PhD schools organized by
Universities and Research Institutes for successful
education of the students. Such kind of schools are
organized already in Sofia University, Bulgarian
academy of Sciences, Plovdiv University,
Technical University in Russe with the financial
support of EC social program and Bulgarian
Science Fund. The aim of such kind of school is
also to support promising students with good
achievements in their education and research work.
The procedure for PhD education in Bulgaria
follows several rules. To became a PhD student
one is required to pass two exams before a special
commission for evaluation of candidates choosed
by the organization which have announced for
PhD student. This commission is consistent from
three members who are Assoc. Prof. at least. One
of the exams is on a special subject connected
with the research area of the PhD thesis of the
candidate and the other on foreign language
choosed by the candidate. The special exam is
from two parts. The first part is consisting in
writing a report on two questions and then the
candidate has to discuss them before the
commission. Then the commission takes the
decision if this candidate is suitable for PhD
student or not. Supervisor of a PhD student is
allowed to be only an Assoc. Prof or a Full
Professor who has ongoing research project.
During the PhD education the student is allow to be
a supervisor of MSc or Bs students and to be a
lecturer of some short special courses in the
University. Some of the experiments PhD student is
allow performing abroad if his supervisor has a
grand from Erasmus program. Every year the
student has to present his results at a seminar of the
Institute or of the Faculty. These seminars are open
for non-member staff of the organization. Every
year PhD student presents report on his activities
and scientific results before scientific council of the
organization. The supervisor evaluates his activities
and gives a plan for his further investigations and
exams for the next year.
Each Institute and University which has
permission for education of PhD students has
special rules for obligatory numbers of credits.
These credits are necessary for the successful
termination of PhD education. These numbers are
different for the different research Institutes and
Universities but they are usually about 250. The
credits are accumulated from three educational
modules such as:
1.
Appropriate special education. This
modulus includes successful pass of two
special courses on methodology and theory
of each PhD thesis .
2.
Individual special education planned by
the supervisor of PhD student.
3.
Common academic education which
include computer skills and foreign
language usually it is English language
since 90% of the scientific literature in the
world is published in English
The financial support for PhD stipendium is usually
provided from the government. They are able to
have an extra support from different grants. In our
country unfortunately the industry is still not
involved in the science and education. Few years
ago Bulgarian Science Fund announced a call for
PhD students in cooperation between Research
Institute or University and private laboratories.
In Bulgaria there are several types of PhD
education. One is full-time education when the
student is working only on the research of his PhD
thesis and the duration is three years. The second
type is part-time education. To take part in this
The other credits come from publications and
participation in scientific forums. All exams are
valid 5 years , so in this tame PhD student has to
defend his thesis.
S47
education one might be an assistant or lecturer
already. So everyone is doing his obligations and
additionally is working on his own thesis and this
form is lasted 4 or 5 years. The third form is for
students without a supervisor who are on individual
plan. The PhD student has to defend his PhD thesis
in three years. And the last form is distant PhD
education. It is not suitable very much for medicine
and natural sciences. In Bulgaria this form is very
rare and usually is used in social sciences or in
modeling investigations.
The differences in education programs for
biological and health sciences are the practice in
different hospital wards which depend on the aim of
the thesis.
A PhD student is allowed to defend his PhD thesis
when he has finished his experiments, has
accumulated 250 credits and has published two
scientific papers in pear-review journals for medical
and natural sciences and in one of them he is the
first author. The PhD thesis contained a review of
the literature, explanation of selected problem,
description of the methods, presentation of
experimental results, discussion, interpretation and
implication of the results. According to the new
Bulgarian Law PhD students defend orally their
PhD thesis before a jury from 5 persons, which are
Assoc. or Full professors. The jury chooses two
reviewers and everyone
of the scientific jury
evaluates the PhD student report. It should show
clearly what the candidate contribution in this
investigation is. This degree is awarded for thesis
which contains original work and is already 70%
published. After this procedure PhD student
awarded a Doctoral degree. The termination of this
level of education is recognized for appointment as
a lecturer in the University or research assistant in a
research Institute.
References
[1]. Bulgarian Law for Scientific and Title degrees,
2010
[2]. The Bologna Declaration in Europe
S48
EDUCATIONAL ARTICLE
The Master of Science Degree (MSc) in Clinical Biochemistry and Molecular Diagnostics, which offers the
option for the obtainment of a Ph.D as a model example for postgraduate studies in Greece
Emmanuel G Fragoulis
Abstract
University of Athens
Interdisciplinary Postgraduate
Programme
In Clinical Biochemistry and
Molecular Diagnostics
According to Greek Law, Graduate students wishing to proceed in the
obtainment of a Ph.D degree are obligated to have completed a Masterʼs
Degree, in a field that is scientifically relevant to their prospective PhD
thesis. On the other hand, the Biosciences are developing in quite rapid
rates, and therefore demand executive personnel, at different levels, that
possess the required educational skills, in order to adequately cover the
human resources needed in the Public and Private sectors. The
postgraduate Programme in “Clinical Biochemistry – Molecular
Diagnostics” is
addressed to Graduates of Medicine, Biology,
Chemistry, Nursing and Pharmacy from Greek Universities, as well as,
to Graduates of related disciplines from foreign Universities. According
to the Curriculum of this Interdisciplinary Graduate Programme, the
first three semesters are composed of thirteen courses at the advanced
level. During the fourth semester the postgraduate students perform the
necessary experimental work towards the completion of their
postgraduate thesis, under the supervision of qualified academic
supervisors. The completed thesis results, along with the written thesis
document, are evaluated by a three-member committee of academic
experts and are presented in a public seminar in the presence of an
audience. Graduates of the postgraduate Programme in “Clinical
Biochemistry – Molecular Diagnostics” receive a specialized Master’s
Degree and have the possibility to work in the Public or Private sector.
The graduates however have the possibility of continuing their studies
towards the acquisition of a Ph.D degree. Towards this direction, the
bylaws of this Graduate programme give them the opportunity to
continue and expand their postgraduate thesis work. Furthermore, they
are credited with the coursework that they have performed during their
2 year study. This postgraduate programme, in our opinion, represents a
model system for postgraduate studies in Greece in the area of
Biosciences.
Key Words: MSc, clinical biochemistry, molecular diagnostics
Introduction
Economic development for Greece is of the outmost importance. This
development is strongly supported by and depends on, the availability
of capable and highly skilled executive personnel. The existence of
Postgraduate Programmes of study can provide high quality advanced
education, and therefore provide the means by which these executives
can be prepared for today’s competitive social demands [1].
Furthermore it is the only way to confront the brain drain problem of
which has appeared during the last decades in Greece.
S49
Without doubt, the Biosciences offer an excellent
platform for the establishment of good postgraduate
studies, since they are developing in rapid rates and
new knowledge is produced daily. This fact offers
the possibilities for the creation of new activities
possessing “state of the art” strength that can
contribute decisively to the development of the
country. The Biosciences also offer the possibility
for the training of well educated personnel which
can guarantee high quality health to the Greek
population.
Evaluation of the candidates for the enrolment
to the programme
The program is addressed to graduates from the
disciplines of Medicine, Biology, Chemistry
Nursing and Pharmacy of Greek Universities, as
well as to Greek speaking graduates of related
disciplines from foreign Universities. The criteria
which were adopted for the selection of
postgraduates were particularly high. The selection
was based on Excellence and was performed in the
outmost transparent and objective manner. The
competition for candidate selection was particularly
hard. One candidate was selected for every 4
applicants. This selection proportion that was also
maintained after the expiration of the first five year
period, during which the program was funded by
government funds, and afterwards when the
program was funded by student tuition fees.
History
With these thoughts in mind, three Academic
Departments of the University of Athens, namely,
Biology Chemistry and Nursing, prepared and
submitted a proposal in the frame of the SPECIAL
TRAINING PROGRAM, for evaluation and
funding, in order to create the Postgraduate
programme for Clinical Biochemistry and
Molecular diagnostics. The proposal was evaluated
by an international committee of experts and was
approved for funding by the Greek Ministry of
Education [2].
Syllabus of the Programme
The Academic staff is composed by University of
Athens Faculty and by researchers working in
Research centres in the Athens area, who possess
advanced expertise and substantial experience in
the scientific topics that comprise the postgraduate
programme.
Table 1
S50
As is shown in Table 1, during the first three
semesters, 13 courses at the advanced level were
taught. Some of these courses included a practical
section, as well as, seminar presentations in
selected topics by postgraduate students. According
to the bylaws of the programme, each course is
tested twice per year. In the case that the
postgraduate examinee does not pass the course
during these two examination periods, he/she is
obliged to repeat the course. During the fourth
semester the postgraduate students perform the
necessary experimental work towards the
completion of their postgraduate thesis, under the
supervision of qualified academic supervisors. The
completed thesis results, along with the written
thesis document, is evaluated by a three-member
committee of academic experts and is presented in a
public seminar in the presence of an audience.
Graduates of the postgraduate Programme in
“Clinical Biochemistry – Molecular Diagnostics”
receive a specialized Master’s Degree and have the
possibility to work in the Public or Private sector
(Figure1).
Figure 1
S51
The graduates however have the possibility of
continuing their studies towards the acquisition of a
Ph.D degree (Figure 2).
Figure 2
Towards this direction, the bylaws of this Graduate
programme give them the opportunity to continue
and expand their postgraduate Thesis work.
Furthermore, they are credited with the coursework
that they have performed during their two year
study.
B. The evaluation process within the frame of the
Faculty of Biology using Academic standards that
have been established by the National Evaluation
Committee.
C. International expert evaluation which is
scheduled to commence in the near future[3].
Evaluation of the programme
Dysfunctions
The programme progress is evaluated by three
different ways.
A. Internal evaluation: This evaluation takes place
on an annual basis. During formal a meeting that
includes the participation of the Academic staff, as
well as, the postgraduate students. During the
meeting the results of student evaluation
questionnaires, for each course offered, in the frame
of the Programme are analysed. All additional
issues concerning the implementation of the
postgraduate courses are discussed during this joint
evaluation meeting.
During the running of the programme for the last
eight years several problems have been successfully
solved such as, the setting up of suitable teaching
and practical exercise space, the provision of
appropriate scientific instruments, course materials
overlap.
However the programme still has to confront some
dysfunctions that include:
1. The heterogeneous academic background of
postgraduate students.
2. Total absence of governmental support after
2007. The running expenses of the programme are
covered exclusively by the tuition fees paid by the
S52
postgraduate students. These tuition fees, for social
reasons cannot be particularly high.
3. The large number of teaching staff is the result of
the lack of honorarium since participation is based
in volunteer basis.
programme in English, which will be addressing
postgraduate students from other Mediterranean
and Balkan countries.
References
[1]. Lαw 2083/92 Official Government Gazette
159A
[2]. Ministerial Decision Official Government
Gazette 575/12-5-03
[3]. Lαw 3685/08 Official Government Gazette
Future Perspectives
Increase the number of postgraduate students and
the establishment of further specialization in the
two academic directions, that of Clinical
Biochemistry and of Molecular diagnostics.
Creation of a postgraduate version of the
S53
EDUCATIONAL ARTICLE
Doctoral Education in Biomedical Science: Practice
at The Manchester Metropolitan Unıversity
Nessar Ahmed
Introduction
School of Healthcare Science,
Manchester Metropolitan
University,
Manchester M1 5GD, United
Kingdom
The Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) is one of the largest
universities in the UK with over 37,500 students of which over 6000 are
postgraduates. It is one of the most popular universities in the UK for
undergraduate studies. Indeed, according to the Universities and
Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), there were some 52,750
applications by the closing date in January for the September 2011
intake which was the highest for any institution in the UK [1].
The university has over 700 research students with the highest number
(over 200) based at its Faculty of Science and Engineering. Research
within MMU is organised within eight institutes listed in Table 1.
Table 1: Organization of research at the Manchester Metropolitan
University
Research Institutes at the Manchester Metropolitan University
Dalton Research Institute (DRI)
Education and Social Research Institute (ESRI)
Institute of Humanities and Social Science Research (HSSR)
Institute for Performance Research (IPR)
Manchester Institute for Research and Innovation in Art and Design
(MIRIAD)
Research Institute for Business and Management (RIBM)
Research Institute for Health and Social Change (RIHSC)
Healthcare Science Research Institute (HSRI)
The University is ranked fourth of the research active new (post 1992)
universities in attracting funding from the Higher Education Funding
Council for England (HEFCE).
Biomedical science research within MMU falls largely within the
Healthcare Science Research Institute (HSRI) although some aspects of
health science research also fall within the Research Institute for Health
and Social Change (RIHSC). The Healthcare Science Research Institute
is composed of the Institute for Biomedical Research into Human
Movement and Health (IRM), the Centre for Food, Nutrition and Health
and In the Loop-Microbiology Research. Doctoral education leading to
the award of the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree is considered an
important aspect of research training at MMU. This is particularly true
for biomedical science where a PhD is often required for a professional
research career whether in academia, health service or industry. This
article provides an overview of doctoral training in biomedical science
within the IRM at MMU.
S54
Students can apply for the PhD programme
throughout the year. Decisions regarding admission
are based on details provided on the university’s
application form and wherever possible an
interview of the potential applicant. The entry
requirements for the PhD in biomedical science are:
 UK Bachelors degree with first or second
class honours
 UK Masters degree
 Equivalent overseas qualifications
 English language (IELTS ≥6.5) for
overseas students
Institute for Biomedical Research into Human
Movement and Health (IRM)
Much of the biomedical and healthcare science
research fails within the IRM. Research within the
IRM ranges from molecular biology to whole body
studies of human movement and health. It seeks to
integrate knowledge from different disciplines and
apply and disseminate that knowledge as it affects
health, mobility and fitness from “the cradle to the
grave” and “in sickness and in health” [2]. In the
latest UK Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) in
2008, research within the IRM was submitted under
Unit of Assessment 12B in Allied Health
Professions and Studies: Biomedical Sciences. Over
30 researchers were submitted for the RAE and the
following ratings were obtained with the proportion
of researchers in brackets; 4* (5%), 3* (30%), 2*
(50%) and 1* (15%). The highest ratings of 4* and
3* reflect research that is of an internationally
excellent quality whereas the 2* and 1* ratings
reflect internationally and nationally recognised
research activities respectively [3]. The IRM thus
provides an ideal environment for doctoral research
training in biomedical science and is ranked in the
top twelve institutions within the UK. The various
research lines within the IRM are:
 Growth, Disuse and Ageing
 Molecular and Cell Biology
 Angiogenesis and Vascular Biology
 Neuromuscular Function
 Musculoskeletal Mechanics
 Neural and Visual Control of Movement
 Infection and Immunity
Overseas qualifications are often checked with the
National Recognition Information Centre for the
United Kingdom (UK NARIC) to ensure their
comparability and equivalence with UK
qualifications. Furthermore, overseas students not
holding a UK degree are required to have a score of
6.5 or higher in the International English Language
Testing System (IELTS) which is available in over
500 centres throughout the world. Applications are
considered initially by the Research Degrees Coordinator and an appropriate member of IRM staff
identified as a potential supervisor. In addition to
satisfying the entry requirements, the Research
Degrees Co-ordinator and Head of School have to
be satisfied that there is sufficient funding in place
to meet not only the tuition fees required by the
university but also to support the running costs for
the proposed research project. The various funding
sources available to students are listed in Table 2. A
limited number of studentships are provided by
MMU itself usually from HEFCE funding. Other
students are supported by studentships funded by
research councils, charities, European Union and
industry. A significant number of students in the
IRM are from overseas and funded by scholarships
from their government. These overseas scholarships
like the studentships cover tuition fees, project
running costs and provide a stipend for the student
to meet their accommodation and living expenses.
Part-time students registered for the PhD
programme are usually supported by their employer
whether this is a hospital, research institute or
industry. A limited number of students are selffinanced.
The IRM boasts a total of 12 Professors, 3 Readers,
6 Senior Lecturers and 1 Lecturer in addition to 10
postdoctoral staff. Over 70 students are registered
for research degrees of which 50 are classified as
full-time students. Of these full-time students,
approximately 20 are overseas students. The
remaining 20 students are classified as part-time
and are based in local hospital or pharmaceutical
organisations.
PhD Programme: Entry and Funding
The PhD programme is of 3-years duration for fulltime and 5-years for part-time students. It is
possible for an extension in cases where there are
extenuating circumstances but this has to be
approved by the Faculty Research Degrees
Committee and supported by the supervisory team.
Table 2: Possible sources of PhD funding in
biomedical science
Sources of PhD Funding in Biomedical Science
S55
of study per year and its purpose is to enable
students to become competent in research methods,
develop transferable and employment related skills
and knowledge related to the subject of the
research. The supporting programme includes
participation in workshops organized by the RED
Office to develop generic research skills. In
addition, students are required to attend relevant
lectures/tutorials from taught undergraduate and
postgraduate modules to rectify any deficiencies in
background knowledge. This subject-specific
training is selected in consultation with the
supervisory team and is tailored to the individual
needs of the students. Students are also required to
deliver oral/poster presentations at annual
conferences organised by the RED office in
addition
to
participation
in
any
national/international conferences. Records of all of
these activities are kept as part of the PDP in
addition to any annual reviews.
Manchester Metropolitan University
Research Councils
Charities
Industry
European Union
Hospitals
Overseas scholarships
Self-financed
Supervisory Team
The supervisory team consists of the main
supervisor referred to as the Director of Studies
(DoS) who must be an MMU academic and is not
only responsible for the supervision but also the
administration of the programme and liaison with
the Faculty Research Degrees Committee [4]. At
least one other supervisor is also required. One or
more advisers may be appointed to provide
specialised knowledge or expertise and to make
links with external organisations. The supervisory
team must have at least three successful PhD
completions and all DoS and supervisors must have
completed the approved training courses provided
by the university’s Research, Enterprise and
Development (RED) Office (see later). New
academic staff or those without prior experience of
successful PhD completions gain experience and
are mentored within the supervisory team by more
experienced members. In order to ensure that
academic staff are not overloaded with supervision
duties, they cannot act as a DoS for more than six
research students. This also ensures that research
students receive sufficient supervision from their
supervisory team.
Monitoring Progress and Quality Assurance
Following enrolment, induction and discussion of
the PDP with the supervisory team, all research
students submit an application for registration for a
research degree. This application for registration
has to be submitted within 3-months for full-time
and 6-months for part-time students. The
application includes a research proposal with a time
frame for the experimental work, ethical approval if
necessary, risk assessment and details of the
supervisory team and is submitted to the Faculty
Research Degrees Committee for approval. The
role of the Faculty Research Degrees Committee is
to ensure the proposal is of the required standard
and that the experimental work can be completed
within the required time. It also ensures that any
ethical issues have been addressed or are being
considered by an approved ethics committee.
Finally, the Faculty Research Degrees Committee
needs to be satisfied that the supervisory team has
sufficient experience and expertise in the subject
matter to lead the proposed project. Once the
proposal is approved, all PhD students are initially
registered for the Master of Philosophy (MPhil)
degree with the possibility of transfer to a PhD
degree. The transfer report is completed within 12months for full-time and 18-months for part-time
students. This report is assessed to ensure
satisfactory progress is being made in line with the
approved research proposal and the student also
undergoes a mini viva voce examination with two
Induction and Personal Development Portfolio
Enrolment and induction for research programmes
are held in September, January and April of each
academic year. During the induction programme
which lasts a full day, students are made aware of
degree regulations [4] and provided with the
Research Students Handbook [5]. The induction
programme also covers aspects of general health
and safety, library induction and IT support
available within the university. In addition, a
crucial part of the induction programme is to
introduce students to their Personal Development
Portfolio (PDP). The PDP for every research
student includes a detailed skills audit and a
logbook for the supporting programme. The
supporting programme is equivalent to two weeks
S56
academic staff outside the supervisory team.
Students with poor performance are not allowed to
transfer registration to a PhD but can continue with
their research and submit a thesis for the MPhil
degree. All research students undergo an Annual
Review for Registered Research Degree Candidates
(RDAR) with a member of academic staff outside
the supervisory team and approved by the Faculty
Research Degrees Committee. This review
considers not only the students progress with his
research programme but also the PDP, development
of skills, supervision arrangements, IT and library
facilities, resources for research programme,
conference attendance and funding issues. The
completed reports for all students are returned to
the Faculty Research Degrees Committee which
produces an annual report for the University
Research Degrees Committee. The University
Research Degrees Committee in turn is responsible
to the Academic Board for the oversight of matters
relating to research degrees, including ensuring that
the standard and quality of awards is maintained
and the interests of registered research degree
candidates are protected. The reports and statistics
from faculties are collated by the University
Research Degrees Committee and an annual report
is produced which is submitted to the Academic
Board for approval. This committee structure
allows for standards to be maintained and to
enhance the quality of the learning experience for
research students by reviewing provision to identify
areas for improvement. The committee structure is
outlined in Figure 1.
Figure 1. The committee structure for research degrees at Manchester Metropolitan University
assist both students [5] and supervisors [6] and
guidance on good practice in research [7].
A major role of the RED Office is to design and
deliver a supporting programme to provide research
Research Enterprise and Development Office
The RED Office is responsible for research degree
regulations [4] and for producing documentation to
S57
students with key generic skills and to help them
complete their research effectively and to provide
specific employment related skills. This training is
delivered via workshops and complements the
subject-specific training necessary for the research
topic under investigation. The workshops are
delivered throughout the year and examples of
typical workshops are given in Table 3.
Examination of PhD Students
Towards the end of the research programme, the
DoS is responsible for submitting an application for
approval of examiners to the Faculty Research
Degrees
Committee
which
provides
a
recommendation to the RED Office for final
approval. The examination panel will consist of one
external and one internal examiner neither of whom
have been involved with the supervision of the
student. For PhD candidates who are members of
staff, both examiners will be external. Examiners
should not have any conflict of interest and must
meet the university’s criteria for acceptance by the
Faculty Research Degrees Committee and the RED
Office. The external examiner must have
experience of successful supervision and
examination of a doctoral student. To ensure the
development of more research degree examiners, an
internal examiner with no previous research degree
examination experience will only be approved if
they have experience of supervising a research
candidate, attended the university workshop on the
examination of research students and observed a
viva. In addition, an experienced chairperson is
appointed who does not examine the thesis but is
responsible for solely chairing the examination and
ensuring the associated administration of the viva is
completed satisfactorily.
Prior to submitting the thesis for examination,
students need to make a declaration confirming the
completion of a supporting programme. In addition,
all doctoral students undergo a viva voce
examination. Following the viva, students are either
[1] awarded the degree, [2] required to do minor
typographical amendments within one month, [3]
required to complete revisions within 6-months or
[4] resubmit the thesis with or without a viva voce
examination within one year.
Table 3. Typical workshops for students
Title of Workshop
Writing your proposal
Introduction to ethics
Managing your research project
Conference paper presentation
Poster design and presentation
Effective team working
Introduction to SPSS and statistics
Networking skills
Intellectual property and copyright
Time management
Cite right with EndNote
Writing for publication
How to write a literature review
The RED Office organizes an Annual Research
Student Conference enabling all students to present
their research in the form of oral and poster
presentations. The abstracts for this conference are
published in the conference proceedings [8]. The
RED Office also provides training for academic
staff involved with doctoral education in order to
enhance their supervisory skills and to provide
them with competence in the monitoring of
research student’s progress and the associated
administrative procedures. The workshops provided
for supervisory staff are listed in Table 4.
Professional Doctorates
The university also provides professional doctorates
and these are aimed at professionals who wish to
develop their research expertise within the context
of their professional practice. Since MMU has a
strong focus on professional education, it has a
large Professional Doctorate Programme in Health
offering some ten named awards:
 Doctor of Biomedical Science (DBMS)
 Doctor of Physiotherapy (DPT)
 Doctor of Nursing (DNurse)
 Doctor of Dental Technology (DDenTech)
Table 4. Typical workshops for supervisors
Title of Workshop
Supervising and examining research students
Chairing and observing a viva
Supervisory refresher sessions
Carrying out an annual review (RDAR)
In addition, the RED Office is involved in approval
of examiners for research degrees, conferment of
awards and administration of university funded
studentships.
S58






References
[1]. UCAS “Applications (choices) and accepted
applicants to each UCAS member university
and college 2010” www.ucas.com, April 20,
2011,
www.ucas.com/about_us/stat_services/stats_on
line/data_tables/heinstitutions/2010
[2]. IRM Research Report (2001-2009), The
Manchester Metropolitan University.
[3]. RAE
2008
“Manchester
Metropolitan
University UoA12B-Allied Health Professions
and
Studies:
Biomedical
Sciences”
www.rae.ac.uk,
April
20,
2011,
www.rae.ac.uk/submissions/submission.aspx?i
d=12&type=uoa&subid=2890
[4]. Codes of Practice and Regulations for
Postgraduate Research Programmes of the
University
(2009),
The
Manchester
Metropolitan University.
[5]. Research Student Handbook (2010), The
Manchester Metropolitan University.
[6]. Guidelines for Research Supervisors (2010),
The Manchester Metropolitan University.
[7]. MMU Guidelines on Good Research Practice
(2002),
The
Manchester
Metropolitan
University.
[8]. Annual Research Student Conference (2011),
Conference Proceedings, The Manchester
Metropolitan University.
Doctor of Health (DHealth)
Doctor
of
Clinical
Physiology
(DClinPhys)
Doctor of Social Care (DSocCare)
Doctor of Counselling (DCounsel)
Doctor of Speech and Language Therapy
(DSLT)
Doctor
of
Community
Health
(DCommHealth)
These programmes are offered on a 5-year parttime basis and require a Masters degree in a
relevant subject for admission. The programme
includes Part 1 which is a taught component
delivered primarily online and assessed by
continuous written assignments over two years and
Part 2 which consists of a research project over the
final three years of study culminating in a thesis
which is examined at the doctoral level.
Conclusion
The doctoral programme in biomedical science at
MMU allows students to work in a high profile
research environment using the excellent facilities
provided by the IRM. Students not only engage in
their research but also acquire generic skills by
attendance at workshops organised by the RED
Office. Students also acquire subject-specific skills
tailored to their individual needs and background
knowledge following participation in relevant
activities from the School’s taught modules. The
RED Office also provides training for the
supervisory team and this is crucial in ensuring
good supervision of research students. Furthermore,
this training is accompanied by annual assessments
of students to monitor their progress and for quality
assurance purposes. The model adopted for PhD
education at MMU is typical of UK practice and
provides quality training that is recognised
internationally in a relatively short period of time.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Clare Holdcroft from the Research,
Enterprise and Development Office at Manchester
Metropolitan University for providing me with the
relevant material required for this paper.
S59
EDUCATIONAL ARTICLE
Key Performance Indicators For PhD Education in
Biomedicine and Health Sciences
Marvin J.R. Lee
Abstract
Oxford Glycobiology Institute,
University of Oxford, South
Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU,
United Kingdom
With the increasing shift in focus from basic science to translational
research, stronger emphasis has been placed on developing research
expertise for real-world applications. A well-designed PhD programme
set out to meet the exacting standards and novel requirements in the
field of biomedicine and health sciences is therefore essential in the 21st
century.
Other than stream lining the objectives with the Bologna Process,
experiential projects and research have also been actively integrated into
the PhD programmes in Europeto meet the quality assurance and
outcome assessment criteria in our modern society. The quality of a
PhD programmetherefore should be assessed both by drawing
references to the academic output of the research institution as well as
the academic and industrial relevance i.e. value-addedness of the
graduate students. The scientific and transferrable skills that students
have developed in a PhD programme should be applicable in settings
such as education, health services, business and government. Quality
and quantity of research publications, invitations to scientific
conferences, prizes and personal accolades, coursework assessment,
transferable skills acquired serve as excellent indicators of the quality of
PhD students, which also directly reflects the robustness of the PhD
programme. On an institution-wide level, the quality of the PhD
programme should be assessed by a number of key performance
indicators (KPI), which includes the volume and impact factor of their
academic publications, scientific profiles and reputation of the research
personnel within the institution, the inherent ability to identify and
recognize relevant research areas within and between academic
institutions for the cross-pollination of complementary ideas to
materialize useful collaborations, generations of patents, adherence to
ethical standards and most importantly, the possession of a sizeable
research endowment that provides the fuel for the academic engines.
A European-wide standardized set of assessment criteria should
therefore be taken into consideration by the relevant authorities that
oversee the quality of PhD education in biomedical and health sciences.
Based on this centralized assessment system, ranking academic
institutions may or may not be necessary according to a number of
reasons that will be explored in this article.
Key Words: PhD education, performance indicators, biomedicine,
health sciences
S60
A knowledge-based economy led by the transfer of
scientific and technological developments has been
proposed to be the next major driver responsible for
long-term economic advancement in Europe. A
competitive output of PhD graduates and an
increased level of technical expertise that supports
the acquisition of a range of relevant specialist and
generic skills catering to broader economic and
social needs will ensure the sustenance of an
economy based on smart technology. A slew of
measures should therefore be put in place to
oversee the development of robust PhD
programmes in research institutions across Europe
to guarantee a continual supply of well-trained PhD
scientists, equipped with an analytical mindset and
transferrable professional skills.
research directions and approaches, and to raise
their academic profiles to the establishedscientific
community. Networking forums at these
conferences often present themselves as invaluable
opportunities for the cross-pollination of ideas and
the fostering of research
collaborations.
Transferable skills acquired by graduate students
during theirPhD trainingsuch as analytical and
presentation skills, will serve as effective
communication tools,important for interactions
with the more matured scientific audience. The
number of invitations extended to graduate students
to present their research findings at the best
conferences in the world such as the Keystone
Symposia and the American Association for Cancer
Research should therefore also qualify as one of the
KPIs.
In order to maintain the critical mass of these
qualified experts,a set of key performance
indicators (KPIs) for PhD education in biomedicine
and health sciences in Europe should be developed
and implemented. The quality of a PhD programme
should be assessed by drawing references to the
academic output of the research institution as well
as the academic and industrial relevance of the
graduate students. The scientific and transferrable
skills that students have developed in a PhD
programme should be applicable in settings such as
education, health
services,
business and
government.
On an institution-wide level, KPIs should be
aligned with those adopted by other academic
institutions within Europe to ensure compliance to
minimum acceptable standards for higher
education. These KPIs include the volume and
impact factor of academic publications, scientific
profiles and reputation of the research personnel
within the institution, the ability to identify and
recognize relevant research areas within and
between academic institutions and industriesthat
harbour the potential to materialize collaborations,
generations of patents, adherence to ethical
standards and most importantly, the regular
acquisitions of research endowments that provide
for state-of-art infrastructure, technology and
faculty.
The quality and quantity of research publications
produced by graduate students shed light on the
degree of supervision and research expertise of the
institution.Stringent student admission criteria
coupled with a rigorous selection process ensure the
enrolment of students who had previously
demonstrated academic rigor and possess a
compelling enthusiasm for scientific research.
Coursework and assignments evaluate students
based on their theoretical knowledge but provide
policy administrators with little information on the
success rate of a PhD programme. The
implementation of a qualifying examination (QE) at
the end of the first year will serve to single out
candidates with the aptitude and dedication for
laboratory-based research and a suitable proficiency
in a PhD education. The passing rates of the QE
could therefore serve as one of the KPIs.
Publication output could be quantitatively
monitored with a universal scoring system based on
the number of publications generated, the impact
factor of the journals where the articles are featured
and the rates at which scientific papers are
submitted
during
each
assessment
year.
Collaborative studiescombineresearch efforts from
more than one individual, culminating in
publishable data within a shorter time span.The
emphasis on collaborations within and between
research groupscreates a competitive yet a nurturing
andhighly co-operative research environment for
young researchers throughout their PhD pursuit. An
inter-disciplinary approach to innovative research
encourages students to think laterally and to explore
multi-dimensional knowledge frontiers.
Conferences are excellent platforms for young
scientists to identify novel or complementary
S61
A ranking system of research institutions based on a
quantitative assessment system within Europe
should be created under the purview of relevant
authorities to provide graduate school applicants
with the addedconvenience when making direct
comparisons between research institutions. More
importantly,to ensurethat a minimum standard in
postgraduate education is constantly observed, the
installation of a standardized list of parameters
under assessmentis necessary to set a benchmark
for institutions ranked lower down the system to
work towards. For instance, an institution witha
higher percentage of students graduating within the
stipulated four-year timeframe for their PhD will be
awarded a higher score relative to another where
students work on an indefinite basis for as long as
the research institution deems necessary. Under this
standardized scoring system, the latter would be
compelled to ensure that students generate enough
quality data during their finite course of study in
order to graduate in time. Not only will thisensure
that supervisors abide by the strict timeline and
exercise
responsibility
towards
the
academicdiscourse and financial interests of the
student,it also aims at increasing productivity and
efficiency while maximizing resources within the
research facility. This approach mandates the
continual churningof science PhD graduates who
either choose to remain in academia or to be
channelledinto the pharmaceutical industry in a
timely fashion, bearing in mind that a proportion of
these graduates will be regularly absorbed by nonscience related industries. However, it could be
argued that creating original research requiresa
considerable period of time and imposing a strict
timeline for the completion of a PhD could deprive
a student of hiscreativity and the training
timeneeded to be adequately conversant in his field
of study, devaluing the qualification.
Attaining a higher score on the academic ranking
system will garner greater confidence votes from
the lucrative postgraduate marketleading to
astronger regional or global reputation. A strong
presence of distinguished faculty members such as
Nobel Prize laureates within a research institution
also adds greater promise to grant applications to
attract an even larger pool of graduate school
applicants with outstanding scholastic abilities from
an international platform.
Nonetheless, the ranking system approach is a
double-edged sword. Funding councilscould be less
inclined to invest in institutions that are lower down
the ranking system. Consequently, these institutions
may also face difficulty in recruiting the best
students on board their PhD programmes, spiralling
into an academic black hole that results in the
stagnation of quality education.
Quality indicators in PhD education should
therefore be subjected to regular scrutiny and
amendments should be madewhenever necessaryin
order to streamline policies that cater to the ever
evolving demands of PhD graduates from the
biomedicine and health sciences field in the 21st
century. Training and developing research expertise
for real-world applications in settings such as
education, health
services,
business and
government also highlight the need for a holistic
approach to graduate education now than ever
before, and will prove to have far-reaching impacts
in the burgeoning of a knowledge-based economy
in Europe.
_________________________________________
The author would like to thank the Agency for
Science, Technology and Research, Singapore
Adopting a standardized set of assessment criteria
that oversees the quality of PhD education in
biomedical and health sciences not only allows for
research institutions within Europe to align their
academic objectives, but also helps them to
appreciate and bridge the differences in erudition
when designing joint PhD programmes on an
international level with universities in the USA,
Australia and various parts of Asia, making
collaborative efforts less demanding.
S62
EDUCATIONAL ARTICLE
Standards on Post-Graduate Biochemical Education
in Greece
Constantin Drainas
Abstract
University of Ioannina,
Department of Chemistry,
45110 Ioannina, Greece
Post-graduate education in Greece is implemented on two levels: (a)
Post-graduate diploma equivalent to a Master’s degree and (b) PhD
degree. Post-graduate diplomas in Biochemical studies have duration of
two years including one year of theoretical and practical courses and a
minimum of one year of research assignment. The post-graduate
research is supervised by a faculty member of any rank. Successful
award of the post-graduate diploma is accomplished after public
presentation of the results of the dissertation and examination by a
three-member academic committee. For enrolment in a PhD program in
most cases a Post-graduate diploma is required. A PhD dissertation
must have duration of at least three years and requires original research.
Some departments have an additional prerequisite of at least one
publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. One supervisor and
two advisors have the supervision of the research at the PhD level. Once
the experimental part is completed the PhD candidate presents the
results to the advisory committee and obtains permission to write the
PhD thesis. After completion the thesis is submitted to the Department
and a seven member examining academic committee is appointed
including the supervisor and the two advisors. The PhD degree is
awarded after public presentation and examination by the seven
examiners, three of which must be full Professors. The Greek higher
education system does not follow the Bologna process. Undergraduate
studies have a duration of four (School of Sciences), or five (Schools of
technologies and Applications), or six years (Schools of Medicine).
Therefore, integrated studies up to the PhD level may have minimum
duration of 9, 10 or 11 years, respectively. In rare cases and in particular
in Schools of Medicine a post-graduate diploma may not be a
prerequisite for enrolment in a PhD program. Post-graduate biochemical
studies are offered by all major Universities in Greece, such as: the
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the Aristoteleian
University of Thesssaloniki, the University of Patras, the University of
Ioannina, the University of Krete, the Demokretian University of
Thrace, the University of Thessaly and the Agricultural University of
Athens.
Key words: Postgraduate Education, Greece
S63
semesters
6. PhD in Biological Sciences, duration: From six
to twelve semesters.
Introduction
This article presents a short outline of post-graduate
studies in Greece as offered in the field of
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. It is a
personal view of an existing reality rather than a
comprehensive study and assessment of the postgraduate system in Greece. The only
documentations cited here are the web sites of the
post-graduate programs and sources of funds for
PhD studies. Post-graduate biochemical studies in
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biomedical
Sciences are offered by all major Universities in
Greece, such as: the National and Kapodistrian
University of Athens, the Aristoteleian University
of Thesssaloniki, the University of Patras, the
University of Ioannina, the University of Crete, the
Demokretian University of Thrace, the University
of Thessaly and the Agricultural University of
Athens. Apart from the Universities, well organized
and equipped research institutes with long tradition
in biochemical research such as “Democritus”,
“EIE”, “Pasteur”, “Fleming”, “ITE-IMBB”,
EKETA, etc. also participate to most post-graduate
programs. In any case, post-graduate programs of
research institutes should be in collaboration with
an academic department of a University.
Nevertheless, post-graduate studies in biochemistry
and molecular biology for both levels are based on
programmes of Universities but research institutes
can also participate at the level of experimental
research and qualified researchers can participate
either as examiners at the post-graduate deploma
level or as advisors and/or examiners at the PhD
level.
Running Post-graduate
Universities:
programs
in
B. Faculty of Medicine
1. “Molecular Medicine” MSc, 6 semesters plus 5-8
semesters for a PhD degree
2. “Molecular and Applied Physiology” M.Sc., 4
semesters
plus
6
semesters
for
PhD
C. Faculty of Chemistry
1. Biochemistry, and 2. Clinical Chemistry, both 4
semesters for MSc, plus 6 emesters for a PhD
degree.
Aristoteleian University of Thessaloniki:
1. Department of Chemistry, MSc in Biochemistry
2. Department of Biology, MSc in Applied
Genetics and Biotechnology
3. Department of Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical
Biotechnology/Molecular Diagnostics
4. Interdepartmental (Pharmacology, Chemistry,
Medicine), Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies
University of Patras
1. School of Medicine: Applications of basic
medical sciences. The program leads to an MSc
degree and provides specialization in the following
five thematic areas:
Pathobiochemistry,
Molecular
geneticscytogenetics, Neurosciences, PharmacokineticsToxicology and Molecular anatomy
Greek
2. Department of Biology: Biological Technology
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens:
3. Department of Chemistry: (a) Applied
Biochemistry – Biotechnology, (b) Food
biotechnology, a Joint program with the
Department
of
Chemistry-University
of Ioannina and School of Biomedical SciencesUniversity of Ulster GB
A. Faculty of Biology
1.
“Clinical Biochemistry –
Diagnostics” M.Sc, Four semesters
Molecular
2. “Applications of Biology in Medicine” M.Sc.,
Four semesters
4. Department of Pharmacy: (a) Molecular
Pharmacology – Clinical pharmaceutics,
3. “Bioinformatics” MSc,
Three semesters
4. “Microbial Biotechnology” MSc, Four semesters
5. “Modern Trends in the Teaching of Biological
Courses and New Technologies” MSc, three
(b) Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and biomedicine
S64
1. Molecular medicine – Clinical applications
5. Interdepartmental program between Departments
of Chemistry and Pharmacy:
B. Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology
Medicinal Chemistry: design and development of
pharmaceutical products.
1. Biotechnology-Quality assessment in nutrition
and the environment
6. Interdepartmental program between Departments
of
Medicine,
Biology,
Pharmacy,
Physics
and Computer Engineering and
Informatics: Informatics of human sciences
(Bioinformatics,
Neuroinformatics,
Medical
informatics)
Objectives: the specialization of bioscientists in
biotechnological methodologies concerning quality
control
in
nutrition
and
environment.
2. Molecular Biology and Genetics applications Diagnostic markers
University of Ioannina
Objectives: the specialization of bioscientists in
biotechnological methodologies in combination
with
molecular
biology
applications
in
microbiology, genetics, population biology,
toxicology, forensics, archaeology, and the
detection of GMOs
1. Department of Chemistry: Biochemistry-Clinical
Chemistry-Biotechnology four semesters for MSc,
plus six semesters for PhD
2. Interdepartmental MSc Programme between
Departments of Medicine and Chemistry:
Biotechnology, four semesters for MSc, plus six
semesters for a PhD degree. This program admits
up to 10 students for the MSc degree every two
years.
Demokretian University of Thrace
Joint Inter-Departmental Post Graduate Programme
between
Departments
of
Medicine
and
Molecular Biology & Genetics: Molecular
Biosciences – Applications in Health.
University of Crete, Department of Biology
Programmes are offered for MSc and PhD degrees
in the following thematic areas:
General remarks
The official language in all post-graduate programs
is Greek, but foreign students can be admitted for
the post-graduate diploma providing their degree
can be recognized by the National Accreditation
Service for the recognition of foreign degrees
(DOATAP). The same prerequisite stands for the
PhD level with the additional requirement that the
candidate should be a Master’s degree holder. The
State Scholarships Foundation (IKY) every year
publishes a call for applications to grant foreign
students of any nationality to perform PhD studies
in Greece on any scientific field.
1. Molecular Biology - Biomedicine
2. Management
Resources
of
Terrestrial
and
Marine
3. Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
4. Protein Biotechnology
5. Bioethics
Objectives:
(a) Master's degree specialization in an area of
Biology such that the holder aquires increased
professional qualifications and training.
Greek post-graduate students in Biochemistry are
mainly recruited from the Departments of Biology,
Chemistry, Biochemistry & Biotechnology,
Molecular Biology & Genetics and Biological
Applications & Technologies. To a lesser extent
they also originate from Departments of Medicine,
Pharmacology and Agricultural Sciences.
(b) PhD degree training of scientists/researchers,
such that the holder is able to contribute
substantially to research, technology and higher
education in the Biological Sciences.
University of Thessali
The educational methods generally applied at the
diploma level are two semesters of courses and two
A. School of Medicine
S65
semesters of lab research. Courses are taught by
academic faculty members and researchers of
research institutes and they are based to advanced
lectures, not problem-based learning. Evaluation of
obtained knowledge is based on essays,
presentations of literature articles, or written exams,
or combinations of the above. Additionally, the
originality of the lab research is also evaluated for
the final approval. For the PhD level, evaluation is
based solely on the originality of the research in
combination of its contribution to the advancement
of science. Public presentation of the results of the
research employed at the post-graduate diploma or
PhD level is indispensable for post-graduate studies
of all levels in Greece.
References
Post-graduate programs:
http://www.biol.uoa.gr/programmataspoydon/programmata-metaptyxiakon-spoydon-pm-s.html (in Greek)
http://www.school.med.uoa.gr/ (in Greek)
http://www.chem.auth.gr/index.php?lang=el&rm=5
&mn=85
http://www.bio.auth.gr/postgrad/applgen/default.ht
m
http://www.pharm.auth.gr/gr/grad/categ3_gr.html
In most post-graduate courses no fees are required
and post-graduate students are enjoining all benefits
of undergraduates, such as full health insurance,
free access or significant reductions to meals and
reduction to public transportation. However, certain
post-graduate programmes, especially some
orientated towards biomedical studies, require fees
up to 2,000 euro per year. Standard bursaries are
not available for any post-graduate student. Grants
are available on application and evaluation basis by
the State Scholarships Foundation, Public Benefit
Organizations such as the Alexander S. Onassis
Organization, the Bodosakis Foundation and others.
Furthermore, for the PhD level, public calls of
research proposals are occasionally announced
from the Ministry of Education for the support of
PhD candidates. However, recent constraints are
threatening post-graduate studies in Greece.
Original research is based on the available research
funds of the host laboratory, which are not
exclusively allocated for the post-graduate degree.
The recent financial crisis has created an additional
limitation on post-graduate studies, expected to
reduce research activities and consequently the
research productivity. It is proven that scientific
productivity is proportionally based on research
funds, as pictorially demonstrated by the number
and quality of Greek publications during the years
of
regular
research
funding
(National
Documentation Centre, GSRT, 2010).
http://www.upatras.gr/index/page/id/9/lang/en
http://www.uoi.gr/postgraduate/detail.php?pg_id=2
8
http://www.uoc.gr/Department/index.html
http://www.bio.uth.gr/index.php?lang=en
http://www.mbg.duth.gr/en/
Funding Sources:
State Scholarships Foundation:
http://www.iky.gr/IKY/portal/en
Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Organization:
http://www.onassis.gr/main.php?ID=0&lang=en
Bodossaki Foundation:
http://www.bodossaki.gr/Default.aspx?lang=2
Publications:
Greek Scientific Publications 1993-2008: A
Bibliometric analysis of Greek publications in
international scientific journals. Published by the
National Documentation Centre of the National
Foundation
of
Research
(in
Greek),
http:/www.ekt.gr, Athens 2010
ISBN: 978-960-89499-1-1
As a concluding remark, it is pertinent to point out
that funding of post-graduate research at any level
is a developmental motive force that should be
taken under serious consideration by any
government.
S66
EDUCATIONAL ARTICLE
Quality Assurance in Doctoral Education
Experiences from Karolinska Institutet
Ingeborg van der Ploeg
Abstract
Central Director of Doctoral
Education, Karolinska
Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Doctoral education at the medical university Karolinska Institutet has a
long tradition of excellence. One important factor for this is the
favorable research environment with many world-leading scientists.
Other positive factors are a close connection to university hospitals with
good conditions for clinical research, proximity to other universities and
the pharmaceutical industry with their own research facilities. However,
both supervisors and doctoral students are nowadays confronted with
new challenges due to global changes and new demands. International
competition is increasing, researchers are working in extensive
networks, time constraints are more obvious, and employability after
obtaining a PhD degree has come into focus. The international Bologna
Accords place high demands on learning outcomes, alignment of the
degrees between countries and an increased possibility for mobility of
students. The need for efficient quality assurance has therefore become
obvious.
Karolinska Institutet works to ensure quality assurance in doctoral
education in different ways. One is defining overall university outcome
aims for doctoral education with corresponding quality indicators and
outcome measures. Another is to systematically analyze and adjust the
whole doctoral education system from the recruitment and selection of
doctoral students, to methods of supervision, doctoral courses and
programs, the implementation of learning outcomes in courses and
individual study plans, and the final thesis defense. A third measure is
by regular follow-up with surveys among students, supervisors and
alumni (e.g. exit polls). Finally, faculty funding for new doctoral
students enables to introduce quality improvements. Recent results will
be presented and discussed.
Keywords: Quality assurance , doctoral education, Karolinska Institutet
Introduction
The Board of Doctoral education at the medical university Karolinska
Institutet has the ambition to use its resources to contribute effectively
to a doctoral education on the highest international level. Important
facilitating factors for this are the favorable research environments for
the doctoral candidates who thus have the possibility to be part of
research groups with world-leading scientists involving many scientific
interactions and collaborations. Other positive factors are a close
connection to university hospitals with a research tradition and good
conditions for clinical and experimental research, proximity to other
universities with excellent research facilities and contacts with the
pharmaceutical industry with their own research facilities. However,
S67
both supervisors and doctoral students are
nowadays confronted with new challenges due to
both global changes and new demands on
themselves. International competition including for
research funding is increasing, researchers are
working in extensive networks, time constraints are
more obvious, and employability after obtaining a
PhD degree has come into focus. The international
Bologna Accords place demands on achievement of
learning outcomes for the doctoral education,
alignment of the degrees between universities and
countries is considered and an increased possibility
for mobility of doctoral candidates is desired. The
need for efficient quality assurance has therefore
become obvious.
implementation
of
joint-degree
agreements. The competence of the
supervisors should be on the highest
international level in order that the
research education is on the highest
international level. Because of this several
highly appreciated basic and advanced
courses in supervision are organized.
Some of them are obligatory when taking
in a new doctoral candidate.
3. A third measure is by regular follow-up
with surveys among doctoral candidates
(e.g. at the end of each doctoral course and
exit polls some weeks after the thesis
defense), supervisors and alumni. This led
to among others the implementation of the
two-days general introduction for doctoral
candidates.
4. Finally, faculty funding (so called KIDfunding) to be used to finance new
doctoral
candidates
has
markedly
facilitated the introduction of several
important quality improvements. Since the
year 2006 up to now application for KIDfunding has been announced two times per
year and about 25% of the about 400
newly admitted doctoral candidates every
year are personally financed for more than
half of their education by this means. KIDfunding has facilitated the introduction of
well written individual study plans,
including project plans, the introduction of
specified ILOs in the study plans and a
better recruitment process for doctoral
candidates.
The work with setting quality standards for the
process and outcome of doctoral education can
further enhance quality and give spin-off effects
also to collaborating universities.
Karolinska Institutet works to ensure quality
assurance in doctoral education in different ways:
1.
2.
Intended learning outcomes (ILOs) are
defined by the Higher Education ordinance
in Sweden and represent generic ILOs for
all doctoral education within Sweden. The
Board of Doctoral education at Karolinska
Institutet requires from this year that the
generic ILOs1 must be broken down into
more defined ILOs aligned to the
individual study plan of newly admitted
doctoral candidates. Individual study plans
are followed up regularly and a more
thorough follow up assessing the
performance of the candidates including
the ILO’s by a board is performed at halftime, that is after two years of full time
study.
The Board for Doctoral Education has
established a working group for quality
assurance that has to report regularly about
its activities. This group works together
with the Board and other working groups
and systematically analyzes and gives
suggestions to adjust the whole doctoral
education system from the recruitment of
doctoral candidates, to supervision,
mandatory (like research ethics) and
elective doctoral courses and doctoral
programs, a number of doctoral schools,
the
website
(ki.se/doctoral),
the
implementation of ILO´s in courses and
individual study plans, and the final thesis
defense. International coordinators are
studying the prerequisites of the
Reference:
ki.se/doctoral see Intended Lea
S68
EDUCATIONAL ARTICLE
ACHIEVEMENT OF DOCTORAL STUDY:
TUNISIAN PhD STUDENTS’ VIEW
Emna EL GOLLI-BENNOUR
Laboratory of Research on
Biologically Compatible
Compounds, Faculty of
Dentistry, Rue Avicenne, 5019
Monastir, Tunisia
* Corresponding author. Tel.:
+216 98 61 56 37; fax: +216 73
42 55 50
e-mail address:
[email protected] (Emna El
Golli-Bennour)
Abstract
The decision to attend graduate school to get a PhD is an important one,
and not one to be made lightly or without consideration. In Tunisia,
typical doctoral programs take four to seven years to complete and in
most science fields students then spend two to four years in postdoctoral
training before beginning their professional career. Committing to a
PhD means sacrifices as doctoral students are generally not well paid
and doctoral training is a "job" that requires perseverance and very hard
work. Survey on Tunisian doctoral education and career preparation is a
national survey of doctoral students intended to provide a snapshot of
their experiences and goals. About 200 students completed the 15questions survey. These students were from 5 selected universities and
represented Biomedicine and Health Sciences sectors. In this report, we
have tried to explain the reasons making doctoral study as a real
abnegation. Hence, there are three major causes (i) doctoral study may
increase personal debt: relative to peers, it will forego many years of
income (ii) limitation in the opportunity to get international research
training courses that approve and finalise dissertations and (iii) Once
they obtain their diploma it is too difficult for PhD graduates to get an
appropriate work in universities, research or public health
establishments. Nevertheless, doctoral work is still usually an exciting
and positive experience.
Keywords: PhD Education; Biomedicine; Health Sciences; Survey;
PhD abnegation
1. Introduction
In an increasingly inter-connected world, higher education is changing
[1,2]. One key element of internationalization comprises the increasing
recruitment of students [3]. The present investigation, reports on a
small-scale exploratory survey that sought to investigate the educational
experience of PhD students and their supervisors in Tunisian
universities. From the north to the south of the county 5 establishments
were surveyed; as 3 Faculty of Sciences (Tunis/Monastir/Sfax) and 2
Advanced Institutes of Biotechnology (Monastir/Sfax). Thus, PhD
students responding to the survey were only those inscribed in
Biomedicine and Heath Sciences sectors. The questionnaire was sent
electronically to PhD students (n = 350) and receiving a 57% response
rate (i.e. n = 200). Indeed, in the questionnaire, students were asked to
describe how “reality” compared with their initial expectations. They
were also asked to identify the most positive and negative aspects of
PhD education.
S69
This was a small study, but the findings confirm
key issues identified in the limited available
literature. However, these issues focused around: (i)
financial problems, (ii) limitation in qualified
international training courses and (iii) the progress
of doctoral students upon graduation.
scholarly work is presented at conferences and then
published. Most of the students (85%) were
encouraged to present at national events, but the
opportunity to participate in an international
meeting is restricted to 29.4% of the respondents
and was sponsored by the organising organism.
Certainly, publications are critical in the research
process, but fewer than half the students reported
being prepared by their programs to publish and
slightly more 60% were confident in their ability to
do so.
2. Data Analysis and Discussion
The questionnaire was subject to content analysis
whereby answers to each question were collated
and compared across and within groups. Student
responses are presented together under different
thematic headings.
Financial status of PhD students
Principally doctoral students spend most of their
time working in laboratories under the direction of
their research advisors. Usually, doctoral students
work on research projects as a part of team which
composed of others graduate students, technicians
and faculty members. Therefore, dissertations are
typically composed of a collection of related
research projects and written as a series of papers.
However, students often felt dependent on the
advisor, who was frequently the sole determiner of
when a student had complete sufficient
experimental work to graduate.
Research is the dominant focus of the doctorate, but
is not the only work activity of 36.4% of
respondents. For these students teaching occupies
most of their time. On average, PhD students spend
35% of their time teaching, while devoting 17% of
their time to preparing courses and administration
assignments and 48% to research. Nevertheless,
these students said enjoyment of teaching made
them interested in being a professor. Teaching
requirements also serve as a mechanism for
financial aid. Moreover, some selected students
(41.7%), who are not teaching; are able to obtain
fellowships from the government or to be enrolled
in international program training grants. Indeed,
these grants are not able to cover all student life
requirements as accommodation, transport,
restoration and furniture. Besides, financial needs
of the rest of PhD students (21.9%) are paid by
their parents. So committing a PhD could be a
sacrifice not only for students but sometimes for the
all family members. Therefore, beneficing of a
university bursary for Tunisian PhD students is not
an acquired right.
Relationship Students/Supervisors
Research Training Courses
With respect to supervision, 68.3% of students felt
that they needed more time and guidance from their
supervisors. Thus, some students find it hard to
work in an unsupervised manner and they require
much more guidance and support. However, it
sometimes seems that supervisors have many
responsibilities and no time for research students.
46.2% of surveyed students reported that they had
the chance to visit European research organisms.
These students also indicated a positive view of
international training courses which were viewed as
offering important opportunities to facilitate a
greater understanding of research development,
exchange of ideas and learning new research
methods, as well as creating opportunities to make
networks and linkages which could have long term
advantages. Some students mentioned satisfaction
from feeling that they are contributing to the global
development of Tunisian doctoral education
Demographic Data
In regard to the gender ratio 65% were female and
35% male. Just 38% were married and 27% have
children. The mean age of PhD students was 31
years, reflecting the longer duration of the PhD
program and the mean time of enrolment was 4.7
years.
PhD Study in Biomedicine and Health Sciences
sectors
In this context, students mentioned a lack of clarity
and a perceived lack of guidance in understanding
university and PhD systems and processes as a
cause of unnecessary stress and anxiety. However,
S70
through conducting international training courses.
However, international training courses allowed to
PhD students the presentation of qualified
dissertations via the use of highly research
technology that not exist in Tunisian laboratories.
Moreover, these training courses can reduce
dissertation durations.
References
[1]. Allen M, Ogilvie L. (2004) Internationalization
of higher education: potentials and pitfalls for
nursing education. Int. Nurs. Rev. 51: 73-80.
[2]. Ketefian S, McKenna H. (2005) Doctoral
Education
in
Nursing:
International
Perspectives. Routledge, London.
[3]. Middlehurst R. (2002) The international
context for UK higher education. (Editors:
Ketteridge S, Marshall S, Fry H), pp. 13-32,
The Effective Academic: A Handbook for
Enhanced Academic Practice. Kogan Page,
London.
[4]. Ryan J. (2000) A Guide to Teaching
International Students. The Oxford Centre for
Staff and Learning Development, Oxford.
[5]. Evans C. (2007) The experience of
international doctoral education in nursing: An
exploratory survey of staff and international
nursing students in a British university. Nurse
Educ. Today 27: 499-505.
Career View
When asked if they were considering a faculty job
at any point in the future, 74% of the students
surveyed answered in the affirmative. An even
small number 6.2% of respondents indicated that
they had a definite interest in public health research
establishments. Indeed, 19.8% of students were
interested in industry. Nevertheless, between hops
and reality there is a large difference as the chance
to have a faculty job is very restricted and about
10%/year of graduate doctorate succeed to have a
faculty job. Moreover, Biotechnology industry is
not well developed in Tunisia and pubic heath and
research establishments preferred to engage
technicians than PhD graduate. Additionally, to
perform a post-doctoral job PhD students have to
move outside the country.
3. Conclusion
Doctoral study is challenging for most of students
and many of the issues are rose in this study;
especially around financial limitations and career
view. All Tunisian PhD students’ hopes are directed
to the government, which have to improve research
structure status: on one hand, by giving all PhD
students research grants; that allow them with an
acceptable doctoral education environment and on
the other hand, by providing research structures
with new and developed instruments making the
international training courses unnecessary.
Furthermore, the findings support research on
doctoral
students
indicating
that
the
student/supervisor relationship may be challenged
more than usual, that the supervisor role may need
to be extended to accommodate the different needs
of PhD students, this issue have also been identified
in developed countries [4,5].
This was a small-scale exploratory survey, it is hard
therefore, to definitively identify the extent to
which this study has captured issues which are
particular to Tunisian PhD students.
S71
EDUCATIONAL ARTICLE
Research Environment for PhD Students in
Biochemistry in the Medical University-Sofia
Tanya Monova, Alexey
Alexeev, Ganka Kossekova
Department of Medical
Chemistry and Biochemistry,
Medical University-Sofia
Abstract
Standards for the PhD. Degree in the Molecular Biosciences,
recommended by the International Union of Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology (2006) are valid in the Medical University of Sofia
(MUS). Holders of a PhD in Biochemistry should demonstrate a
general knowledge of biomedical sciences, and a detailed knowledge of
the area of research, be familiar with the research literature of
Biochemistry and should have the ability to keep abreast of major
developments and to acquire a working background in any area;
demonstrate skill in the recognition of meaningful problems and
questions for research; possess technical skill in laboratory
manipulation; acquire oral, written, and visual communication skills;
demonstrate skill in conducting productive self-directed research.
Objective factors as modern laboratory equipment, computers and
wide-band Internet, access to the European academic network GEANT
2, academic staff qualified in Biochemistry, clear formulation of
teaching objectives, access to libraries – all these are important and
necessary but not sufficient factors contributing positively to the PhD
training. Two subjective factors should be considered too: 1) the
characteristic features of the “net” generation of today or the “Digital
Natives” as described by Prensky (2001), and 2) the need for
pedagogical training of the academic staff or the “Digital Immigrants”.
Therefore our work was focused on: 1) creation of virtual models,
relevant to the style of thinking and perception of the “Digital Natives”.
The virtual models are used to help understanding and learning of
complex molecular structures and visualization of expensive or
dangerous experiments before actual performance. Virtual models also
help basic concept reinforcement. 2) pedagogical training of the
“Digital Immigrant Educators” from Biochemistry and other medical
disciplines at seminars to help them understand that they must change
in order to reach the students of today.
Key words: Medical Biochemistry, PhD students, virtual models,
teachers’ training
Introduction
The Medical University of Sofia is the biggest medical university in
Bulgaria with four faculties: Medicine, Dental Medicine, Pharmacy, and
Public Health. At present the PhD students are more than 300 – in
regular and distance programs. The preclinical department of Medical
Chemistry and Biochemistry is a joint unit together with the Clinical
Center of Molecular Medicine within the Faculty of Medicine. In the
recent five years 13 regular PhD students in Biochemistry have 78
publications - 24 in Bulgarian and 54 in international peer-reviewed
journals. The ratio: number of publications versus graduated PhD
S72
students is 8,7:1 (78/9), and the ratio: total number
of publications versus total number of PhD students
is 6:1 (78/13), which shows high publishing
activity. The PhD students also participate in
scientific forums – national and international.
This work describes in brief the traditional
objective components of the research environment
for the PhD students in Biochemistry (documents,
equipment, computers, access to libraries, Internet,
etc.). All these are necessary but not sufficient
factors. Two other subjective factors were
considered within the frame of a University
infrastructural project (2010): 1) the requirements
of the today’s students (the “net”-generation) and
2) the need for pedagogical training of the
academic staff.
Therefore our objectives were: 1) to create virtual
models, useful for understanding and learning of
complex molecular structures and visualization of
expensive or dangerous experiments before actual
performance and deliver them using the
reconstructed and upgraded university Web-based
virtual learning environment; 2) to organize
pedagogical training of teachers in Biochemistry
and other medical disciplines (Fig. 1).
Fig.1. Use of the reconstructed, upgraded and enriched university virtual learning environment for regular,
blended and distance learning of PhD and undergraduate students, and pedagogical training of the academic
staff.
Biosciences, recommended by the International
Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Objective components of the research
(2006). ORPHEUS 2009 position paper (2009) has
environment
been taken in consideration too. To qualify for a
PhD in Biochemistry students should demonstrate
Legal and normative documents
Education of PhD students in the Medical
a general knowledge of biomedical sciences, and a
University of Sofia takes place according to the
detailed knowledge of the area of research, be
law requirements in Bulgaria and in compliance
familiar with the research literature of
with international standards: the WFME Global
Biochemistry and should have the ability to keep
Standards
for
Quality
Improvement
in
abreast of major developments and to acquire a
Postgraduate Medical Education (2003), the
working background in any area; demonstrate skill
Standards for the Ph.D. Degree in the Molecular
in the recognition of meaningful problems and
S73
questions for research; possess technical skill in
laboratory manipulation; acquire oral, written, and
visual communication skills; demonstrate skill in
conducting productive self-directed research.
Each PhD student has access to the faculty and the
university library. Specialized new books by
leading prominent authors in specific fields are
regularly provided by the University. The research
work of the PhD students is funded on a
competitive principle by the University Council for
Medical Science and by the Bulgarian Ministry of
Public Health and the Ministry of Education and
Science.
Qualified staff in Biochemistry
Training is carried out via appropriate forms,
general and specialized formal graduate courses,
specialized seminars, individual work, regular
meetings and discussions with the principal
supervisor and other academics. The principal
supervisors are academics with experience in
research and supervision in Biochemistry. Their
research interests are in the fields of signal
transduction, protein kinases, cell cultures,
proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, bioactive
substances, bioenergetics, molecular genetics,
medical genetics, prenatal diagnostics, clinical
laboratory, molecular medicine, genetic diseases,
DNA microchip technologies, Biochemistry
didactics, Web-based e-learning.
Subjective components
environment
the
research
Requirements of today’s students
In addition to the objective factors mentioned
above, two other subjective factors should be
considered too: 1) the characteristic features of the
“net” generation of today or the “Digital Natives”
as described by Prensky (2001) and creation of
appropriate learning resources for them, and 2)
need for pedagogical training of the academic staff
or the “Digital Immigrants”.
The principal supervisors are responsible for
ensuring ongoing research projects, for individual
planning and programming of the work of the PhD
students. Clear teaching objectives and tasks are
formulated for each PhD student.
Our students today are all “native speakers” of the
digital language of computers, video games and the
Internet. They are not only technologically literate.
They are technologically bound and dependent.
Higher education now faces the challenge to
provide adequate training for students whose way
of thinking, behavior, preferences, expectations
and learning style are radically different from those
of both teachers and students of the past.
Prolonged contact with computers (games,
Internet, social networks) has developed their
abilities of really fast receiving information; they
like to parallel process and multi-task (Prensky,
2001). They have non-linear visual thinking,
expectation of timely feedback and reward
anticipation, continuous connection to the Web, to
their network of friends and uninterrupted access
to diverse sources of information. In universities,
on the other hand, training is slow, with a linear
and coherent presentation of knowledge. Jobs are
individual and require critical thinking and creative
application of acquired knowledge, their efforts are
not rewarded in due time, but after a long period,
learning process is inflexible.
Specialized laboratory equipment and virtual
learning environment
The Medical University of Sofia, in particular the
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
together with the Clinical Center of Molecular
Medicine has and maintains the necessary modern
specialized laboratory equipment, evaluated very
positively by FEBS experts. There are also modern
computers and wide-band Internet, access to
national libraries and to the European academic
network GEANT 2, ScienceDirect, Pubmed,
Scopus and other databases. The main funding
comes from successful international, national and
university projects.
The university virtual learning environment is a
Web-based system for distance e-learning. It
allows delivery of courses that consist of lectures,
interactive tests, virtual patients, virtual models,
and all other auxiliary resources. The Web-based
course “Interactive Biochemistry” is one of the
formal courses, especially useful for regular and
distance PhD students.
These subjective factors have directed our attention
to creating learning resources that meet the style
and abilities of new students to digest information
and to learn. Virtual models - video films
S74
of
combining animation and video, are an appropriate
learning tool for engaging the attention of new
students. Their attractiveness and interactivity meet
the style and attitudes of young people's perception
and understanding. They are part of those elements
that students use daily in their personal virtual
space.
present the processes and experimental techniques
on microscopic, symbolic and process levels. The
video presents them on macroscopic and process
levels. Synchronization of animation and video in
one virtual model helps the students to reach
higher degree of understanding and navigation
between different levels when using developed
models. The role of virtual models to improve the
cognitive abilities of the students is presented in
figure 2.
PhD curriculum provides learning of experimental
techniques and laboratory procedures. It is
appropriate that laboratory methods be represented
by virtual models. Therefore our work was focused
on creation of scenarios and production of video
films illustrating different chapters in the Webbased course ”Interactive Biochemistry” and cover
most of the chapters of medical biochemistry.
Variety of virtual models has been developed to
illustrate different experiments and theoretical
topics: detection of amino acids with ninhydrin;
measurement of protein concentration; SDS-gel
electrophoresis of proteins; isolation and
purification
of
DNA
from
blood;
spectrophotometric analysis of isolated DNA;
polymerase chain reaction;
agarose gel
electrophoresis of amplified DNA; DNA
sequencing; cell fractionation; different enzyme
activities and substrates concentrations
Training of the academic staff
The training of teachers is carried out in 3
directions:
1) Instructional design of traditional,
electronically-aided and electronic courses and
creation of learning materials. This training is
necessary for teachers without pedagogical basis as
medical doctors and biochemists. The model of
instructional design (Smith & Ragan, 1999)
includes three steps: analysis, strategy, and
evaluation. First, the instructors have to learn as
much as they can about the environment in which
the learners will be trained, about the learners
themselves, and about the specific task for which
the learners must be prepared. During the selection
of the instructional strategy the instructors must
determine the ways in which instructional
materials should be presented, decide which
learning activities the learners can experience,
determine the sequence of instructions and how the
instruction will take place. At the evaluation stage
the educator plans an approach for evaluating the
instructional materials to determine the necessary
changes. At the seminars, which were organized,
teachers from different departments of the Medical
University of Sofia learned how to design their
courses in order to face the needs of the new
generation of students and to conduct a successful
educational process.
The virtual models are relevant to the style of
thinking and perception of today’s students. They
use them to understand and learn complex
molecular structures and visualization of
expensive, elaborate, innovative, and dangerous
experiments before actual performance. Virtual
models also help basic concept reinforcement.
Each virtual model includes visualization that
helps students to make sense of the invisible and
untouchable (Barak, & Hussein-Farraj, 2009) and
they obtain the ability to navigate properly
between
four
levels
of
understanding:
macroscopic, microscopic, symbolic and process
levels (Dori, Barak & Adir, 2003). Animations
S75
Fig. 2. Role of the virtual models to improve the cognitive abilities of the students.
2) Work with the university Web-based virtual
learning environment. The interface for creation
and delivery of courses, containing lectures,
interactive tests, virtual patients and all other
educational resources, is friendly and intuitive, as
seen from Fig. 3.
Fig.3. Consecutive steps for creation of a virtual patient with galactosemia, using the administrative module of
the university virtual learning environment.
S76
3) Management of students’ and PhD students’
projects – to ensure better conditions for the
successful transition of graduate students to PhD
candidates, then to PhD students and efficient postdocs.
[4].
[5].
Conclusion
The contemporary laboratory equipment, modern
ICT facilities and qualified academic staff with
experience in research in Biochemistry ensure
excellent
conditions
for
Bulgarian
and
international PhD students. In addition to this, the
renovated university learning environment was
enriched with a collection of virtual models,
relevant to the style of thinking and perception of
today’s PhD and undergraduate students. The
seminars, conducted for the teachers in
Biochemistry helped them to better manage PhD
students’ projects using the modern specialized
laboratory equipment. The seminars with teachers
from different medical disciplines helped them to
learn how to design and deliver traditional and
electronic courses using the renovated university
Web-based virtual learning environment.
[6].
[7].
[8].
Acknowledgements
The financial support of the Council of Medical
Science in MU-Sofia is gratefully acknowledged
(7th Infrastructural project/2009/26.03.2010 and
project 53/Grant-2010/contract 4/11.082010).
References
[1]. Barak, M., & Hussein-Farraj, R. (2009).
Computerized Molecular Modeling as Means
for Enhancing Students' Understanding of
Protein Structure and Function. In Y. EshetAlkalai, A. Caspi, S. Eden, N. Geri, Y. Yair
(Eds.), Proceedings of the Chais conference on
instructional technologies research: Learning
in the technological era (pp.14-19). Raanana:
The Open University of Israel.
[2]. Dori, Y. J., Barak, M., & Adir, N. (2003). A
Web-based chemistry course as a means to
foster freshmen learning. Journal of Chemical
Education, 80(9), 1084-1092.
[3]. ORPHEUS 2009 position paper: Towards
Standards in PhD Education in Biomedicine
and
Health
Research
(2009),
http://www.orpheused.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=
S77
view&id=32&Itemid=42,
last
visited
31.03.2011.
Prensky, M. (2001) Digital Natives, Digital
Immigrants Part 2: Do They Really Think
Differently? On the Horizon, 9(6), 1-6.
Smith, P. L., & Ragan, T. J. (1999).
Instructional Design (2nd ed.). New York:
Wiley.
Standards for the PhD Degree in the
Molecular Biosciences, Recommendations of
the Committee on Education of
The
International Union of Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology,
revised July 2006,
http://www.iubmb.org/index.php?id=32, last
visited 31.03.2011.
University Infrastructural Project: Building an
Infrastructure and human resources quality
scientific competetive investigations in
medical educations to improve the educational
process in the Medical University of Sofia,
No. 7th-I/2009/contract 26.03.2010.
WFME Global Standards - The Trilogy.
Postgraduate Medical Education – WFME
Global Standards for Quality Improvement,
http://www.wfme.org/, last visited 31.03.2011.
EDUCATIONAL ARTICLE
“
PhD study and program: from ex-student to student
“A LESSON LEARNED”: A PhD course proposal
Goran Æuriæ*, Ljubica
Glavaš-Obrovac
Department for Medical
Chemistry, Biochemistry and
Clinical Chemistry, Medical
Faculty Osijek, J.J.Strossmayer
University of Osijek,
Huttlerova 4, HR-31000
Osijek, Croatia.
*Corresponding author:
[email protected]; Tel: +385 31
512826 Fax: +385 31 505615
*Corresponding author:
[email protected]; Tel: +385 31
512826 Fax: +385 31 505615
Abstract
The Postgraduate Doctoral Study in Biomedicine and Health Sciences at
the Medical Faculty of Osijek is established five years ago. The purpose
of this PhD study is to qualify the student for independent scientific,
research and academic work at university, scientific and health institutes
as well as at university hospitals. According to the experience of PhD
students, that PhD program has its “childhood diseases” and some of
them, like pressure of Clinics and Academia ‘hungry’ for PhDs on
Institution providing PhD program, PhD students not really interested in
research, and lack of devoted supervisors/mentors, are identified and
discussed. We find that institutional effort on overcoming common PhD
students’ pitfalls should be made and the introduction of a course about
PhD study would improve quality of PhD program. For that reason, an
outline of the PhD course about PhD study and program is presented.
We project that presented course would lead to improved PhD program
and, if not more satisfied, than at least more prepared PhD candidates.
In many instances knowing what to expect is impossible, however, other
lessons can be taught ahead.
Keywords: Postgraduate doctoral study, biomedicine and health
sciences, PhD course proposal, PhD student
“At first year of PhD study, I have had an obligatory course where the
task was to write an essay about motivation for enrollment of PhD
program. In a half joke, I wrote that I imagine that my PhD study will
be like journey between Scylla and Charybdis.
Unfortunately, my predictions were correct!”
Goran Curic, MD
Introduction
Degree of formal postgraduate doctoral education is prerequisite for
building a career in the academia. The Postgraduate Doctoral Study in
Biomedicine and Health Sciences at the Medical Faculty of Osijek was
conceived to be comparable and harmonized with doctoral programs in
the domain of biomedicine and health sciences established in Czech
Republic (Charles University in Prague and Faculty of Medicine in
Hradec Kralove), Republic of Slovenia (University of Ljubljana,
University Scientific Postgraduate Study in Biomedicine), Norway
(University of Bergen, Faculty of Medicine), Sweden (Medical
University, Karolinska Institute, Research Education - PhD Training),
Denmark (University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Health Science), and
University of Zagreb, Croatia, (Faculty of Medicine,
S78
Postgraduate Doctoral Study in Biomedicine and
Health Sciences) Postgraduate [1] . The program of
this doctoral study is based on current European
guidelines for higher education and doctoral
programs [2-4]. As in the entire European area of
higher education, the work necessary to finish the
study and all required obligations is 3 years
minimum. A PhD student must acquire at least 180
ECTS points in total and do individual scientific
and research work and finish doctoral dissertation
as well[1] .
about PhD study, which is intended for new PhD
students as an elective course scheduled in a first
term of the first year of PhD study program. In this
paper the proposal of this postgraduate course is
described and outlined.
A postgraduate course proposal “PhD Study and
Program: from Ex-student to Student – a Lesson
Learned”
“PhD Study and Program: from Ex-student to
Student – a Lesson Learned” is a proposal for a new
postgraduate course developed to address common
problems of PhD students, to help students to
prepare for PhD study, and to understand what are
they expected to do to achieve PhD certificate. The
general teaching goal of this course proposal is to
provide suggestions and advices about the
important steps in the PhD study. Targeted group
are all enrolled PhD students.
Doctoral study at the Medical Faculty of Osijek was
established five years ago and as first generation of
students is finishing up their study, the results of
internal survey lead us to conclude that on the
beginning of the PhD study only a part of students
had vision what PhD study really means and what
they really need to know about building a career in
academia. Some students had a dream of
discovering cures for incurable diseases and solving
problems of undeveloped countries, the second
group perceived PhD study just as an inescapable
hurdle before the award of an academic degree, and
third group are in-betweens. While PhD subjects
are very diverse, all groups have to go through
same administrative procedure and common
problems should be expected. In many instances
knowing what to expect is impossible, however,
other lessons can be taught ahead.
Content, timetable and teaching methods
One-week course is scheduled to take 20 hours and
guide 20 students through combination of lectures,
workshop, student presentations, team-based
learning and discussions. Course includes several
principles and elements intended to promote adult
learning5. Formal final examination is not foreseen,
but on last day quiz is provided as a teaching and
feedback tool. In Table 1 are shown scheduled
study topics.
To address recognized problems of PhD students,
we conceived a proposal of the postgraduate course
S79
Schedule
Day
Study topics
Organization and structure of PhD study
Teaching method
Hours
lecture
2
Discussion
2
Lecture
1
Discussion
3
Lecture
1
discussion with invited lecturer
3
Workshop
1.5
discussion
1
Lecture
0.5
student presentation
1
Managing yourself (part 1):
1st

Full-time vs. part time

Teaching assistant

Specialization
2nd

What is a PhD

Research methodology

Topic field

Financial means (student task: funding plan)
Managing your Supervisor - ‘Who is a mentor’
Managing with Supervisor:
3th

Internal and external courses

Thesis/advisory committee

Associates
PhD topic:
4th

Literature search and review

Research questions

Ethical issues (animal, human)

Funding plan
PhD dissertation writing up:

Dissertation proposal
Lecture
1

Collecting data & data analysis
discussion with invited lecturer
1

Discussion of data
“Between Scylla and Charybdis”
team-based learning
1.5
Quiz
Quiz
0.5
5th
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believe that focused students, supervisors and
lecturers would considerably contribute to quality
of postgraduate doctoral study.
Discussion and Conclusion
PhD programs in different countries have some
similarities in organization scheme like admission
procedure, individual research under supervision,
knowledge dissemination, and the writing and
defense of a PhD thesis or dissertation[1] . PhD
students face common pitfalls and institutional
effort should be made. We assume that introduction
of a course about PhD study would improve quality
of the PhD program at the Medical Faculty of
Osijek. Presented PhD course proposal is an outline
of course material for Committee for the
Postgraduate Doctoral Study at the Medical Faculty
of Osijek. Pilot course is intended to be an elective
course scheduled in first term of the first year of
PhD study program. Development of the course
after the implementation will be based on results of
evaluation of the course by the students, mentors,
collaborators and teachers/lecturers.
References
[1]. Program of Postgraduate doctoral study
Biomedicine
and
Health
Sciences
(http://www.mefos.hr/cms/mefos/en/studie
s/postgraduate.html).
[2]. “The European Higher Education Area”.
Communiqué of the Conference of
Ministers
Responsible
for
Higher
Education in Berlin on 19 September 2003
(www.eua.be).
[3]. The Framework of Qualifications for the
European Higher
Education Area.
(www.bolognabergen2005).
[4]. Doctoral Programmes for the European
Knowledge Society" Bologna Seminar,
Salzburg,
3-5
February
2005,
(www.eua.be).
[5]. Norman GO (1999) The adult learner: A
mythical species. Acad Med 74: 886-889.
Quality of new PhD studies can be hindered by
pressure of Clinics and Academia ‘hungry’ for
PhDs on Institution providing PhD program. For
students that perceive PhD study just as an
inescapable hurdle before the award of an academic
degree and potentially lack of interest in research,
PhD study may become source of disappointment
and a great financial cost. Proposed PhD study
overview should prepare new PhD students on what
is expected of them to finish the PhD study. Since
every PhD project is original and unique, there is
not unique recipe. In many instances knowing what
to expect is impossible, however, other lessons can
be taught ahead. Somewhat similar course could be
offered as an elective at the end of graduate school
curriculum. We estimate that courses like that
would lead to focused, self-esteemed and motivated
future PhD students. Such undergraduate course
about PhD study could contribute to recruitment of
potentially outstanding researchers to formal
postgraduate education and a continuation of the
academic career.
A success of presented course could be measured
through students’ feedback, but real success could
be observed through long-term evaluation and
shortening of time required for finishing PhD.
Besides preparing PhD students more effectively
for their futures, another potential benefit of
proposed course is profiling and recruitment of
competent supervisors of future PhD students. We
S81
EDUCATIONAL ARTICLE
New Paradigm of PhD Education at Tbilisi State
University Faculty of Medicine in Georgia
Nato Pitskhelauri, Nino
Chikhladze, Alexander
Tsiskaridze
Tbilisi State University,
Georgia
Nato Pitskhelauri
Abstract
This paper deals with the case of implementation the new PhD
programs at Faculty of Medicine at Tbilisi State University, as an
example of establishing the new paradigm of PhD Education in
Georgia. Higher Education system of Georgia has been in the process
of extensive reforms since 2005, for that time two major innovations
were carried out: the new law about Higher Education was adopted and
Georgia joined the Bologna process. In the regards to the law and
Bologna process three cycle of education (Bachelor, Master and PhD)
and ECTS system was implemented. According to the Law the duration
of PhD program is 180 ECTS.
At the level of Tbilisi State University the minimal standards of PhD
Education was elaborated and proved by TSU Academic Council. The
document clarifies the minimum requirement for admission, enrolment
and access criteria to the programs, requirement for the PhD thesis,
supervisor, evaluation etc. According to this document The structure of
each PhD program in TSU should include teaching component (4060ECTS) and research component (140-120ECTS). Training in
transferable skills is part of the teaching component.
At the level of Faculty of Medicine the Statement of PhD Education was
elaborated. The additional requirement for the PhD thesis, supervisor,
evaluation was implemented (for ex. article in peer-review journal
should be published, assessment board includes one member from other
Educational Institutions, etc).
The aim of the Faculty of Medicine regards the updating the approaches
for PhD program is harmonization PhD Education in Georgia with the
PhD Education in Biomedicine and Health Sciences in the European
Higher Educational Area.
Key Words: PhD education, biomedicine and health sciences, Georgia
Governmental Level of PhD Education.The reform of education and
namely of higher education in Georgia is an indispensable prerequisite
for the development of a strong and modern state. Higher education
system of Georgia has been in the process of extensive reforms since
2005, for that time two major innovations were carried out: Georgia
joined the Bologna process and the new law about higher education was
adopted.
The Bologna Process became the most important trend of
internationalization of higher education in Europe. On May 2005
Georgia officially joined the Bologna process and committed itself to
becoming a constituent part of the European Higher Educational Area.
Achieving this goal by attaching to Bologna Declaration was recognized
as international obligation in Georgia. The results and benefits of the
S82
Bologna process depend on how the governments
and higher educational institutions respond to the
challenges.
and approximate the Georgian research system with
the European standards. Besides, the law on higher
education underlines the primary significance of the
research within higher educational institutions.
The new Law of Georgia on higher education binds
the institutes of higher education of Georgia to
pursue the main priorities of the Bologna process,
such as transferring to the three cycle of higher
education, implementing quality assurance and
accreditation system, European Credits Transfer
and Accumulation (ECTS) system, compatibility of
curricula with the European system, mobility etc.
Under the Bologna Process the government of
Georgia will facilitate an improvement and
modernization of infrastructure and facilities of
research institutions.
The appropriate research infrastructure combined
with high level researchers is a main recondition for
the development of research in sciences. This
change enables Georgia to start shifting from
developing states to developed country in the long
term national perspective [2].
The Law on Higher Education in Georgia regulates
the implementation conditions for educational and
research activities of higher education institutions,
the principles and rules of higher education
management and financing, defines the status of all
higher education institutions and the rules for their
establishment, operation etc [1].
The Academic Board of a higher educational
institution is entitled to approve the research
programmes and determines the rules of evaluation
of a research work. The law stipulates that funds for
conducting a master and doctoral degree research
will be extracted from the state research fund on a
competitive basis and in view of priorities
determined by the Ministry of Education and
Science of Georgia.
In the regards to the law and Bologna process three
cycles of higher education (Bachelor, Master and
PhD) was implemented. The pre-existing system of
academic degrees (kandidat nauk, doktor nauk) was
abolished, with holders of both degrees equated to a
Ph.D. All three levels of programs had to be
brought into conformity with Bologna criteria,
namely the ECTS crediting system was introduced
as obligatory for all universities. Other
requirements as determined by the Bologna criteria
were also made obligatory.
According to the law: “A person holding a master’s
or an equal academic degree may take a doctoral
program’’.
Graduates from educational program in medicine
have master’s equal academic degree, so they are
able to continue their study on PhD
level.Educational program in medicine are
regulated educational programs with special
accreditation requirements prescribed by the state.
In Georgia only research Universities are authorised
to award all three academic degrees (Bachelor,
Master and PhD). According to the law doctoral
program is the third level of higher education,
which represents the combination of study
programs and research activities aimed at preparing
research personnel and is concluded by awarding
the academic degree of a doctor. The duration of
PhD program is 180 ECTS.
According to the law:
“A higher education
institution shall provide a doctoral student with a
research supervisor, create favourable conditions
for conducting work related to the research, which
shall encompass theoretical and/or experimental
results and facilitate his/her integration into the
world research community. Upon completion of the
doctorate program and successful defence of
dissertation, a doctoral student is awarded the
academic degree of a doctor. The academic degree
of doctor shall be awarded by a dissertation council
established within a faculty of higher education
institution in compliance with the regulations
prescribed by the relevant statute. The procedures
Teaching component on doctorate studies level is
not very usual for Georgian universities, although
in the Soviet period, philosophy and a foreign
language were taught in “Aspirantura”.
According to the law on higher education, one of
the main priorities of the state policy is to assure
academic freedom of study and research, provide
and develop the necessary conditions for research
S83
for awarding the academic degree of a doctor shall
be set out in the Dissertation Council Statute to be
approved by the Academic Council of a higher
education institution.’’
In the statement is mentioned that faculty has right
to announce additional requirements for admission.
According to this document the structure of each
PhD program in TSU should include teaching
component (40-60ECTS) and research component
(140-120ECTS). Training in transferable skills is
part of the teaching component.
Procedures for admissions to master’s and doctoral
programs should be defined by the statement of the
relevant faculty of a higher education institution.
The new legislation defines the Dissertation
Council as a body that is established at a faculty
and awards the academic degree of a doctor.
Procedures for staffing of the dissertation council
and election of its Chair are defined by the statute
that shall be approved by the Academic Council
upon the proposal of the Faculty Council. The
dissertation council shall be comprised of all
professors and associate professors of the faculty
having an academic doctor’s degree. The charter of
the higher education institution may define the rules
and conditions for inviting a professor or an
associate professor to the faculty dissertation
council from another higher education institution;
Dissertation Council operates according to the
statute approved by the Academic Council upon the
proposal of the Faculty Council and awards the
degree of doctor in the fields indicated in this
statute.
The main goal of doctoral programs is to train
academic leaders in accordance with the relative
fields of professional activity, who will be able to
create new knowledge, critically analyze the
accumulated ideas and take responsibility for
transformation and dissemination of this
information by means of publication, tuition and
implementation. [4]
According to statement about minimum standards
of PhD Education the structure of teaching
component includes: modern teaching methods (515ECTS), assistance of Professor (5-30 ECTS), two
Colloquia (20ECTS), academic writing (5ECTS),
management of Sciences (5ECTS), research
methods (5-15ECTS), basics of University
Curriculum (10ECTS) etc.
The following Teaching courses areobligatory for
each student of PhD program of TSU: modern
teaching methods (minimum numbers of ECTS- 5),
assistance of Professor (minimum numbers of
ECTS 5), two Colloquia (for each of them
minimum numbers of ECTS is 10, total 20 ECTS).
University Level of PhD Education. At the level of
Tbilisi State University the statement about
minimum standards of PhD Education was
elaborated and proved by TSU Academic Council
(#249 16 July, 2009). The document clarifies the
minimum requirement for admission, enrolment
and access criteria to the programs, requirement for
the PhD thesis, supervisor, evaluation etc [3] .
Other elements of teaching component are electives
and are dependent on the individual study plan of
PhD student as well as on the faculty’s PhD
statement.
PhD Program normally requires 3 years/ 6
semesters of study. PhD student should accumulate
no less that 180 ECTS credits per 3 years/ 6
semesters, but if PhD student is not able to finish
work and introduce the “work” he or she has right
to finish the work in additional 4 semesters.
The essential pre-requisite of defence is
internalization, which means that PhD student
should satisfy at list one of the following
requirements:
The Minimum requirement for admission in the
PhD program at Tbilisi State University is not only
a master’s or an equal academic degree, but B2
level of foreign (English, German, French)
languages.
 PhD student has foreign supervisor together
with Georgian supervisor;
 The main statement of the PhD thesis is
already published or is accepted for publication
in the internationally recognized journals;
 The main statement of the PhD thesis is
already published in the proceeding of
International conference/congress.
S84
The oral defence of the scientific results is open to
the public. The information concerning the defense
should be advertised on the Faculty’s web-page
minimum 2 weeks before the defense. The defence
process foresees presentation, scientific debates and
conclusion of the dissertation committee.
The assessment committee of written thesis should
consist independent expert from other educational
Institutions, without connection TSU.
Additional requirement for Dissertation Council at
Faculty of Medicine includes representation of one
independent expert from other Educational
Institutions.
The assessment of the PhD thesis is two types: (P) –
defined or (F)- not defined; The final assessment
(in the case of defence) is proceeded according to
the following system (which doesn’t consider the
application-appellation ): summa cum laude –91100; magna cum laude –81-90; cum laude –71-80;
bene –61-70 and rite –51-60. In the case of a failure
PhD student has the opportunity to rewrite the
thesis.
The results of the reform are a hotly debated issue
in Georgia. There are obvious achievements,
however, the quality of higher education in Georgia
is still a considerable problem [6].
Conclusion
The main guiding document for the reform of the
university system was a new law on higher
education, adopted in December, 2004. The main
reform actions started in 2005. According to the
newly adopted law on higher education establishing
sound and responsive higher education system that
meets European standards has become a top
priority. The law on higher education is aimed at
ensuring compliance of higher education system
with European systems, creating the main
precondition for renewal of the content and for
achieving higher standards in PhD Education in
Georgia.
Faculty Level of PhD Education. Faculties are free
to define the prerequisites of award of the doctor
degree. It’s possible that different faculties of one
University have different prerequisites, which is
reflected in the Faculty statement. The variety of
the faculty statements express the difference
between disciplines and creates possibility to
establish adequate requests in the appropriate field.
At the level of Faculty of Medicine the Statement
of PhD Education was elaborated. The additional
requirement for admission, for the PhD thesis,
supervisor, and assessment was implemented. [5]
The necessity of implementation already existing
Law on Higher Education of Georgia, Bologna
process and the need of implementation full
coverage of European and global advantages of
education on the one hand, and international
commitments to reform the system of medical
education on the other hand, have put the medical
Society to face the objective challenges for
Postgraduation education in Medicine.
The additional requirement for admission in the
PhD program is interview with program director. A
desirable prerequisite for admittance is working
experience in the field, also existence of scientific
topics and a preliminary consent of a probable
scientific supervisor.
The obligatory teaching courses for all PhD
students at Faculty of Medicine are: teaching course
in Problem Based Learning (5 ECTS) and elective
course on English ,,Academic Writing in
Biomedicine’’(5ECTS).
The aim of the Faculty of Medicine Tbilisi State
University regards the updating the approaches for
PhD program are harmonization PhD Education in
Georgia to the PhD Education in Biomedicine and
Health Sciences in the European Higher
Educational Area. To achieve this goal the proper
strategy should be designed and implemented at
University and Faculty level.
The supervisor should be qualified in the field
concerned and has publications in the field.
The additional pre-requisite of defence is that the
main statement of the PhD thesis should be already
published or should be accepted for publication in
peer-reviewed journal with impact-factor.
References:
[1]. Law of Georgia on Higher Education (2004)
www. meh.gov.ge
S85
[2]. Tabatadze Sh. (2007) Why and how can the
Bologna Process benefits to Georgia.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/16212335/
[3]. Statement about Minimum Standarts for PhD
Education. www.tsu.edu.ge
[4]. Rlonti L. (2005) Implementation of three cycle
education system in Georgia. PhD Concept
Pape, Cente for Social sciences. Tbilisi.
[5]. Statement of PhD Education for Faculty of
Medicine at TSU. www.tsu.edu.ge
[6]. Nodia G. (2011) Education Reform: Bologna
System and Autonomy of Universities.
http://openukraine.org/doc/ste/Publica
tionFinalEng.pdf
S86
EDUCATIONAL ARTICLE
Keynotes For Doctoral Education in Food
Engineering To Health Sciences
Haydar Özpınar*, İsmail
H.Tekiner**
* Prof.Dr, Food Engineering
Department, ** Director of
Natural & Applied Sciences
Institute, İstanbul Aydın
University Turkey , e-Mail:
[email protected]
** Doctoral Programme in
Food Engineering Department,
İstanbul Aydın University
Turkey,
e-Mail:
[email protected]
Haydar Özpınar
Prof.Dr, Food Engineering
Department, ** Director of
Natural & Applied Sciences
Institute, İstanbul Aydın
University Turkey
Abstract
Food Engineering is a multidisciplinary area that applies the principles
of many sciences such as physics, chemistry, microbiology, nutrition,
health and medicine, transport phenomena and design of the operations.
The ability to relate doctoral education in food engineering to the health
sciences absolutely provides significant benefit for further research to
meet demands of human health. Safe and nutritious food for human is
the primary goal of food engineering which is basically concerned with
the health aspects of food research area. Genomic studies consequently
make the health sciences become personalized in the near future by
developing new research joint-areas like proteomics, metabolomics,
nutrigenomics. These are also studied by food engineering. The
Doctoral Education in Food Engineering needs to focus on omics
methodologies in order to be a strong partner of the health sciences for
safer and nutrious food by moving from classical research areas to using
recent advanced techniques in nutrition, food safety and quality.
Key Words: Food Engineering, Doctoral Education, Omics
Methodologies, Health Sciences
1.
Introduction
The close relationship between food engineering and health sciences is
obviously seen if a research is made in the PubMed Home for the given
key words. The word “food” matches with many health related terms
such as safety, poisoning, allergy, intolerance, antihypertensive, cancer,
obesity, cardiovascular, cholesterol, etc. The human health is the joint
interest area of Food Engineering and Health Sciences. Both aims to
prevent and treat any disease that is caused by any unsafe food
consumption and environmental factors[5]. Application of recently
advanced omic techiques including the genomic, proteomic, and
metabolomic basically investigates foods for compound profiling to
food quality or safety; the development of new transgenic foods, food
contaminants, and toxicity studies; new researches on food bioactivity,
food effects on human health[1]. Omic technologies in principle allow
visualization of all of changes that take place when the genetics,
nutrition or environment of an organism is altered. Targeted
compositional analysis is today a key component of the food safety
assessment paradigm in which known nutrients, anti-nutrients,
toxicants, allergens, and other molecules of potential biological
importance to humans are quantitatively analyzed[1]. These
contemporary methodologies is making Food Science and Technology
move from classical techniques to advanced analytical and
multidisciplinary strategies in which the health sciences play a vital
role. Unraveling the multitude of nutrigenomic, proteomic, and
S87
metabolomic patterns that arise from the ingestion
of foods or their bioactive food components will not
be simple but is likely to provide insights into a
tailored approach to diet and health [7]. The
standards for doctoral education in Food
Engineering extremely needs to be re-structured as
a new approach that studies food and nutrition
domains through the application of advanced omics
technologies. This approach in doctoral programme
is therefore crucial in achieving global human
health goals. In this paper it is aimed to provide an
overview for the place of the omic related
techniques in the doctoral education of Food
Engineering.
2.2 Metabolomics
2.
2.3 Nutrigenomics
Metabolomics provides a powerful approach to
study small molecules in order to better understand
the implications and subtle perturbations in
metabolism triggered by nutrients. By studying how
dietary molecules can modulate the metabolome,
researchers have begun to elucidate the molecular
pathways by which nutrients affect health and
disease, expand the current state of knowledge
regarding
how
inter-individual
variability
contributes to differences in nutrient metabolism,
and develop novel avenues of research for
nutritional sciences [8].
Omics methodologies
Sequencing of the human genome has opened the
door to an exciting new phase for nutritional
science. Emerging areas that require greater
attention include understanding the link between
obesity, diet and cancer, the interaction between
diet and the microbiome, as well as how bioactive
food
components
modulate
inflammatory
processes. Importantly, for the future of
nutrigenomics, the "omics" (e.g., genomics,
proteomics, metabolomics) approach may provide
useful biomarkers of cancer prevention, early
disease, or nutritional status, as well as identify
potential molecular targets in cancer processes that
are modulated by dietary constituents and/or dietary
patterns [6]. Food Engineering, as a health related
discipline, also gets involved in this modern
approach.
Nutrigenomics is the application of high-throughput
genomics tools in nutrition research. Applied
wisely, it will promote an increased understanding
of how nutrition influences metabolic pathways and
homeostatic control, how this regulation is
disturbed in the early phase of a diet-related disease
and to what extent individual sensitizing genotypes
contribute
to
such
diseases.
Ultimately,
nutrigenomics will allow effective dietaryintervention strategies to recover normal
homeostasis and to prevent diet-related diseases[4].
3.
In Turkey the all of the undergraduate and graduate
levels of Food Engineering Education in many
universities does not constitute an close link with
the health sciences. High quality doctoral
programme in Food Engineering needs to achieve
higher standards by raising the bar to an
international level. The higher education in Food
Engineering in Turkey are offered by agricultural,
partially veterinary and engineering faculties. All
does not have a uniform and contemporary
curriculum as compared to the other ones
conducted in USA and European Countries. From
this point of view this education must be restructured closely with the health sciences and joint
research studies needs to be enhanced. The omics
related methodologies are not well known and
widely used in vast majority of the thesis offered in
the doctoral level of Food Engineering.
2.1 Proteomics
Proteomics offers the ability to define changes in
protein expression. It comprises the large-scale
analysis of proteins in biological systems at a
specific time and set of conditions and has evolved
into a mature science that addresses the technically
challenging problems of protein characterisation,
protein quantification and the measurement of
proteome Dynamics. This advanced technology has
already made a significant impact on biological and
biomedical research because proteins have
important roles in controlling many cellular
functions and can be used as markers of health and
disease status to monitor quality traits in food
products[2].
S88
Food engineering education in Turkey
4.
Conclusıon
In Turkey The Doctoral Education in Food
Engineering needs to: (a) get involved in the health
related studies (b) have well-designed curriculum in
accordance with Bologna Process (c)direct the
thesis of PhD Students toward manufacturing
personalized and nutrious food to meet the demands
of health sciences and (d) motivate PhD students to
become a part of the health related sciences by
putting effort towards society's prosperity.
5.
References
[1]. Chassy BM. (2010); Can -omics inform a food
safety assessment?, Regul Toxicol Pharmacol.
58(3 Suppl):S62-70
[2]. Eckersall D. and et.al (2010); Farm Animal
Proteomics, Proposal Reference OC-2009-25974 COST New Action.
[3]. Herrero M. and et.al (2011); Foodomics: MSbased strategies in modern food science and
nutrition, Mass Spectrom Rev. [Epub ahead of
print]
[4]. Müller M, and et.al (2003); Nutrigenomics:
goals and strategies, Nat Rev Genet.
Apr;4(4):315-22.
[5]. Özpınar H. Applegate L. (2011); Nutrition and
Diet: Basic Principles, İstanbul Medical
Publishing Company
[6]. Ross SA.(2010); Evidence for the relationship
between diet and cancer, Exp Oncol.
Sep;32(3):137-42.
[7]. Trujillo E, and et.al (2006); Nutrigenomics,
proteomics, metabolomics, and the practice of
dietetics, J Am Diet Assoc. Mar;106(3):40313.
[8]. Zulyniak MA and et.al (2011); Harnessing
Metabolomics for Nutrition Research, Curr
Pharm Biotechnol.
S89
ORPHEUS Executive Committee Members:
Zdravko Lackovic
Michael Mulvany
Seppo Meri
Guenther Gell
David Gordon
Miroslav Cervinka
Gül Güner-Akdoğan
Konstantin Gurevich
Petr Hach
Jadwiga Mirecka
Osman Sinanovic
Chris Van Schravendijk
(Zagreb)
President
(Aarhus)
Vice President
(Helsinki)
General Secretary
(Graz)
Treasurer
(Copenhagen)
(Hradec Kralowe)
(Izmir)
(Moscow)
(Prague)
(Krakow)
(Tuzla)
(Brussels)
ORPHEUS International Scientific Committee:
Zdravko Lackovic
Michael Mulvany
Seppo Meri
Hannes Stockinger
Gül Güner-Akdogan
Miroslav Červinka
Jean Chambaz
Mehmet Füzün
Guenther Gell
David Gordon
Konstantin Gurevich
Petr Hach
Jadwiga Mirecka
Hakan Orer
Nazmi Özer
Chris Van Schravendjik
Osman Sinanovic
Chair (Zagreb)
Chairman of the 4th ORPHEUS Conference (Aarhus), University of Aarhus
Chairman of the 3rd ORPHEUS Conference (Helsinki)
Chairman of the 5th ORPHEUS Conference (Vienna)
Chair of the 6th ORPHEUS Conference (Izmir)
Charles Univeristy , Faculty of Medicine at (Hradec Kralove)
Chair, Council on Doctoral Education, EUA (Paris)
Rector of Dokuz Eylül University (Izmir)
Medical University (Graz)
University of (Copenhagen)
Moscow State Dentistry Medical University (Moscow)
First Medical Faculty, Charles University (Prague)
Medical College, Jagiellonian University (Krakow)
Hacettepe University, School of Medicine (Ankara)
President, Turkish Society of Biochemistry (Ankara)
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Brussels)
Medical School, University of (Tuzla)
Organising Committee:
Gül Güner Akdoğan
(Chair)
Zübeyde Erbayraktar
(Coordinator)
Pavel Ježek
(Administrative Secretary)
Izmir-Dokuz Eylül University:
Salih Angın, Zahide Çavdar, Mine Doluca, Hüray İşlekel, Meral Karaman, Güldal Kırkalı, Hilal Koçdor,
Samiye Mete, Berna Musal, Oya Sayın, Zeynep Sercan, Nilgün Yener
PhD Students:
Ozan Akçay, Melis Dinç
Izmir-Ege University:
Ferhan Sağın, Ebru Sezer
Ankara-Hacettepe University:
Hakan Orer
S90
Local Advisory Committee
Gül Güner Akdoğan (Chair), Hakan Abacıoğlu, Cavidan Akören, Candan Algun, Diler Aslan, İbrahim
Astarcıoğlu, Neşe Atabey, Zuhal Bahar, Kemal Baysal, Lale Büyükgönenç, Tülay Canda, Şükran Darcan, Tamer
Demiralp, Oğuz Dicle, Nesrin Emekli, Serhat Erbayraktar, Rengin Erdal, Gürkan Ersoy, S.İsmet Gürhan, Hasan
Havıtçıoğlu, Emin Kansu, Münir Kınay, Yahya Laleli, Mehtap Malkoç, Sevgi Mir, Taner Onat, Tomris Özben,
Saim Özdamar, Nazmi Özer, Murat Özgören, Levent Öztürk, Gönül Peker, Mustafa Sabuncu, Gürsel Sönmez,
Ümit Süleyman Şehirli, Mahmut Tolon, İbrahim Tuğlu, Yeşim Tunçok, Besti Üstün, İsmail Üstünel, Fazilet
Vardar Sükan, Yalçın Yetkin, Osman Yılmaz, Ferruh Yücel
Post-Graduate Committee
Serap Acar, Ozan Akçay, Merve Akiş, Burcu Akpınar, Mustafa Ashrafi, Sezgin Ataç, Seda Baykal, Sevil Üzer,
Serap Cilaker Micili, İlkşan Demirbüken, Nida Demirçak, Melis Dinç Kant, Görkem Dizdar, Pınar Erçetin,
Fatma Ersin, Dilek Göktürk, Nihal Gördes, Aysim Gözükızıl, Sultan Gülce, Barış Gürpınar, Duygu Harmancı,
Burak E. İnanan, Şeniz İnanç, Gökhan Karakülah, Pınar Kemanlı, Aygül Kissal, Efsun Kolatan, Evin Özen,
Sinem Özer Gülat, Derya Murat Özgün, Seher Özyürek, Rukiye Roghaiyeh Safari, Reza Salimi, Ayşegül Savcı,
Yasemin Saygıdeğer, Murat Sipahi, Fırat Soyarat, Eren Şahin, Meriç Şenduran, Esra Taşbaş, Serhat Taşlıca,
Feriha Toksöz Özkaya, Gamze Tuna, Funda Uysal, Bora Uzun, Tuğba Yardımcı, Ali Yıldırım
S91

PhD Education for Biomedical Scientists in the United States

Transcription

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