Selected recommendations for each area of responsibility and activity.

A. Central level

1. Capacity and financing

 

Recommendations:

• Aarhus University should take action to ensure that models and estimates for the costs associated with PhD studies are developed (both internally and by the eight Danish universities).

• An overview of the resources necessary for Aarhus University to fulfill its objectives with regard to capacity in the PhD area (including funding for scholarships, supervisor capacity and physical infrastructure) should be prepared.

• A focussed effort to increase participation in the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation’s Industrial PhD Programme should be made. At the same time, Aarhus University should actively promote greater flexibility in the programme, both with regard to requirements and administration, as well as with regard to the evaluation of the mandatory programme elements outside of the university’s own sphere.

• The graduate schools should be allocated the resources necessary to enable their compliance with the requirements regarding quality set out in the University Act and the PhD Order.

• Aarhus University should contact the other Danish universities in order to establish agreement on a national (and international) collaboration between graduate schools on PhD courses of high quality. Any such agreement must be based on a functional and equable collaboration and promote the greatest possible flexibility.

Agents: University management, the main academic areas and the graduate schools 

2. Terms and conditions of employment and formalities

Recommendations:

• A general framework for agreements regarding external participation in and co-financing of PhD projects should be developed, including guide-lines for the rights and obligations of the participating parties

• A general survey of the practice of the graduate schools with regard to employment conditions for PhD students who are not employed by the university as salaried PhD fellows should be made which includes PhD students admitted to integrated MA/PhD tracks. On the basis of this survey, a general set of guidelines for employment terms and conditions should be developed. The guidelines should take differences in PhD student workload and between main academic areas into account.

•  A survey of the graduate schools' practices with reference to paid employment generally speaking should be carried out. A general set of practical guidelines based on this survey should be developed.

• Aarhus University should, in collaboration with Statistics Denmark and the other Danish universities, initiate a coordinated update and refinement of the key figures relevant to the PhD area in order to achieve reliable Danish PhD statistics.

• Procedures for collecting information on the employment histories of PhD graduates should be established. The challenging task of identifying former students should be coordinated with Aarhus University’s efforts to establish analumni association.

• A common legal framework regarding such issues as copyright, intellectual property rights and confidentiality in connection with PhD theses should be developed.

Agents: AU Human Resources, AU Information Technology, and the graduate schools

3. Development of online PhD administration

Recommendations:

• Measures (including the allocation of the necessary resources) should be taken to ensure that all phases of the online PhD administration system (application, portfolio and financial management) are implemented as quickly as possible in order to provide all of the university's graduate schools with an effective instrument for quality assurance.

• A new shared template for all Aarhus University PhD diplomas should be designed, and the certificate should be supplemented by a student portfolio that includes all completed courses, teaching and research dissemination activities, study at other institutions, etc.

Agents: University management, the main academic areas, AU Information Technology

4. Recruitment and admission

Recommendations:

• A survey of recruitment practices should be carried out, and data on the relative effectiveness of these recruitment strategies in relation to recruitment targets should be collected systematically from all of the university’s graduate schools.

• Early (pre-Master’s degree) recruitment to doctoral programmes should be developed into an Aarhus University trademark in combination with the development of a special ‘elite status’ dimension to the Master’s degree programmes.

• The issue of whether PhD students from non-EEA countries who are accepted to a PhD programme without a Master's degree are required to pay tuition should be clarified.

• Each graduate school should develop open, transparent criteria for evaluation of the qualifications necessary for admission to a PhD programme and the criteria for awarding PhD scholarships.

• Aarhus University should establish a service to assist the individual graduate schools in evaluating the qualifications of applicants (especially international applicants) seeking admission to the 3+5, 4+4 or 5+3 tracks, possibly by drawing on the experiences of the Danish Agency for International Education, which evaluates the qualifications of foreign applicants to other parts of the Danish educational system.

• The university’s graduate schools should have the option of granting ‘screening grants’ to visiting potential applicants to PhD programmes.

Agents: University management, AU Communication, International Centre, AU Studies Administration, the graduate schools, the AU Research Foundation[1]

5. Publicity and web communication

Recommendations:

• New promotional materials on PhD education at Aarhus University, including information on individual programmes, should be developed which can be used on new web pages for Aarhus University doctoral programmes, and all of the university’s PhD-related web pages should be structured to enable readers to subscribe to udates.

• An informative handbook for all PhD students should be made available by each graduate school (code of conduct, survival kit).

• A shared web portal with access to abstracts of all PhD theses from Aarhus University should be established. A series with a distinct ISBN number should be created for the publication of the university's PhD theses.

• Aarhus University should take the initiative to establish a web portal that would enable the university’s graduate schools (in principal all Danish graduate schools) to present their PhD courses, possibly based on the existing (and successful) health sciences portal.

Agents: AU Communication and the graduate schools

6. International collaboration

Recommendations:

• A systematic collaboration between Aarhus University graduate schools and the International Centre should be established with a view to deriving greater benefit from existing international agreements and networks as well as to identify new international partnerships and networks of potential interest with regard to recruitment.

• Invitations to apply for scholarships should be published via international portals and/or partnerships.

• Aarhus University should participate more (pro)actively in international activities related to the development of doctoral programmes (for example, under the aegis of EUA-CDE), with particular focus on quality assurance.

• Aarhus University should continue its political efforts to promote the removal of national restrictions as quickly as possible, in order to enable the university to participate freely in international joint degree programme agreements.

Agents: The Rector’s Office, Universities Denmark, International Centre, AU Human Resources and the graduate schools  

7. International PhD students and mobility

Recommendations:

• The university’s International Help Desk at the International Centre should be strengthened. It should become part of a broader initiative to create a true common milieu for all of the university's PhD students and should offer a range of academic and social activities.

• Efficient and flexible (temporary) housing options for foreign PhD students in particular should be on offer.

• At the same time, a central function to assist PhD students in connection with longer periods of study abroad should be established. The function would assist with such issues as applying for extra funds from foundations, applying for residency, clarifying tax issues and finding accomodation.

•  ‘AU Research Foundation Marie Curie’ grants to visiting PhD students enrolled at other universities, should be made available[2]

Agents: International Centre and the graduate schools, AU Research Foundation

8. Career planning

Recommendations:

• All PhD students should be offered formalised, systematic career planning counselling early in their PhD studies. The university should develop a shared framework for this type of service.

• A systematic career planning concept should be developed within the context of Aarhus University’s more general strategic emphasis on focused talent development.

Agents: University management and the main academic areas

 

B. Collaboration between graduate schools

9. Collaboration across the main academic areas 

Recommendations:

• The graduate schools should explore the possibilities for a more systematic exploitation of any synergy effects with the four new main academic areas created by the mergers of 2007, both in relation to recruitment and to pooling available resources in the development and organisation of PhD education.

• The graduate schools should establish flexible administrative agreements in such areas as joint PhD programmes, the exploitation of shared resources and credit transfer, including special agreements to promote early recruitment across the main academic areas (3 +5 and 4 + 4 tracks).

• A focussed effort to increase the proportion of external funding of PhD education should be made. Such an initiative could involve an exchange of experiences with fund-raising initiatives aimed at both pubic and private foundations as well as private businesses.

Agents: The heads of Aarhus University graduate schools

10. Collaboration on practice 

Recommendations:

• Information on individual graduate schools' experiences with offering training in teaching and other forms of knowledge dissemination should be gathered systematically in order to establish best practice in this area. On the background of this analysis, a general framework for practice should be developed.

• The graduate schools’ administration of the legal requirement that a teaching course be offered to PhD students set out in the PhD Order should be improved by means of increased collaboration among graduate schools and with the Danish Network for Educational Development in Higher Education (DUN).

• A set of general guidelines for the form of PhD theses, as well as the manner of their publication, should be developed. This initiative should be coordinated with Aarhus University’s Open Access initiatives, in order to ensure that PhD theses are integrated into a professional public presentation of the university's research achievements.

• The PhD Order requires that PhD students “participate in active research environments, also including stays at other, mainly foreign, reserach institutions”. The university should formulate a complementary ‘residency requirement’ to ensure that Aarhus University PhD students experience an appropriate amount of continuous study at their home institution.

Agents: The heads of Aarhus University graduate schools

11. Collaboration on PhD courses 

Recommendations:

• A survey of existing procedures for evaluating PhD courses offered by Aarhus University as well as other institutions should be carried out, in

order to identify best practice in this area.

• A survey of the graduate schools’ experiences with and need for ‘transferable skills’ training should be carried out. A shared palette of course offerings available to all of the university’s graduate schools should be developed based on the results of the survey.

• The graduate schools should cooperate on making an updated list of external course offerings available. The list should include feedback on experiences with courses offered by international networks such as the Coimbra Group.

Agents: The heads of Aarhus University graduate schools

12. Collaboration on quality assurance 

Recommendations:

• All of the university’s graduate schools should collaborate on developing tools and procedures for quality assurance, exchanging experiences and best practices.

• The graduate schools should collaborate to produce a common approach to the provisions in the University Act on the periodic assessment of the activities of Danish graduate schools. The aim of such a common approach should be to ensure that these assessments constitute a constructive contribution to the internal quality assurance of PhD education at Aarhus University.

• An umbrella organisation for the university’s PhD associations should be established in order to provide a framework for activities that span the university’s main academic areas.

Agents: The heads of Aarhus University graduate schools

  

C. Initiatives at individual graduate school level

13. Mobility 

Recommendations:

• All PhD students at Aarhus University should be encouraged to study abroad in the course of their doctoral studies.

• The individual graduate schools should introduce measures to make it easier for students to include longer periods of study abroad. Examples include generous travel and living expenses grants.

• AU Research Foundation travel grants to support excellent AU PhD students’ study abroad at international partner universities.[3]

14. Quality assurance 

Recommendations:

• All graduate schools should continually develop practices and procedures to ensure the quality of individual graduate programmes.

• All graduate schools should develop and publish guidelines for requirements in connection with the approval process for principal supervisors and other supervisors.

• All graduate schools should develop and publish clear guidelines defining the respective roles of principal supervisors and other supervisors.

• All graduate schools should develop efficient procedures for following up on evaluations of the quality of PhD supervision.

• All graduate schools should work towards the establishment of a mandatory basic course in PhD supervision, while the regular maintenance of supervisory skills and competencies should be made a criterion for the approval of principal supervisors.

• All PhD plans should detail the mutual responsibilities and expectations of both principal supervisor and PhD student (for example, with regard to frequency of meetings and practical details regarding communication and the logistics of the collaboration).

• All PhD students should be offered at least two supervisors. In the event that it becomes necessary to replace a supervisor, the transition should be fast and flexible.

• All PhD students should have regular opportunities to discuss their programme and academic progress with representatives from their particular doctoral programme.

• All graduate schools should collaborate closely on the performance of regular satisfaction surveys among their doctoral students.

• All graduate schools should arrange regular introductory meetings for their PhD students, with a special focus on semi-annual introductory meetings for new students.

• All graduate schools should implement well-defined, visible mechanisms for discovering and addressing the personal and psychological problems which hinder their doctoral students in performing to the best of their ability. Stress-related problems should be included.

• All graduate schools should establish local PhD associations in order to contribute to the quality of doctoral student social life.

15. PhD courses 

Recommendations:

• All graduate schools should develop a set of guidelines for the courses to be offered by each graduate programme, as well as for course descriptions.

• All graduate schools should ensure that all PhD students enrolled have access to an adequate selection of PhD courses within their field, and that the PhD Order’s provisions with regard to course requirements can be met with a course programme appropriate to each course of doctoral study.

16. Completion of PhD programmes 

Recommendations:

• Each graduate school should prioritise efforts to ensure that its students complete their PhD studies within the stipulated time of study. Graduate schools should enforce all procedures that contribute to timely completion of their programmes rigorously. Examples include procedures for monitoring student work as the deadline for submission of the thesis approaches, for the appointment of assessment committee members and for setting the date for defense.

• PhD theses submitted at Aarhus University should be written in English unless scholarly and scientific considerations justify the use of another language (such as Danish).

• Abstracts of all PhD theses should be published on the graduate schools' websites.

• The graduate schools should develop clear guidelines for:
  • The appointment of assessment committees
  • The work of assessment committees (requirements regarding academic level)
  • Content and form of assessment committee recommendations

• The graduate schools should develop guidelines for PhD thesis defence proceedings, including formalia and a description of the duties and responsibilities of the participants. The description should include a detailed definition of the responsibilities of the assessment committee as well as guidelines for preparing the post-defence recommendation.

• All graduate schools should play an active and visible role in the effort to ensure that employers of graduates from PhD programmes have access to the best possible researchers and that PhD students have the best possible employment prospects.

17. Capacity and financing 

Recommendations:

• The heads of the graduate schools should participate actively and visibly in efforts to increase the proportion of external financing of PhD education at Aarhus University.

• The graduate schools should intensify their cooperation with the Research Support Office with regard to external financing.

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[1] A support programme was opened by the AU Research Foundation in January 2010.

[2] A support programme was opened by the AU Research Foundation in January 2010.

[3] A support programme was opened by the AU Research Foundation in January 2010.