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Postgrad Talent NW Fourth Annual Conference 2006
Leading the Way - postgraduate skills training in the NW
Wednesday 26 April 2006, Manchester Town Hall
The fourth annual NW Hub conference was opened by Jane Ratchford, Champion of the Hub and Director of The University of Manchester Careers and Employability Division, who led the conference with the sentiment that our primary aim of the day was to provide useful information and updates.
Keynote Sessions
The conference welcomed three keynote presenters: Prof Tim Birtwistle of Leeds Metropolitan University and Bologna promoter, Prof Chris Park of Lancaster University and Chair of the national Rugby Group and Prof Hassan Hassan of University of Central Lancashire, representing the North West Universities Association Research Strategy Group.
Prof Tim Birtwistle, Leeds Law School, Leeds Metropolitan University
Bologna: future directions and implications for research
With the title of UK Bologna promoter Prof Tim Birtwistle gave a most enlightening and interesting summary of the developments and agreements made within the European Economic area over the last 8 years.
1999 - Bologna
Many of the key decisions and documents arising from the Bologna process have been named after the host city. It was in 1999 when meeting in Bologna the decision was made to provide synergy between Higher Education degrees over the whole European Economic Area. This started with Batchelor and Masters level awards called the first and second cycles respectively. The agreement is know moving towards doctoral level studies, termed the third cycle.
Prof Birtwistle outlined some of the key objectives that arose from a meeting in Bergen in 2005 (called the Bergen objectives):
- That there should be a qualifications framework based on learning outcomes and competencies - this is common practice in the UK but not so in some other European countries
- Mobility across the area
- External factors - the issue of the internationalisation of education
- Additional factors such as:
- Lisbon agenda - the drive to make Europe a knowledge-based economy
- The implementation of Framework 7
- European charter for researchers - highlighting the rights of researchers
- Burgess report - suggesting a credit system for all educational degrees
Prof Birtwistle also highlighted some areas of 'quicksand' which many institutions may not be aware of such as:
- The potential implementation of an European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) which could be extended to doctoral studies
- The requirement for a diploma supplement for UK degrees to be equivalent in Europe
- The difference between UK Masters-level qualifications and European Masters
- The future requirement of Masters-level training (second cycle) to progress to doctoral studies (third cycle), currently not essential in UK
Prof Birtwistle concluded by highlighting the importance of institutions engaging with the Bologna Process to ensure they are fully briefed and have had the opportunity to comment on the future of UK Higher Education within a European context.
Useful links:
Lisbon Agenda - on European productivity and job market
Bologna Process - on a single European Educational Area
Prof Chris Park, Director of the Graduate School, Lancaster University and Chair of the Rugby Group
The Rugby Group was developed in early 2005 after the UK GRAD Roberts Policy Forum which took place in Rugby. The team is a sector-led working group which has been looking into the effective evaluation of skills development of early career researchers.
Driving the agenda has been the QAA code of practice, the RCUK joint skills statement and the Roberts Review. With the advent of dedicated funding to fuel the skills agenda there is an increased requirement of Higher Education Institutions to demonstrate impact.
In his presentation Prof Park identified some of the challenges the group and the sector face in identifying effective ways of benchmarking and demonstrating progress. Prof Park then outlined the recommendation the group made to the key stakeholders:
Recommendation 1 - to HEFCE and RCUK
Commission a study inot the impact of recent changes to national funding and policy on PGRs and 'post-docs'
Recommendation 2 - to RCUK
2a Should continue to require annual reports from HEIs and HEIs should continue to use the UK GRAD database as a mechanism for sharing good practice
2b Should consider key indicators (see presentation) in reporting
2c Should produce a publicly available annual UK summary from individual HEI reports
2d Provide in good time the reporting requirements for the next academic year
Recommendation 3 - to UK GRAD
3a Continue with support to HEIs
3b Should consider a means of effectively collecting feedback from key stakeholders
Recommendation 4 - to QAA
Should consider how to share good practice arising from QAA special audit
Recommendation 5 - to HEA
Should consult with stakeholders whilst developing the Research Student Experience Questionnaire
Recommendation 6 - to HESA
Survey of PhD graduates 3-5 post-graduation, and inclusion of non-UK domiciled PhDs
Recommendation 7 - to UK HERD
Should lead the sector in identifying the skills and career needs of 'post-docs'
Recommendation 8 - to HEIs
8a Should develop own framework to evaluate training
8b Should consider how to best use formal audit processes to inform a holistic institutional approach to evaluating skills training
8c Should consider adopting performance indicators for 'post-docs' (for details see presentation)
Finally Prof Park concluded by suggesting that these changes in skills development during research training could have implications in how a doctoral degree is examined.
Prof Hassan Hassan, Director of Research, University of Central Lancashire
Academic Research in the North West - Postgraduate Research Training
Speaking on behalf of the NW Universities Association Research Strategy Group Prof Hassan outlined the recent national trends in postgraduate research. In the last decade the number of research students has increased by 40%, and much of this growth can be attributed to increasing numbers of part-time and overseas students.
A massive 71% of all UK PhD graduates are in Medicine, Science or Technology subjects.
Regional facts and figures
- In the 14 HEIs of the North West there are 40 000 FTE postgraduate students
- The NW is the fastest growing area of the UK in terms of student number (UG & PG), and many of these students are 'local', coming from the North West, Yorkshire of the West Midlands
- In 2006/7 the 14 NW HEIs received around £143 million in research funding, with 13 receiving increases in funding in this period
- The 14 HEIs of the NW have 1910 academic staff achieving a grade 5 or above in the 2001 RAE
- NHS and social care sector is the largest employer of graduates (UG & PG) in the NW, closely followed by the education sector
Prof Hassan then went on to outline the possibility of a NW collaborative MRes in Research Skills, which could be progressed with the support of NW Universities Association and NW Regional Development Agency.
Questions to keynotes
Q1 (on Bologna) It is a challenge [for HEIs] to comply, but how can institutions be expected to focus without a clear understanding of what expected? The what, when, how and why of the situation?
A1 As institutions it is our obligation to understand the issues around Bologna. There is a huge amount of policy to look through, but to retain the important European market for UK degrees we [as HEIs] must not be complacent
Q2 (on Bologna) There appears to be a lack of leadership on the Bologna issues?
A2 The sentiment from Central Government is that HEIs are independent (although must consider HEFCE) and they will not legislate. Government wishes to maintain institutional autonomy and is unlikely to provide a central leadership on this.
Q3 Have industry been canvassed to find out what they want?
A3 EMPRESS report by Claire Souter et al of the University of Leeds has looked into the motivations of employers and their feelings on the skills of researchers.
Q4 (on Bologna) Is it relevant to credit rate skills training?
A4 Perhaps credit rating of skills training is inevitable, with credit rating there would be a greater transparency and transferability. However it may stifle the creative process of innovative research.
Q5 (to each speaker) If you could commission one piece of research into the postgrad sector what would it be?
A5 A piece of research to investigate whether PGR training makes better research; A large study of what's happening in research skills training
Q6 (on Bologna) In Europe what is the equivalent to the UK's Burgess Report?
A6 There isn't a direct comparison of the Burgess report for other European countries as England is a bit of a maverick on the credit rating front. The Scottish system is considered the model system for Europe. In mainland Europe a system is largely in place: European Credit Transfer System.
Q7 Don't forget the researchers! They are already expected to produce an evidence-base, develop as researchers, teach and prepare for their future careers all in a short time!
A7 Yes researchers do run the risk of being overloaded - which is more important the product (thesis) or the process (person)?
Huge changes have taken place over the last 20 years. The balance must be struck between skills training and research - perhaps the 1+3 model can do this?
Postgrad Talent NW is supported by the NW Regional Hub of the Research Councils’ UK GRAD Programme.
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