The Modern Doctorate and Timely Submission Ian Douglas

The Modern Doctorate PhD is no longer a training primarily for academia and/or research Training to go into roles beyond research but where rigorous analysis required Overall 3.7% end in academic positions Public sector, charities and industry employers seek Ability to apply research skills to business development Social change drives change of focus See League of European Research Universities – Doctoral degrees beyond 2010

Skills development as the cornerstone Need for painstaking research Increased public scrutiny due to greater disclosure Non-research jobs Excellence, ability to seek and marshall large amounts of evidence for complex decision making Our responsibility is to facilitate Interplay between professional research experience and personal development Significant and original contribution Output - individuals trained to think deeply and rigorously and to translate knowledge into opportunities for society Knowledge economy - creative, critical, autonomous, intellectual risk takers in interdisciplinary environment

Effects on timely submission Skills training Training need, time, Internships Either directly related to PhD or valuable transferable skills Progress of experimental work Life events

Why is timely submission important? Important for the research program and future funding bids of the supervisor may be compromised income to the university influenced by doctoral completions contribution to various rankings for universities student satisfaction highly competitive international education sector.

RCUK funded students BBSRC, NERC and SFTC MRC AHRC, EPSRC and ESRC Expect submission within the funded period MRC expect submission within 6 months of end of funded period AHRC, EPSRC and ESRC Expect submission within 12 months of end of funded period Generally this equates to 4 years RCs expect 70% submission rate

Why are submission rates important? BBSRC CASE studentship Number of Research Council supported ftes registered. Total number of ftes registered in 2007 through 2010 % submission rate within 4 years for each The iCASE Panel rejected pending clarification on the submission rates   Research Councils Total Academic Year % submitted within 4 years 2007/08 100% 79%*2 (93%) 2008/09 N/A 50%*3 (67%) 2009/10 0%*1 (100%) 63%*4 (100%)