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The committee visited the faculty in the beginning of September and the evaluation process was presented to academic and administrative staff at a meeting. Later on the committee met with representatives of the seven tracks of the programme, as well as with PhD candidates.
Preparing the candidates for the world of work
During the site visit the committee touched upon a number of themes, such as information flow, completion time, cross disciplinarity and the employability of the PhD candidates.
The increase in number of PhDs means that a shrinking proportion will remain in research careers, said Research Dean Tim Brennen during the visit. At the same time, Universities must ensure that research remains the cornerstone of the doctorate, Brennen continued.
- To what extent our PhD program is a suitable preparation for the world of work, is a question the committee should answer, said Brennen.
Broad mandate
According to the mandate, the committee will evaluate the program in light of international standards. Many of the components will be investigated, such as program structure, the educational component, supervision, the research environment, internationalization, the quality of theses, administrative support and more.
The committee members are: Jens Jungblut at Kassel Universität; Ingrid Lunt at The University of Oxford; Jon Mitchell at The University of Sussex; Jakob Roland Munch at The University of Copenhagen; Geraldine Pratt at The University of British Columbia; and Nina Køpke Vøllestad (committee leader) at The Institute of Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, UiO.
The evaluation is a part of The quality assurance system for UiO’s educational activities. Based on the internal report on the PhD program, written by Taran Thune in 2015, the site visit and other background material, the committee will write a report that is due by the end of October.