Transatlantic Cooperation at the Doctoral Level

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Transatlantic Cooperation at the Doctoral Level
The Challenge of Double and Joint Ph.D.s
Giancarlo Spinelli
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Two decades ago Double and Joint Degrees were
he frontier of international student
exchanges.The first pioneering experiments were
done in Europe and almost only at the Master
level.It is not surprising that at the
beginning some confusion was present in the
terminology.It is more surprising that some
confusion of terminology still exists after
twenty years.
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• In these twenty years Double and Joint Degrees
  have been widely developed at the Master level
  in Europe and across the Atlantic.
• Unfortunately in some cases the distinction
  between the two has been somehow intentionally
  blurred, so much so that Associations that have
  been coherent in their policy now feel the need
  to establish labels to protect the image of
  excellence that has been established with great
  efforts.
• Moreover these products are already sufficiently
  mature and the response of the job market may
  already be surveyed.

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T.I.M.E. can be quoted as an example of
pioneering Double Degrees since 1988

• T.I.M.E. is now an Association of 51 top
  Universities of Technology that, in the last 20
  years, already did more than 2500 double
  graduates at the Master level.
• In a recent survey, as expected, it appeared that
  all of them are at different stages of wonderful
  careers.

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• Another result, however, had to be checked
• and the relevant outcomes are extremely satisfying

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EMPLOYABILITY By employability we mean the
success of the graduates in finding an adequate
job where they can take advantage of all the
skills acquired, including the international
awareness.
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• Careeres of T.I.M.E. Double graduates
• 1/3 are employed in the country ofthe home
  Institution
• 1/3 are employed in the country of the host
  Institution
• 1/3 are employed in another country

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• For us,
• this means a real internationalization,
• not only
• a bi-nationalization

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Doctorates (Ph.D.)

• Only in the last years experiments have been done
  at this level.
• The first results begin to be available.
• Some models seem to be the most feasible ones.
• Doctorates imply a partially different
  philosophy, since here the research component
  assumes the paramount importance.

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WHY promote international co-operation at the
Doctoral level?In particular, why promote
highly integrated projects like double or joint
doctorates?
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• There are many reasons.
• Usually the one that is triggering the interest
  of the Institution has to do with the strict link
  between education and research
• at the doctoral level

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Promoting cooperation atthe doctoral level

• Promoting research cooperation

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WHAT ?

• Let us begin from the usual formal distinction
  between the two kinds of highly integrated degrees

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We speak of double doctoral project
when each of the two Institutions involved
awards its own doctoral degree (PhD) to the
candidate who fulfilled the prescribed
requirements.
A joint doctoral project on the contrary leads
to the awarding of a single doctoral degree (PhD)
issued by the Institutions involved.
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• It is clear what a joint doctorate should be.
• However very serious legal obstacles still exist
  in many countries.
• So, more and more, people are moving towards
  double degrees, at least in a transitory period.
• It is the same phenomenon that happened for the
  joint and double masters, but much more
  accentuated here.

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DOUBLE DEGREES (at doctoral level) WHY? The
natural caveat originates from considering that
the doctorate is already the highest academic
title awarded by an Institution. Moreover, top
level Institutions are very careful of their
branding at this level.
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That is why it is absolutely necessary that

• The two Institutions share the same philosophy on
  what a doctorate is.
• The value added with respect to a single
  doctorate be clearly visible and relevant.

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• As an example of shared vision on PhDs, let me
  quote the position paper of the CESAER
  Association, which gives explicit core
  requirements to be followed by the member
  Institutions for their PhDs.
• CESAER is the Conference of European Schools for
  Advanced Engineering Education and Research

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Corner Stones for a Doctoratein Engineering
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• Essence of the doctorate
• The essence of a doctorate is the development
  of the ability to conduct original research and
  extend the boundaries of knowledge.
• In order to reach the ability to conduct
  original research and extend the boundaries of
  knowledge, a PhD candidate should have the
  following generic skills
• - Ability to communicate in an international
  academic, scientific and industrial environment
• - Ability to acquire information and synthesize
  knowledge- Multidisciplinary experiences-
  Cross-cultural experiences- Ability to deal with
  uncertainty- Ability to handle conflicts, to
  solve problems and to manage failure-
  Leadership- Teamwork- Ability to manage
  research- Creativity- Ethics

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• Admission
• Admission to a doctorate should be based on
  individual assessment of qualifications,
  experience and intellectual potential, without
  any discrimination deriving from gender,
  ethnicity, social and other.
• Status
• Beyond the legal aspects, PhD candidates should
  be considered as (early stage) researchers.
• Environment
• PhD candidates must be exposed to a rich
  scientific environment - preferably international
  and supervised by an academic of recognised
  standing within the scientific community.
  Appropriate resources must be provided to carry
  out the research.

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• Thesis and assessment
• One of the main outcomes of the doctorate has to
  be a defended individual thesis accepted by the
  scientific community as a substantial
  contribution to the field of research. The
  examination process should be transparent and
  involve independent external experts.
• The thesis should meet the following
  requirements
• - Well defined engineering/science problem or
  hypothesis - Originality of the (proposed)
  solution- Validation of the results- Quality
  indicators (such as publication in peer reviewed
  journal or conferences)- Indication of deep
  expertise in the particular engineering field-
  Clear exposition in the thesis

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• Awarding institution
• The right to award a doctoral degree must be
  restricted to higher education institutions
  offering both advanced education and advanced
  research.
• Final declaration
• Different routes to doctoral degrees are
  evolving. Any doctorate in engineering has to
  meet the above mentioned core requirements.
• Approved by the General Assembly in Budapest on
  November 17th, 2007

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DOUBLE DOCTORATES
HOW to guarantee a sufficient value added with
respect to a single doctorate?

• Different schemes are possible
• Some examples

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Double PhD scheme
Ph.D.
Ph.D.
1 additional year of research at one of the two
Institutions
1½

½1

INSTITUTION A
INSTITUTION B
ADMISSION SELECTION (done by both Institutions)
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• MASTER/PhD PROGRAMME

Dottorato di Ricerca
Ph.D.
?
?
?3 years in total
Ph.D.
?
? Laurea Magistrale (M.Sc.)
?
? Laurea (B.Sc.)
Skipped years
Curriculum
US UNIVERSITY
POLITECNICO DI MILANO
Years jointly planned
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Joint PhD
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• The legal obstacles are often quite serious.
• On the other hand the EU programme ERASMUS Mundus
  has been opened this year to Joint Ph.D.s
• The call for proposals was published only two
  weeks ago.
• In the very near future one can expect a
  mushrooming of Joint Ph.D.s in Europe and beyond
  Europe.

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• As a concrete example let us consider one of the
  many possible models that are under study.

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• A Consortium of Universities is set up
• on a specific, well defined, subject area
• They decide to develop opportunities of
• Joint Ph.D.s
• awarded by couples of member Universities.

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Consortium of n Universities (for example 5) on
a specific subject area
B
A
C
D
E
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Part of the Course work will be in common and
offered by one University (each year a different
one will be the provider for the new candidates
enrolled)
B
B
A
C
A
C
D
E
D
E
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Thesis work offered by couples of tutors from two
different Universities
B
A
C
D
E
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• The list of offers for research work
• (each with two tutors from two different
  Institutions of the Consortium)
• is published.
• Each selected candidate gives a list of his/her
  priorities.
• He/she is assigned one of them.

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Scheme of mobility
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Institution A
Institution B
Institution C
Joint PhD
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
6-9 months
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There are difficulties, mainly coming from the
difference between the systems

• Particularly in the area of Doctorates, it
  happens that long negotiations on the contents
  turn out to have been useless because the legal
  frameworks were neglected or were supposed to be
  different than in reality.

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One should be able to answer some questions
regarding the two Institutions that want to
establish a double doctorate

• Questions and answers have been taken from a more
  extended survey in a quite omogeneous group of
  European Universities (and only for PhDs in
  engineering).
• Nevertheless there are wide differences

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1)Is the Academic Body responsible for the
Doctorates the same one responsible for the
second cycle?
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THE NEW SYSTEM IN MANY EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
They depend on Departments and are coordinated by
a Doctoral School
They depend on the Colleges (Facoltà)
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NORTH-AMERICAN SYSTEM
Graduate Courses
Undegraduate Courses
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Caveat

• Even in the same European Country you can find
  different systems in different Institutions
• (see, for example, France and Germany)

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2)Are some classes required during the Doctorate
period?

• The scenario is very articulated
• in different Countries and in different
  Institutions.
• The relevant workload goes from 0 to 50 of
  the total.

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3)Is a selective procedure in place with a
compulsory entrance assessment?

• It is the case almost always, but with very
  different procedures going from pure
  qualifications (based on documents) to personal
  interviews.

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4)By law, has the Doctorate a minimal and/or a
maximal duration?What is the average duration?

• Even in Europe one can find great differences

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MINIMUM DURATION

• In some (few) cases it does not exist.
• In other cases it can be

1, 2, 3, or_even_4_years
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MAXIMUM DURATION

• In some cases (more frequently than for the
  minimum) it does not exist.
• Where it exists, it can be

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or_even_7_years
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AVERAGE DURATION

• Great spread
• 3 to 6 years

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5)Does the Country law permit a Joint Doctorate?

• More and more Countries are removing legal
  obstacles to Joint degrees (at every level), but
  still some do not .

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JOINT PhD
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6)Does the Country law permit a Double Doctorate?

• The majority of Countries permits it.
• Some (a minority) still do not.
• (There are differences even in the same Country,
  for example among German Länder)

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DOUBLE PhD
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7)Is a previous degree, at the level of a Master
a compulsory pre-requisite to be enrolled in a
Doctoral Course?

• Generally it is.
• Where it is not compulsory, it is highly valued

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8)Does the Country law permit enrolling a
student with a first-cycle degree (BA) in a
longer Doctorate?

• Generally this is not the case in Europe.
• Some exceptions are beginning to appear.
• In the USA, generally, it is permitted.

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• One could easily be discouraged
• (particularly when considering Joint Ph.D.s)
• However, in the next years we will see a lot of
  initiatives of this kind.
• They touch the two main University objectives
  education and research.
• Overcoming so many difficulties and obstacles
  will be a great challenge.

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• Thank you
• for your attention