3 Comments

Comments here are public and do not represent BIS policy and are subject to our moderation guidelines.

1. S Sheehy says:

   December 3, 2009 at 4:47 pm

   * How can the UK remain an attractive place for postgraduate study?

   The UK must have more provision for funding for international students to attract the top students from abroad. In particular, funding which acknowledges that some PhDs are actually defined as 4 years rather than 3. Additionally, UK research councils should consider allowing UK citizens (rather than only resident citizens) to apply for postgraduate funding.

   * How can postgraduate provision in the UK better respond to the needs of business, especially new and emerging industries?

   If businesses want their needs to be met by postgraduates in fields such as the sciences and humanities, they need to contribute funding or joint funding for scholarships. This could be a career track funding where the graduate, upon completion, is expected to work for the business – or could give businesses some control over the student’s work.

   * What factors affect decisions of individuals as to whether or not to undertake postgraduate study?
   1. Financial – most students simply cannot afford to undertake postgraduate study without funding, in fact most have some significant debt from previous study.
   2. Quality of research (in research higher degrees) – will the research actually be likely to lead them on to a further career?
   3. Flexibility – particularly for women, is there a chance of taking on the study part-time?

   * Are there models of providing postgraduate financial support that would be more efficient and productive?

   The system should clearly be compared to systems in other countries to assess this.

   * What are the key elements of a high quality PG student experience?

   Having access to good advice in terms of what the student should be expecting and considering in years 1, 2, 3 of their PhD (dependent on field) would be valuable.
2. Prof Lesley Cohen - Physics Imperial College says:

   December 8, 2009 at 11:40 am

   Theme 1: International

   The UK needs to remain internationally competitive in both attracting overseas students and in the prospects of UK postgraduates in the global employment market. International Students provide a crucial fee income for many institutions, as well as enriching the UK’s international networks.
   • How can the UK remain an attractive place for postgraduate study?
   Cut of the ORS scheme has terminated an important stream of funding for educating the top academic students from overseas (as opposed to those who can afford to self fund). The UK will remain a less attractive place for overseas postgraduate students than the US as long as the US offers full scholarships to the most talented students regardless of their country of origin. Although the UK Government regards paying for overseas students to study in the UK as politically unacceptable, e.g. through doctoral training accounts from research councils, it must be understood that this policy does not enable the UK to recruit the most able talent from wherever it may be found, and that directly affects the quality of UK science.
   • How can those who have studied in the UK continue to be competitive in the international marketplace for talent?
   Engagement with international industry, requiring government to continue to support all European Community level activity. Engagement with the Bologna process will help employers to understand what degrees at different levels mean across Europe.
   • Does the proportion of UK domiciled students in the UK PG population matter?
   In order for scientific research to excel internationally, universities should be free to take the most able students, chosen from the global pool. Overseas students should not be offered places at the expense of the most able students (wherever they are from), nor should they prevent UK students from being offered places. Nevertheless as it stands, overseas fees represent a considerable source of funding. The government needs to ensure that funding to universities is properly maintained if universities are not to be forced down this route over the coming months/years.
   The UK has not embraced the international market for talent in the same way as the US has. Not only does the US make it possible for overseas students to study in the US by offering them full scholarships it also enables them to remain in the US and enter the job market. If the UK did the same it would also be able to attract the top talent from around the World rather than just the very small pool we have available in the UK. The UK is far too parochial and its narrow-minded policies are preventing the best talent from coming to the UK and staying here. We are now in a global market place for people and we have to compete globally.
   Theme 2: Value of PG

   The highly skilled postgraduates that the UK produces power our research base and drive our innovative businesses. Undertaking postgraduate education provides individuals with pathways into a wide range of careers.
   • What are the benefits of postgraduate education,
   • to the individual, improved career opportunities within the sector, development of wide range of skills, increased knowledge base improves job satisfaction, intellectual challenge.
   • to HEIs, development of research directions, opportunity to create links with industry and other research establishments, opportunity to seed activities for new funding platforms
   • to businesses, opportunity to work with longer term research and development, opportunity to have access to advanced training and facilities, opportunity to steer research directions within Universities towards industrially relevant areas, opportunity for employment recruitment, opportunity to stimulate new core business directions
   • and to the wider economy and society? Development of a highly skilled workforce, creation of new areas of technology that lead to new companies and new employment opportunities, possibility of step change research that solves an aspect of a main societal problem in health, security, energy, or IT.
   • Is there an optimal number of taught / research postgraduates studying in the UK? PGT probably not an upper maximum, PGR probably yes the market can become saturated. If we were allowed to recruit overseas students into PhDs, and the fee income from that was adequate, we would not have to attract so many overseas students into taught PG courses to balance the books. From the academic perspective there is a practical upper limit on the PGT in terms of eroding all other aspects of academic activity such as UGT and research. It is a downward spiral if we are forever teaching (on PGT) to offset cuts in public funding of science and engineering at universities.

   Theme 3: Business, Employment and Skills

   Postgraduates have the higher-level skills required in key sectors of the economy, in particular in the growth industries identified by the Government in New Industry, New Jobs . Many employers and professions require postgraduate qualifications for entry or offer postgraduate-level continued professional development.
   • Are postgraduates equipped with the right skills, experience and knowledge to progress in employment and get significant value from the investment in their education?
   Yes at Imperial College, all evidence suggests that this is the case from statistics gathered by the career office and the work of the Graduate Schools to ensure that students are receiving a broader range of skills training so that they are employable.
   • Do businesses in the UK make good use of the experience and skills that postgraduates can offer?
   Yes I believe that through a number of scheme e.g. Knowledge Training Networks (run through NPL), Business development gateway at IC as well as IC Careers Office activities etc access to our students is relatively straightforward.
   • How can postgraduate provision in the UK better respond to the needs of business, especially new and emerging industries? I think that this should be laid at the feet of industry. We have our doors wide open and this is clear from our web site portals, if industry want to use us (and many do), they only have to make contact. It would be a hugely wasteful resource searching for industries who might benefit from our talent pool over and above what we already do.

   Theme 4: Participation

   The recent report Higher Ambitions states the Government’s continuing commitment to widening participation in Higher Education. Although much is known about the make-up of the undergraduate population, more information is required about those undertaking postgraduate study.
   • What factors affect decisions of individuals as to whether or not to undertake postgraduate study?
   Undergraduate degree mark. At Imperial College the standard is such that PGT or PGR only consider students who are in the top 5-10%. If a student does not get good exam grades this will affect their decision making process. Funding of course is the other main issue. Should there be more government funding for PGT courses that are more closely aligned to industrial needs? Government have only just pulled out of the scheme that used to do precisely this i.e. KTA. Government no longer fund UK students to do MSc, nevertheless we are entering a time where scientific advance is essential rather than a “nice to have” – for both prosperity and survival of a increasingly large number of people. Of course we need training and proper support for training (e.g. vocational masters courses) in most branches of Physics (and science).
   • How important are alternative models of postgraduate provision (e.g. part-time, distance learning) in supporting expanding and widening participation?
   Distance learning could be a very useful means of widening participation. However widening participation is not necessarily good thing if it brings about a lowering of academic standards. It would be better to create places for talented individuals from overseas, fund them, and then seek to retain them in the UK by allowing them to stay and get a job.

   Theme 5: Fees and Funding

   The findings of this review will inform the Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance, which will consider the affordability of the current system and the link between financial support and the goal of widening participation.
   • Is the current model of funding postgraduate provision sustainable, and does it offer the best possible value for money?
   One might imagine that an argument for pulling out of PGR and putting more money back into PGT could be proposed. Perhaps this is attractive for government to consider but it would be a huge mistake. An avenue of longer term research that leads to the most innovative and highest impact technology breakthroughs would be closed down. The PGT & PGR streams provide different types of training/product. The Research stream is fundamental to development while the Training stream provides specific training (and so I suppose should be determined by the marketplace).
   Short term gain in terms of providing students trained within universities that could slot straight into existing industries (what industries?) over longer term benefits to the wider economy and society. Both are important.

   PhD students are the lifeblood of the research because the best of them enable us to break new ground, which is very difficult to fund through a grant, and they are the next generation of RAs. The answer to the question however is no because the fees we receive for UK and EU students do not cover the cost of postgraduate research. The institution is subsidizing these studentships. The true cost is much closer to the fees we charge overseas students. If FEC were applied to UK and EU PG studentships the fees would go up by a large factor, probably around 3.
   • Are there models of providing postgraduate financial support that would be more efficient and productive?
   We need to simplify the current very confused situation of DTAs, DTCs etc running in parallel. Perhaps all PG students should sit a one year course and be required to pass an exam. It would allow some flexibility in moving students on/off the research track but it would require setting up or more taught courses in areas which currently have none.
   There are probably too many people in the UK doing PhDs who really ought not to be either because they are mediocre (and therefore a drain on staff time) or because they are doing a PhD because they can’t think of anything better to do. The PhD should be something that only the very best and those who really want to undertake research are able to do – like in the arts. If the fees associated with each PhD studentship better reflected the true economic cost, fewer PGR of only the highest caliber would result. There should be no restriction whatsoever on the nationality of the students in order to attract the very best from anywhere in the World. UK students would have to compete for these places alongside students from overseas.
   • Are the current sources of financial support for postgraduate students widely understood by potential and existing students?
   Probably not. It is a very confusing landscape for potential students (see above)

   Theme 6: The Student Experience

   The student experience is vitally important, and cuts across each of the other themes:
   • What are the key elements of a high quality PG student experience?
   • Access to state of the art facilities, access to leading academics with relevant research expertise, feedback and support, opportunities to develop broad range of skills
   • Are there innovative delivery models or mechanisms that benefit the student experience, which could be applied more widely?
   We operate a number of different approaches, depending on the subject area, and we want to emphasise that flexibility is important. Although it is early days in the new DTC model, it appears that DTCs provide students with a better training, not only in the coursework, but also in working in a multidisciplinary environment, where they have to work with people with diverse skill sets and academic backgrounds. DTCs are an exemplary model for undertaking PhDs, they certainly benefit the student experience and the model could be applied more widely (1+3) although at the moment the funds available are restricted to UK and EU students only.
3. Susan Jones says:

   December 18, 2009 at 4:23 pm

   A study we conducted during the smmer for AIR – Artists Interaction and Representation, the membership body for 13,000 visual and applied artists revealed that visual artists are highly qualified with 63% of respondents holding a BA and 31% MA qualifications and 3% a PhD. The same study also showed that 72% are self-employed – in comparison with the creative industries as a whole where this is 41%.

   This evidence could both usefully inform development and methodology for post graduate fine art courses and contextualise the financing of the students who undertake them. I would be most happy to contribute this and other evidence to your review processes.