Working Group C Doctoral programs 3 rd cycle and research in
civil engineering faculties Marina Pantazidou National Technical
University of Athens EUCEET III General Assembly Paris, November
20, 2009 Slide 2 Revised terms of reference Because we have found a
lot of background work already done, eg: Teaching and Research in
Engineering in Europe (TREE), 2007, Status of Doctoral Studies in
Europe: A Survey European University Association (EUA), 2007,
Doctoral programmes in Europes Universities: Achievements and
Challenges Akay, A., 2008, A Renaissance in Engineering PhD
Education, European Journal of Engineering Education, 33:4:403-413
We have focused on transferable skills development, both
research-related and career-oriented uneven picture throughout
European Universities Slide 3 Outline Group goals and activities
Literature review Doctoral education trends (EU, USA) Skills
training examples (EU) Attitudes on skills training Adaptation and
development of seminar material Wrapping up group work Final
report, dissemination activities, the future Slide 4 Doctoral
Programs Theme: Goals of Group C work 1.Synthesize background
information from Europe and the US 2.Compile data on types of
seminars on transferable skills development offered to PhD
candidates in Civil Engineering 3.Examine attitudes of Civil
Engineering faculty and PhD candidates regarding seminars 4.Develop
seminar material and adapt material from existing short- duration
seminars, disseminate this material among EUCEET partners
5.Identify opportunities for future international collaborations
for the development and dissemination of material for seminars
developed specifically for Civil Engineering PhD candidates Nov. 09
Progress: Goals 1-4 achieved. Goal 5: Ongoing! Slide 5 Group C
activities Literature review Survey on skills training within the
group Adaptation of seminar material Production of seminar material
Workshop in March, 2009, hosted by KU Leuven Slide 6 Literature
Review: Doctoral Education Slide 7 Trends in the EU Bologna 1999
Create European Area of Higher Education with two main cycles:
undergraduate - graduate Berlin 2003 Include doctoral level as a 3
rd cycle and set goals of doctoral programs produce research output
provide research training promote interdisciplinarity Slide 8
Trends in the EU (contd) Bergen 2005 Need for structured doctoral
programs promote interdisciplinary training and development of
transferable skills Overregulation of doctoral programs to be
avoided London 2007 Improve status and career prospects of doctoral
students measures include development of transferable skills Leuven
2009 Support career development of doctoral students Slide 9
Administration: trends Europe Many universities have established
graduate or doctoral schools with longer or shorter histories
Aalborg (1993), Lausanne EPFL (2003-2006), Chalmers (2005), KU
Leuven (2007), Graduate or doctoral schools involve one or more
institutions USA Doctoral education is overseen by the Graduate
Division Graduate Division shares responsibilities with Departments
but responsibilities vary in relative magnitude across universities
Graduate Division is often a weak unit Slide 10 Coursework: trends
Europe Few countries still adhere uniformly to the traditional
apprenticeship model for PhD Most universities have coursework
requirements USA PhD model combining individual supervision and
coursework established since the end of 19 th century Slide 11
Skills training: trends Europe Mostly offered through doctoral
schools Some universities provide opportunities for off campus
training Quite a few universities provide training on transferable
skills, but fewer require it USA Training in transferable skills is
provided as professional development support, mostly through the
university career center Slide 12 Skills training: example Cardiff
University Research Students Skills Development Program joint
effort of 4 research and graduate schools
http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/gradc/training/skillsdevprogra mme/ Over
200 courses in areas such as: Research skills & techniques (eg
statistics) Research Ethics Research Management (eg information
resources for research) Communication (eg public engagement) all
courses described in terms of objectives & contents Slide 13
Skills categories Arenberg Doctoral School, KU Leuven Slide 14
Group C looks at transferable skills Slide 15 Transferable skills:
definition For the purposes of doctoral education, we give the
following definition for transferable skills: abilities enhanced or
obtained during postgraduate research that are useful to many
different kinds of professional roles Note 1: Such skills are
sometimes referred to as horizontal. Note 2: Professional roles
refer to either academic or non- academic careers. Note 3: For
examples of transferable skills see Table 1 (next slide). Slide 16
Table 1. Examples of transferable skills adapted from KU Leuven
Slide 17 Questionnaire From the categories of skills & related
seminars below 1. Research-related skills (e.g., numerical
modelling, computing) 2. Academic & technical skills (e.g.,
research setup, reporting skills, pedagogical skills) 3.
Intellectual skills (e.g., interdisciplinary thinking) 4.
Leadership& change management (e.g., entrepreneurship) 5.
Relational skills (e.g., communication, team working) 6. Self
management skills (e.g., time management) which categories of
seminars i) are required by your institution? ii) do you think PhD
should take? iii) can Group C develop? Slide 18 Summary of answers
Most useful categories: (1) Research-related skills (2) Academic
& technical skills (eg research setup, reporting skills,
pedagogical skills) Most appropriate category for EUCEET
collaboration: (2) Academic & technical skills Slide 19 Skills
training: attitudes EUA (2009) studied opinions of the industry
regarding development of transferable skills communication skills
valued very highly communication to non-specialists regarded as a
business-oriented activity for large R&D companies not a
requirement very important for SMEs Some faculty members are
skeptical about overloading PhD candidates with seminars
Representatives of KU Leuven doctoral students find training
courses very useful, prefer them to be optional Slide 20 Group C
adapts and develops seminar materials Slide 21 Adaptation of
seminar material Seminar on Scientific Integrity developed by the
Commission on Scientific Integrity (CSI) of KU Leuven Seminar scope
the research trainee should acquire knowledge of the often
unconscious consensus among the scientists of a given discipline on
scientific integrity Seminar goal to raise awareness of the
importance of integrity for a professional attitude in research
Seminar contents Code of conduct, Ethical Justification, Legal
Aspects, Introduction on CSI Slide 22 Please visit!
http://euceet.eu/ Workgroups Group C Slide 23 Development of
seminar material Seminar on Terminology Resources and principles
Collaboration with President of the Hellenic Society for
Terminology Specifications: seminar material should be designed for
specific learning outcomes be tailored to civil engineering PhD
students should make an engineering faculty member with no formal
background in Terminology feel comfortable delivering the seminar
Slide 24 Seminar objectives At the end of the seminar, participants
know of national standardization body & source of standards can
locate terminology standards and glossaries in their subject area
can use web-based multilingual term resources are familiar with
good practices in definition- giving and term-rendering are able to
evaluate technical terms on the basis of terminology principles
Slide 25 Seminar format & content One 2-hour presentation (day
1) The three players of communication: concept, definition, term
Terminology needs in research an unknown term how should we call
it? discovery of a new concept Concepts, concept relations, concept
systems 4 rules for a good definition, 7 principles for a good term
Evaluation of terms from technical texts Resources Assignment:
evaluation of terms (due day 15) One 1-hour discussion (day 22)
Discussion of assignments Slide 26 How should we call it? Choice
between common engineering terms (in alphabetical order):
coefficient constant factor index parameter How similar are they?
Is one of them a super- category (superordinate concept) where
all/some others belong? Perhaps common issue in subject fields with
a number of quantities are defined experimentally open assignment
for seminar participants Slide 27 Concept system example:
structures (bridges) Slide 28 Resources (2) Technical terms
Glossaries prepared by technical committees ISO technical
committees http://www.iso.org/iso/standards_development/technical_c
ommittees/list_of_iso_technical_committees.htm Committees under the
national standards body http://www.elot.gr/committee.htm (for
Greece) Multilingual terminology databases IATE (InterActive
Terminology for Europe) iate.europa.eu Termium Plus (English and
French)
http://btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng
Subject specific, e.g. environment www.eionet.europa.eu/gemet/
Slide 29 Terminology seminar material PowerPoint presentation in
English and Greek accompanied by a text with comments on each slide
Additional resources for the seminar instructor List of sources for
suitable texts for term analysis (eg EU regulations, Eurocodes)
Slide 30 Please visit! http://euceet.eu/ Workgroups Group C Slide
31 Wrapping up Group C work Slide 32 Group C report: title &
contents Doctoral Education & Skills Training in Civil
Engineering faculties Introduction Doctoral Education Trends In
Europe, in the USA Skills training Definitions, examples (Cardiff,
KU Leuven, others) Attitudes towards skill training Questionnaire
& answers Seminar material Seminar material adapted (Scientific
integrity), Seminar material developed (Terminology) Conclusions
References Slide 33 Conclusions Doctoral studies affected by the
type of administration of doctoral programs administration at the
department level may be limiting Skills training is perhaps better
if optional, targeting specific needs, concentrated Uniformly
valued skill: communication to non-specialists Slide 34
Dissemination Seminar presented in Conference on Terminology will
get reviewed by the President of the European Association for
Terminology Both seminars need to be taught in 1-2 EUCEET
institutions and seminar material to be modified accordingly Slide
35 A possible future Pursue EU funding for the development of
transferable seminars tailored to civil engineering PhD candidates
Collaborative effort between civil engineering faculty and domain
experts Material developed for seminar on terminology can be used
as pilot Suggested topics: research ethics, communication to the
public, (combination of interests and available expertise)
