In 2003, the Ph.D. degree was introduced in Norway line with the Bologna process, replacing the old system of discipline specific doctoral degrees. Norwegian Ph.D. education qualifies for research of high international standard and for other types of work where the individual needs scientific insight and analytical competences coherent with scientific practise and ethical standards. Ph.D. education includes doctoral courses with a minimum of 30 ECTS and the individual doctoral thesis produced under supervision. The Ph.D. is a three-year degree, but may be extended with one year of compulsory teaching or administrative work at the institution. The Ph.D. title is assigned when the doctoral courses and the thesis are approved and when the candidate has defended his/her thesis (UHR, 2011 [URL] 20.09). The Ph.D.
degree is assigned by universities, specialised universities and a limited number of university colleges in line with the Norwegian accreditation system. Norway has 8 universities, 6 specialised universities and 25 university colleges. The universities offer more than 90 Ph.D.
programs within 150 specialisations and university colleges and specialised universities 18 Ph.D. programs. In 2010 more than 20 000 doctoral degrees had been awarded in Norway since doctoral education was introduced in 1817. Many of these doctorates, 40 %, have been completed at the University of Oslo, with Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) contributing another 25 % (Research Council of Norway, 2011d: 37).
The Association of Norwegian Higher Education Institutions (UHR) provides guidelines for the Ph.D. education, upon which the institutions can build their own guidelines, both at institutional level and faculty level. Another framework provided by the UHR is the Agreement upon Admission to a Doctoral Program which includes a Part A, agreement between student and university, Part B, agreement of supervision and Part C, an agreement
between university and external institution on the completion of doctoral program. The external partner will thus finance part of the doctoral education and offer appropriate infrastructure. This clearly opens for doing a Ph.D. in industry-academia collaborations.
Formal agreements is however not the only mean, as there can also be looser connections to external partner. Students may also use an external partner to collect data or to secure research projects´ relevance to real life. Each HEI has accordingly much freedom when it comes to the organisation of the doctoral education. However, doctoral students´ connection to and integration into active research environments, which provide high quality learning support and supervision has proved to be key factors to success. Research schools tend to foster good learning environments. Research schools are supplementary to ordinary education and organised as networks, nationally or internationally (Research Council of Norway, 2011c:14).
A recommendation to the Ministry of Research and education (KD) on independent research institutes role in doctoral education highlights the institutes´ supervision capacity of doctoral students as well as potential recruitment of Ph.D. candidates. Secondly, collaboration between university and institutes enhances quality and relevance in doctoral education, especially within fields where institutes normally have their strengths. Thirdly, the institutes´
contribution to doctoral education may have positive impact on doctoral holders´ future career destinations as many are expected to seek employment within the research institutes. In addition, the institutes may provide doctoral students with competences in line with the National Qualification Framework (NQF), especially when it comes to management of interdisciplinary projects and the ability to assess the need for, take the initiative to and perform innovation (Research Council of Norway, 2011c:23).
NQF is being implemented at Norwegian higher education institutions from 2011 and a Norwegian Ph.D. degree should thus provide knowledge, skills and competences in line with the framework (NQF 2011). NQF serves to inform students, universities and employers about knowledge, skills and competences a candidate is expected to possess and should be used as a tool to elaborate study plans, individual careers and to facilitate lifelong learning. The qualification framework, as well as formal regulation connected to the Ph.D. degree, applies to all doctoral education regardless of research fields or interface with industry or other institutions. Attachment 1, Table 1: Specific and transferable skills, presents specific and transferable skills in several international framework and includes also NQF, cycle 3. The table shows that NQF has much in common with other frameworks, especially when it comes
to specific skills. Some other frameworks are more comprehensive and include more details on transferable skills.
NQF, cycle 3, states that Ph.D. candidates should have the following learning outcome in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence.
The candidate…
Knowledge is in the forefront of knowledge within his/her academic field and masters the field´s philosophy of science and/or artistic issues and methods
can evaluate the expediency and application of different methods and processes in research and scholarly and/or artistic development projects
can contribute to the development of new knowledge, new theories, methods, interpretations and forms of documentation in the field Skills can formulate problems, plan and carry out research and scholarly
and/or artistic development work
can carry out research and scholarly and/or artistic research work of a high international standard
can handle complex academic issues and challenge established knowledge and practice in the field
Competences can identify new relevant ethical issues and carry out his/her research with scholarly integrity
can manage complex interdisciplinary assignments and projects
can communicate research and development work through recognized Norwegian and international channels
can participate in debates in the field in international forums
can assess the need for, initiate and practice innovation Source: National Qualification Framework, 2011
The recent developments in Norwegian doctoral education are being evaluated in 2011-12 by NIFU. The evaluation will take a systemic perspective to reveal differences in the doctoral education across disciplines and institutions and focus on quality aspects in the education, efficiency in the organisation of the training and the overall societal relevance of the doctoral degree. Aspects with significance to quality include skills and competences acquired to be
used in different kinds of research positions inside and outside academia as well as alternative career paths before embarking on a research career instead of going straight from a master degree (Research Council of Norway 2011a [URL], 26.10).