Select Committee on Education and Skills Written Evidence


Memorandum submitted by the Wellcome Trust

  1.  The Wellcome Trust is pleased to respond to the House of Commons Education and Skills Select Committee Inquiry into the Bologna Process.

  2.  The Wellcome Trust is the largest independent charity in the UK and the second largest medical research charity in the world. It funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending around £500 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome Trust supports public debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and wellbeing.

  3.  The Trust welcomes the general approach of the Bologna Process, particularly the mobility of students and researchers that it should enable. However, we do have a number of concerns which we would like to bring the Committee's attention to, which are outlined below.

    "Implications of the Bologna Process for the UK Higher Education sector: advantages and disadvantages" and "The implications of a three-phase structure of higher education awards for one-year masters and short undergraduate courses (HNCs, HNDs, and Foundation Degrees)".

MANDATORY REQUIREMENT FOR MASTERS DEGREES FOR PROGRESSION TO PHD STUDY

  4.  The Trust currently runs a four year PhD awards programme. These awards are made to students who have a first degree, but generally have not undertaken postgraduate study. Institutions are free to design their own study programme, however it is expected that in the first year of study students will undertake a range of activities, including taught courses and research skills development: gaining experience of different laboratories through working on a range of research projects. Some of these programmes are structured with the award of an MSc at the end of year one. This programme has been enormously successful, with very high rates of completion and progression of many on to a research career.

  5.  The Trust is concerned that any development which would make masters degrees mandatory for progression to PhD study may be superfluous and a disincentive for many of the highest quality students; it would affect the local flexibility of design of such successful PhD programmes and would constrain the future development of further new innovations in PhD training. We question therefore whether making an MSc a mandatory step in the progression to PhD is the right approach.

LENGTH OF MASTERS DEGREES

  6.  The Trust is also concerned that some degree of flexibility should remain in the length of time taken to complete a masters degree. The great majority of masters degrees in the UK are completed within one year, and to date this has proved adequate for progression on to further study or a research career. The Trust is concerned that potential students will be discouraged from undertaking a masters degree if the length of the course is increased to two years. We believe that the emphasis should lie on the content and learning outcomes rather than the volume of study. Currently UK one year masters qualifications correspond to continental two year qualifications in terms of learning outcomes.[14]

PHD STUDY

  7.  Similarly, the Trust hopes restrictive stipulations on the length, structure and assessment process for PhDs will not be introduced as part of the Bologna Process.

IMPACT OF THE BOLOGNA PROCESS ON UK MEDICAL, DENTAL AND VETERINARY QUALIFICATIONS

  8.  It is not yet entirely clear what the implications of the Bologna Process will be on UK medical, dental and veterinary qualifications. However, the Trust is concerned that any measures to determine the length, structure and assessment of these qualifications should not make the system more difficult for clinicians, dentists and veterinary students to undertake a research career. The Trust is particularly concerned about what the impact of any measures might be on intercalated undergraduate courses and MB-PhDs. The Trust believes that the UK health research base could be significantly damaged if measures further complicate the system.

    "Awareness and engagement in the Bologna Process within HEIs".

EUROPE UNIT

  9.  The Trust welcomes the information and services provided by the Europe Unit, based within Universities UK. The Trust supports the continued work of Europe Unit in ensuring that key stakeholders are aware of the progress of the Bologna Process and the implications of any proposals suggested and decisions made as they happen.

    "Quality Assurance systems in HE (teaching and research): the compatibility of UK proposals and Bologna".

FURTHER INFORMATION ON QA SYSTEMS FOR RESEARCH

  10.  There seems to be little information on the quality assurance systems for research within the Bologna Process. The Trust would welcome more effective dissemination of information on, and discussion of, this topic. The Trust is additionally concerned that a rigid, one-size-fits-all structure for quality assurance systems for research should not be introduced.

    "The agenda for discussion at the 2007 meeting in London—clarifying the UK position".

INVOLVING RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS

  11.  There are a range of stakeholders for whom the outcomes of the Bologna Process will have a significant impact. The Trust feels that it is necessary for these stakeholders particularly research organisations to be fully involved in the development of the Agenda for the 2007 ministerial summit.

    "The broader impact of Bologna across Europe: a more standardised Europe and the consequences for the UK's position in the global market for HE (Bologna and the second phase of the Prime Minister's Initiative for International Education (PMI 2))".

GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS

  The Trust cautions that the UK's higher education and research position globally should not be compromised by harmonisation at a European level. It is therefore important that as the detail of the Bologna Process is developed and before it is implemented, the global context is considered. Furthermore once the detail has been agreed the UK will need to consider to what extent it wishes to implement the policy, UK higher education institutions and research organisations must be involved.

December 2006






14   Europe Unit, 2006, The Bologna Process: Implications for dental and medical qualifications in the UK, London, Europe Unit. Back


 
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