Working Group C

1. Working Group C Doctoral programs – 3rd cycle – and research in civil engineering faculties Marina Pantazidou National Technical University of Athens EUCEET III General Assembly Paris, November 20, 2009

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 Europe’s 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

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

4. Doctoral Programs Theme: Goals of Group C work • Synthesize background information from Europe and the US • Compile data on types of seminars on transferable skills development offered to PhD candidates in Civil Engineering • Examine attitudes of Civil Engineering faculty and PhD candidates regarding seminars • Develop seminar material and adapt material from existing short-duration seminars, disseminate this material among EUCEET partners • 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!

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

6. Literature Review: Doctoral Education

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 3rd cycle and set goals of doctoral programs produce research output provide research training promote interdisciplinarity

8. Trends in the EU (cont’d) 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

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

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 19th century

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

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/skillsdevprogramme/ 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

13. Skills categories Arenberg Doctoral School, KU Leuven

14. Group C looks at transferable skills

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).

16. Table 1. Examples of transferable skills adapted from KU Leuven

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?

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

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

20. Group C adapts and develops seminar materials

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

22. Please visit! http://euceet.eu/  Workgroups  Group C

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 engineeringPhD students • should make an engineering faculty member with no formal background in Terminology feel comfortable delivering the seminar

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

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

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

27. Concept system example: structures (bridges) bridge (material) (use) (load transfer mechanism) truss bridge pedestrian bridge fiber - reinforced railw ay polymer rope bridge bridge bridge conventional bridge road timber (horizontal main girders) steel - concrete bridge bridge composite br idge underbridge overbridge arch cable bridge overpass bridge concrete masonry steel cable stayed bridge suspension bridge bridge bridge bridge Note: Generic relations (genus - species relations) are shown with tree - like structures

28. Resources (2) Technical terms Glossaries prepared by technical committees ISO technical committees http://www.iso.org/iso/standards_development/technical_committees/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/

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)

30. Please visit! http://euceet.eu/  Workgroups  Group C

31. Wrapping up Group C work

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

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

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

35. A possible future • Pursue EU funding for the development of transferable seminars tailored to civil engineeringPhD 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)