International Centre for the
Comparative Study of Doctoral Education

Our Aims

Doctorates are the highest degrees awarded by universities. In order to gain a doctorate, it is necessary to complete a research project which makes an original contribution to knowledge and understanding in a discipline or disciplines. Because they have demonstrated the capacity to undertake original research, doctoral graduates are in demand across the globe whether in the public or private sectors of the knowledge economy or in the halls of academia.

For these reasons, it is important to study doctoral education. While there is a substantial literature in the field, much of it only relates to single countries, and there is a dearth of studies which seek to consider it on a comparative basis. Yet it is only by comparison that the differences between systems can be described and analysed to create new insights and to provide a basis for policy development at the international level.

The aim of the centre is to conduct and encourage comparative research on doctoral education; the objectives are to:

• Bring together scholars from across the globe with a research interest in comparative doctoral education;
• Provide opportunities for discussion of relevant issues, including supervision, the student experience, and examination;
• Enable access to a range of resources to support the study of comparative doctoral education;
• Encourage collaborative research in the field;
• Disseminate research by means including blogs, symposia, and conferences.

The founding members of the Centre are researchers at Durham University (UK) and the University of Sofia (Bulgaria), who have been conducting research on comparative doctoral education for a number of years and who have a range of publications in the field. They would warmly welcome interest from researchers in other institutions who subscribe to these aims and objectives.