Until August 30, admission to doctoral studies at the University of Latvia (LU) is taking place. LU welcomes new doctoral students with several innovations that will promote a high-quality and efficient study and research process. A unified Doctoral School has been established at the University of Warsaw and more opportunities to receive funding are offered.
"Currently, the word diversity characterizes doctoral studies at the University of Latvia. Exact sciences have a project-based approach. Most PhD students in these sciences have funding to support their research activities. Therefore, it is work with a normal load, which leads to a result or a doctorate in a certain time - shorter or longer. In the humanities and social sciences, such a model is less common. In these fields of science, it is more often a matter of personal ambition, where doctoral research is mostly done in the evenings, spare moments and holidays. These are people for whom this is a purposeful decision made in order to further develop their career," describes the current situation in doctoral studies, Guntars Kitenbergs, vice-rector of LU sciences.
On the other hand, there is now a trend towards a doctoral concept, as is customary in Europe.
"We want the doctoral program to be a full-time job, where the doctoral student is a member of the academic family - a colleague - where, unlike the professorship, it is a three- to four-year period of time, in which the main task is to conduct individual research, to show that you can do it, train your skills and become competitive," said G. Kitenbergs.
This year, LU has 86 budget places for doctoral students. Budget places are available in all branches of science. In order to provide doctoral students with funding for studies and research, several funding models are provided. As G. Kitenbergs emphasizes, a more important change is that all doctoral students will be "equal". Namely – regardless of the program in which the doctoral student wishes to study, he will have the right to apply for full funding, which essentially includes the establishment of a working relationship with the LU or a cooperation partner in which he develops a doctoral dissertation research, including remuneration, funds for materials and mobility, as well as funding for studies and for growth in the Doctoral School. Until now, only those in charge of each doctoral program decided on the admission of doctoral students, but the new model provides a basis for deciding also on positions with remuneration for new colleagues, which will be done centrally by the LU, and the determined remuneration will be the same for all.
Also, doctoral students have the opportunity to get budget places if they already work at the university in an academic position or as a guest lecturer or guest researcher. LU is also happy to welcome those young researchers who conduct their research with LU's cooperation partners and for the needs of industry.
"We have established a unified Doctoral School, the task of which will be to take care of the implementation of all doctoral study programs and the promotion process, ensuring the career development of young researchers, monitoring and improving the quality of doctoral studies, as well as promoting international cooperation. This is a completely new approach to the preparation of new doctors, because everyone will have the same "starting point" and the same rules, which do not depend on how "rich" a specific branch of science is," explains G. Kitenbergs.
As he emphasizes, LU is ready to increase the number of doctoral students with whom an employment contract is concluded and they become full members of the LU family, but this requires additional state funding, which is still being discussed with the responsible institutions.
"We can say that this is the first step towards a doctoral process in which the young researcher can fully devote his time to studies and research, thus achieving his goal - a doctoral degree - faster. Every year, about 50 people defend their doctoral degree at the University of Warsaw, and this trend is growing, that is, the number of doctoral degree holders is increasing. Our goal is to admit the most capable doctoral students with the idea that the percentage of students who finish their studies with a doctoral degree will increase," explains the vice-rector of LU sciences.
Photo: Guntars Kitenbergs, vice-rector of sciences of the University of Latvia, photo author: Toms Norde