How Do I Cook an Impact Factor Article If You Do Not Show Me What the Ingredients Are?

Doctoral studies in the Czech Republic are highly individualized with little coursework outside the supervisor/supervisee dyad, and the PhD students are mandated to publish prior to the dissertation defense. This mandate is troublesome because writing development has been on the fringes of the Czech education culture. In addition, the publications often must be in English, and many doctoral students struggle with English. In this exploratory study, we examined how this mandate translates into practice, how doctoral students learn to meet the requirements and how university administrators/supervisors perceive doctoral writing development. To answer our questions, we interviewed 7 university administrators/dissertation supervisors and 7 doctoral students from various backgrounds and universities, looking for diverse views on the issue. Our analysis confirmed the formal status of supervisors as the key doctoral writing literacy brokers. While the supervisors acknowledged their role, they also tended to view doctoral writing as a matter of self-study and funding, thus indirectly emphasising the publication outcomes. In contrast, doctoral students called for structured support of their writing processes. We propose a systemic approach to introduce writing pedagogies into the Czech discourse. With this study we hope to contribute to research on doctoral writing for publication of EAL (English as an Additional Language) students in Central Europe.

Vulnerability in Heritage Speakers of Spanish in the Netherlands

Dissertation defense date: October 1, 2019 Supervisors:Prof. dr. Aafke Hulk, University of AmsterdamDr. Petra Sleeman, University of AmsterdamDr. Suzanne Aalberse, University of Amsterdam Defense Committee:Prof. dr. Jeannette Schaeffer, University of AmsterdamProf. dr. Judith Rispens, University of AmsterdamProf. dr. Enoch Aboh, University of AmsterdamDr. Maria del Carmen Parafita Couto, University of LeidenProf. dr. Jason Rothman, University of TromsøDr. Cristina Flores, University of Minho

Bureaucratization of science is unacceptable (notes after reading the book by V.N. Protasov “Methodological problems of dissertation defense (on the example of jurisprudence)”)

This article is the author's reflections caused by the work of V.N. Protasov “Methodological problems of dissertation defense (on the example of jurisprudence)”. The monograph examines the general problems of bureaucratic management of science, education and the process of defending dissertations in modern Russia. According to the author of the article, V.N. Protasov highlighted a layer of problems that cannot be passed by.

Problems and Prospects for the Development of Doctoral Education in Russia: The View of Regional Universities

The concentration of state resources in the leading universities poses the problem of reproduction of the scientific and pedagogical personnel in regional universities that do not participate in state-funded academic excellence programs. Based on the data from three focus group interviews with heads of doctoral studies offices at regional universities, the article analyzes problems arising in the implementation of the current model of training and certification of doctoral students. Four following groups of problems are identified: 1) the rigidity of requirements for the structure and content of the educational programs, 2) the imperfection of the system of attestation, gaps between attestation activities, 3) the problem of “retention” of doctoral students after the completion of the educational program, 4) the problems of conjugation of the processes of preparing a dissertation and its defense. The authors discuss possible ways to overcome the identified problems through providing universities with greater autonomy in designing the structure and content of the educational programs; synchronization of the procedures of the final state attestation and dissertation defense; creation of mechanisms for supporting successful doctoral graduates at the final stage of their preparation for the defense of a dissertation; development of network forms for implementation of doctoral programs with leading universities and research institutes.

Efficiency of Organizations Entitled to Award Academic Degrees

Introduction. As part of the Bologna process since September 1, 2016, the Russian government has granted the right to award academic degrees to leading educational and scientific organizations on par with Dissertation Defense Councils under Higher Attestation Commission, modeled after the system adopted at OECD member-states and universities. Currently, 27 educational and scientific organizations are exercising this right. However, the problematic issue is the assessment of their efficiency. The purpose of this research is to analyze the efficiency of Dissertation Councils of the above-mentioned scientific and educational organizations by comparing them in terms of efficiency with classical Dissertation Defense Councils established by the decree of the Ministry of Education and Scie nce of Russia. Materials and Methods. The research objects are Dissertation Councils of scientific and educational organizations of higher education (hereinafter referred to as pilot organizations) that have the right of independent award of academic degrees according to the Federal Law No. 148 issued on May 23, 2016 “On Amendments to Article 4 of the Federal Law ‘On research and state scientific and technological policy’”. Dissertation Councils efficiency analysis is made using following indicators: Dissertation Councils members’ compliance with the Higher Attestation Commission requirements, structure of candidate and doctoral defenses, Dissertation Councils members’ publications and publication activity of degree seekers. Statistical data analysis methods were applied including mean comparison me thods, clustering, factor analysis. Results. There are 337 pilot Dissertation Defense Councils and 374 classical Dissertation Defense Councils. In 2016, 24% of defenses were reviewed by pilot councils of the total number of defenses in classical Dissertation Councils of the entire network. In 2018 70 doctoral and 591 candidate defenses in “pilot” councils were held, amounting to 7% of the total number of defe nses in classical Dissertation Councils. Discussion and Conclusion. The article will be useful to the heads of federal authorities making management decisions in the field of training and certification of highly qualified scientific personnel, to the chairmen and scientific secretaries of dissertation councils, as well as to scientific and pedagogical workers carrying out analytical studies in this subject area.

Fingerprints and Pulp: Nomadic Ethics in Research Practice

This paper thinks with Braidotti’s nomadic ethics through the process of making paper to consider the ethical marks and cuts of doing qualitative research. Through the process of making paper, cutting, soaking, blending, pressing, and drying the debris of my dissertation, I consider questions of representation, ethics, and responsibility in qualitative research. Simultaneously, I consider the relations and interactions made possible through an art installation where the handmade paper was displayed as part of my dissertation defense. I contemplate my interactions and conversations with the participants that attended the installation and how these encounters led to new considerations of ethics and representation through research methodology and art.

Protestant Supremacy: The Story of a Neologism

“Protestant Supremacy,” the phrase that evoked the majority of commentary in this forum, is a neologism. I began researching Christian Slavery in 2005, but I did not coin “Protestant Supremacy” until 2013. I have an audio recording of the first time I used the phrase. It was during my dissertation defense and I was explaining why I felt it was wrong to use the terms “pro” or “antislavery” to describe the slavery debates of the seventeenth century. “Spiritual equality does not equal antislavery,” I said at the time, when I refusing to draw a straight line from Quaker founder George Fox to later Quaker abolitionists. I needed a new way to frame the conversation. “I could call it ‘Protestant Supremacy,’” I said. “It isn't White Supremacy in the seventeenth-century. … [Instead,] you have a contest between the ideology of Protestant Supremacy and the ideology of Christian Slavery. … That's the conversation that's important.”

Dissertation defense board of St. Petersburg State Institute of Culture: 1938−2018

The history of the first in the country dissertation defense board, established at the N. K. Krupskaya Communist Institute of Political Education (today – St.Petersburg State Institute of Culture) is examined. The Board was established to review the theses in librarianship and bibliography. The analysis is based on the bibliography of dissertations defended during 80 years: the bibliography comprises 592 works. The main historical stages of the board are characterized; data on the number of doctor and candidate defenses during various periods is given. Several doctorate theses that made serious impact in the library and information sector are characterized; the geography of degree applicants (USSR republics, Asian, African, Latin American states) is analyzed; the subject scope of their investigations is discussed. The main research vectors and the most efficient supervisors are named. The author reveals the links between the defended dissertations and the Institute’s area of studies and scholar schools in the library and information sciences. The reasons for decreasing number of theses and changing subject scope are discussed.