Quality assurance accreditation and benchmarking of physics teaching
improving degree courses; doctorates in physics in Europe
Working Group 4
Surveying quality assurance systems used by physics departments in Europe and identifying good practice examples. Surveying the development of doctoral programmes in physics and making recommendations for their design.
Activities in the first year:
- Short questionnaire to partners on quality assurance and the “Eurobachelor”;
- Longer questionnaire to one respondent per country on internal
quality assurance, external evaluation, accreditation and benchmarking.
Read more about the survey >
- Involvement of students in evaluation of teaching has become good practice;
- External evaluation and accreditation are seen as useful but too bureaucratic;
read more >
- Moderately positive attitude towards “Eurobachelor”. read more >
Activities in the second year:
- Short questionnaire on doctoral studies to all partners;
- Longer questionnaire to doctoral candidates on personal circumstances, supervision system and satisfaction with their situation (in cooperation with the International Association of Physics Students).
- Inventory of some national benchmarking documents.
Programme for the last year:
- More detailed recommendations on quality assurance.
- Drafting a document on the ethical aspects of the supervision of doctoral
candidates and the design of doctoral programmes.
- Increase the involvement of alumni and potential employers;
- Introduce more systematic feedback procedures into the evaluation system.
- Doctoral candidates should be treated as junior researchers, entitled to adequate pay and social security; read more >
- Provide for regular reporting of progress to others than the thesis supervisor.
