Work on the thesis is undertaken in accordance with quality standards for research and in line with the Regulations for the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Degree at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences. Through quality work, organised research training will allow for PhD candidates to be followed up on throughout the doctoral process from start to final assessment. A project specification shall be available upon admission and a main academic supervisor and co-supervisor shall be appointed.
Regular academic supervision constitutes a key element of quality work when working on the thesis. All academic supervisors must hold a doctoral degree or have equivalent expertise in the field and must be active researchers. The Faculty, PhD programme and academic supervisors are jointly responsible for ensuring that the PhD candidate participates in an active research community. Research groups that span the INTOP subject areas have been established and PhD candidates are invited to participate in these.
For the work on quality in the thesis, the midway evaluation (50%) and final evaluation (80%) will be key milestones in the learning journey for each PhD candidate. In these evaluations, the project will be assessed by an external party who is independent of the PhD candidate’s academic supervisor team. Within six months of starting, the PhD candidate will also present their project at a start-up seminar (20%).
The PhD candidate and main academic supervisor will submit annual reports on the progress of the thesis work. Progress reports shall be included in the report on quality work drawn up by the PhD Manager, will be considered by the PhD Committee and submitted to the Dean and INN University R&D Committee. The report will form the basis for the annual quality report summarising the academic year.
The programme committee meets each semester. The PhD candidates’ elected representatives will collect feedback from PhD candidates and this will be reviewed by the PhD Manager, elected the representatives, course coordinator and PhD coordinators, who will initiate any action. The minutes from these meetings are available to everyone affiliated with the programme.
The Faculty is responsible for ensuring that the training element, combined with the thesis work, results in a qualification at a high academic level and in accordance with international standards. The training element comprises courses for which the requirement to pass normally consists of written examinations in the form of e.g. essays or papers. The course composition must provide a high level of academic quality and the PhD candidate must, in consultation with the academic supervisor, ensure that they follow courses that ensure that the composition meets the requirements set out for the course element.
The curriculum and working methods for each course will be reviewed each time the course is arranged. This will take place in collaboration between the course coordinator and PhD Manager. Participants on each course complete an evaluation at the end of the course. The evaluations are included in the quality report and made available to everyone affiliated with the programme. Course evaluations are considered at programme committee meetings.
A periodic evaluation of the programme was carried out in 2022. Periodic evaluations take place every six years. During such evaluations, challenges are identified and measures are devised to develop the quality of the programme. This is a tool that is used to ensure that the programme complies with applicable regulations.