Minutes DK co- supervisor meeting, 3 June 2014

Transcription

1 Present Regrets Jørgen Møller (JM), Ulla Ambrosius Madsen (UAM), Michael Whyte (MW), Karen- Margrethe Simonsen (KMS), Inger Lassen (IL), Pär- Ola Zander (POZ), Jens Seeberg (JS), Martin D. Larsen (MDL) Preben Kaarsholm, Karen Valentin, Søren Bech Pilgaard, Jørgen Elklit, Jørgen bang. Item Summary Follow- up 1. Welcome & round of presentation Welcome by Project Director Jens Seeberg. Short round of presentation: Pär- Ola Zander, Aalborg University: Associate Professor at the Dep. of Communication and Psychology / E- learning Lab. Pär- Ola is member of MAGAART s Danish Coordination Group and content provider to the project (not BSU/PhD co- supervisor). Jørgen Møller, Aarhus University: Professor at the Dep. Political Science and Governemnt. E.g. Jørgen has East African communities as his field of study, and he is co- supervisor for Tom Emboya, Maseno University (MSU). Inger Lassen, Aalborg University: Professor at the Dep. Of Culture and Global Studies. E.g. Inger is head of the Doctoral Programme Discourse and Contemporary Culture, she is member of MAGAART s Danish Coordination Group, and content provider to the project (not BSU/PhD co- supervisor). Ulla Ambrosius Madsen, Roskilde University: Associate Professor at the Dep. Of Psychology and Educational Studies. E.g. Ulla has practiced educational research in Nepal since 1995, and has done methodology courses at Tribhuvan University (TU) during BSU Phase I. She is member of MAGAART s Danish Coordination Group and content provider to the project, and she is co- supervisor for Kamal Raj Devkota, TU. Michael Whyte, Aarhus University (external lecturer) and Copenhagen University: Professor emeritus at Dep. Of Anthropology. E.g. Michael studies land and postwar conflicts in Northern Uganda (FFU project), and has done 5-6 PhD courses at Gulu University (GU). Supervisor for Babiiha Mpisi Sulayman, GU Karen- Margrethe Simonsen, Aarhus University: Associate Professor at the Dep. Of 1

2 Aesthetics and Communication Comparative Literature. Karen is co- supervisor for Bhwana Regmi (Pokhrel), who does a literary PhD project on diasporas and human rights in Nepal. Jens Seeberg, Aarhus University: Associate Professor at the Dep. of Culture and Society. Jens is director of the FFU- funded Nepal on the Move project that studies migration and state- making in post- revolutionary Nepal (collaboration with Kathmandu University, UCPH and NEHU, India). Jens is MAGAART Project Director, and he is co- supervisor for Meena Gurung, TU. Martin Damgaard Larsen, Aarhus University: MAGAART Project Coordinator. 2. Presentation of the MAGAART project JS gave a short presentation of the revised MAGAART project; focusing on strengthening of PhD training, i.e. development of partly online PhD courses at GU, MSU and TU (cf. presentation here). The project s objective was to test and examine how elearning/blended learning can contribute to PhD training. Furthermore, it s an attempt to widen the way that academics work with and conduct (PhD) courses. The point of departure is the current BSU PhD projects (= problem- based learning ), and the networking of (groups of) PhD supervisors/co- supervisor where it makes sense. The decision to concentrate on PhD training originates from the on- going development of PhD Schools at TU and has been agreed by all partners in South and DK. 3. Overview of activities (involving DK resources) & discussion JS goes through the list of MAGAART activities that involve DK/North input cf. overview here - answering questions along the way SDR Conference in Kenya, MSU To be conducted at the end of the project period (end of 2015). Call to be prepared (by future working group); theme to be narrowed down. A total budget of aprox. DKK , making it possible for each university to send 3-4 people Development of research applications A guideline/policy to be developed by small working group. South universities have funds for travel; for writing research proposals in Denmark. 2

3 MW: Not exactly South driven. Difficult to see what will be gained. JS: In principle it could be other places but the funds are in the South budgets. MSU, GU and TU all made small adjustments within this project component ( knowledge sharing ) at the initial workshop in Nepal (March 2014) PhD supervisor Forum Supervisor forum to be established at each South university, and one in Denmark. UAM: Very interesting and important. Suggests initiating a common online forum. MW: It is necessary to establish a common ground in regards to what constitute a social science PhD. In Uganda there is a fixed form for how and what a PhD thesis is: E.g. it s mandatory to have a literature review before acceptance of the PhD project, and if the literature changes significantly it must be assessed by a committee. Also, a Ugandan PhD thesis should always contain statistical analysis, which is not always appropriate. JS: This could be a highly relevant theme of discussion for a common PhD forum. IL: The issue was discussed a lot at the initial workshop at TU; there is a demand for qualitative methods - but a lot of concern was expressed by some of the TU participants, who found it difficult to make a transition from quantitative to qualitative research methods. MW: Important to find out; what is a good PhD/research process at the South universities. IL: Informs that there is an upcoming doctoral workshop at AAU: Organizational and professional discourse: theory and methods, August (Read more here).this might be interesting for KMS PhD student Bhwana Regmi who plans to be in DK (study stay) during this period Community of Practice management To advance community among supervisors; to facilitate activities on a common online Moodle platform - hosted by MSU Supported by AU (Jørgen Bang, Cudim). 3

4 1.2.1 Academic Writing (PhD) Supportive activity prior to SDR conference; PhD students to work on conference papers. Activity to build on Jørgen Elklit s (AU) former BSU 1 activities (academic article writing workshops). IL: AAU has had funds for this activity; not the case in the present overview, which should be looked into.* Experience sharing workshop for study stay grantees An opportunity to meet with the PhD students and share experiences/discuss research projects. Read more from the similar 2013 workshop at the old BSU- PSDR website *AAU has (minor) funds for this activity; it was an error in the overview now corrected Learning infrastructure support Hardware at GU and TU, learning infrastructure input from MSU, AAU and AU Orientation workshop with PhD supervisors as primary target Use of elearning tools and pedagogics in relation to PhD courses. Lead by MSU and AAU. To be conducted at TU and MSU (i.e. using available funds most effectively). POZ: it will be a very practical approach, e.g. regarding the use of . There will be online pre- activities prior to orientation workshop(s), and afterwards. MW: Could be an idea to make survey; find out what the PhD students expect, if the supervisors want to read s, etc. JS: There s a big difference in practices at the three South universities, including different supervision procedures. UAM: Also; what is our/north supervisor procedures? E.g. help with literature search, etc. JS: We have to test which technologies and approaches can benefit challenges in supervision, but there should be no illusion that it will work anywhere Proposal development & literature search MSU and GU to conduct joint workshop. TU to conduct own workshop, with DK input Research methods & methodology (PhD) 4

5 MSU and GU to conduct joint workshop. TU to conduct own workshop. All w. DK input. JM: There can be many different understandings of what statistics is. MW: In some places statistics can be a needless requirement which also makes it a political discussion to be approached. POZ: The involvement of deans etc. can possibly result in better opportunities of change. JS: Important to find locals who are advocates of system change. For instance, there s a supervisor at TU who recognises that surveys do not make sense in a specific PhD project. JM: Based on own experiences from a course in research methods (BSU 1), JM sees a need for basic skills in quantitative method; he suggests that North instructors/student assistants could introduce basic steps within statistical analysis. JS: We should look at the group of involved PhD students and make sure that what we offer is relevant to them and to other PhD students, eventually. UAM: We can contribute by asking fundamental questions regarding methodology and production of knowledge (i.e. philosophy of science). Most of our PhD students do qualitative work. MW: Has tried working with this elsewhere; after one week everyone said they were positivist, simply because it made (best) sense! IL: Mixed methods is a good approach, including statistical method. JS: The courses need to be developed with local resource persons for them to be sustainable, i.e. the course development process = the most important /2.4.4/2.4.5 Data analysis (PhD) Three workshops/modules combining F2F meetings with online participation. Content development at RUC; drawing on UAM s (et.al.) experience and material from methodology workshop at TU during BSU Evaluation AAU lead. Will be a meeting in connection with the conference in Kenya. E.g. with an online survey. 4. Co- supervisors PhD co-supervision: Lessons so far 5

6 experience & involvement in MAGAART JM, UAM, MW, KMS and JS shared their experience with supervision of their (BSU 1) PhD students. So far the central lessons have been: The PhD students have progressed a lot during their study stay(s). Keeping contact after the period(s) of study stay(s) has not always been easy, i.e. difficult to observe project progress at a distance. Teaching workload and/or obligations at home university has been a great burden for some PhD students, i.e. not always sufficient time to dedicate to PhD project. In some cases, enrollment procedures or project approval have been big obstacles for moving ahead with the PhD project. Cases of discrepancy between the main supervisor s (academic) advice and expectations, and the co- supervisor s ditto. In continuation of preceding item: Clashes of (PhD) research traditions, rules and regulations at South and North universities. Examples of challenges with too many cooks involved at PhD student s home university; e.g. diverging opinions about the scale of data- collection. Concern about the PhD student s chances of completing the dissertation within the 3 years time frame. Good experience with: 1) Inciting the PhD student to teach MA classes while in DK (includes a social element), 2) feeding the PhD student with relevant literature between study stays, 3) conducting face- to- face meeting with main supervisor and the PhD student, i.e. matching of expectations, and 4) maintaining common e- mail correspondence between main supervisor, co- supervisor and PhD student. Furthermore, questions were raised regarding the continued administration of these BSU 1 PhD scholarships, which are now in the hands of DFC (since 31 December 2013 when the BSU-PSDR platform closed down). The DFC contact person is Lars Arne Jensen, and (further) questions can be mailed to: research@dfcentre.dk 6

7 JM: What if you end up with a later PhD defence; are you able to participate as co- supervisor? JS: Should be cleared with DFC. JS: It s also important to notice that each PhD project relies on local agreements. E.g. some PhD students teach, while others don t. MW: The agreement on frikøb (workload reduction) for PhD students is not being followed. PhD salaries consist of a range of allowances that the PhD student (and his/her family) has to live for. Maybe Danida could make a desk study of how this takes place? JS: With the new BSU model this isn t realistic. MW: Proposes truth as a theme for a future course; what is the truth, and what is it that you need the truth for in the many work processes you participate in? POZ: Has experience with supervision in Bhutan; here religious aspects is often an issue but hidden beneath the surface, and not for discussion in a supervisor supervisee relationship. JS: It s a potential course theme e.g. at the analysis workshops, or in another context. Involvement of the PhD co- supervisor network in the MAGAART project JS: There s no funding for supporting this PhD network, unless it can be part of MAGAART s PhD forum. UAM: How can we raise academic issues and challenges that we can discuss and investigate in common? For instance, what is a field (that, which we work in)? What is representation? Etc. If there is academic content it will be interesting. JS: the meetings could supply input for the MAGAART activities that have to be conducted. Those who are going to develop courses could give cues for a presentation (delivered by the PhD network/forum). KMS: It should certainly be linked to concrete activities, giving both academic and organisational results. IL: Yes, and in collaboration between supervisors in North and South. JS: It might be possible to combine a visit by the main supervisors with study stays and then make a common workshop. UAM: Could focus on; what is a PhD in Nepal? What should the candidate be able to 7

8 do/accomplish? KMS: Could suggest Pokrel to postpone study stay to the beginning of 2015 (project proposal needs to be accepted beforehand anyway). DECISION: UAM agrees to be tovholder (coordinator) of the PhD network, i.e. of academic presentations with adm. support from MDL.* *UAM will call for a meeting in late Fall Notice: future working groups should feet UAM with cues in relation to concrete MAGAART activities being developed. 5. AOB Follow- up for the next meeting in the Danish Coordination Group: Find AAU funds for meetings in PhD co- coordinator network. 12 June 2014 / Martin D. Larsen 8