A New PhD pathway in Kurdistan;

Promoting Research and raising standards

Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research; Kurdistan Region, Iraq

A major review in the system of PhD training in Kurdistan and the rest of Iraq has long been over due. The current system is out of date and suffers from numerous obstacles, which have aided the decline in scientific research.

On December 7th of last year, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) adopted a new Higher Education strategy and undertook to review the entire system. The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research thereafter adopted a road map to improve quality and raise standards in both the higher education and scientific research. A key objective of the new system is to link all research-active academics in Kurdistan with their counterparts in international centres of excellence. 

Summary of the New System 

The following is a summary of changes made to the system of awarding the Ph.D. degree in the Kurdistan Region. This New System will be implemented with immediate effect.  

1. The period of study for the Ph.D. will be four years, extendable for another six months by the approval of the college council.  Full salary and allowances will be paid through out. Students may complete their course of study in less than four years, provided that the actual period for scientific research is not less than two-and-a-half years.

2. The first six months of the first year is introductory, used for familiarisation with the research topics, the supervisor’s research and develop their language and computer skills. The second six months for preparation of travel abroad to the supervisors’ country and topping up language learning.

3. The second year should be spent abroad, in a centre of excellence under the supervision of a collaborating scientist.  This period is extendable by mutual agreement.

4. The third and fourth academic years will be dedicated to scientific research in the home institution, writing up the thesis and preparing for the final exam. The home university will grant the Ph.D. degree at the completion of all requirements.

The current system of PhD and its problems  

Currently, the admission plan to doctoral programs is by no means linked to the nation’s market need or the long term national strategy.  Instead, they are dependent on the availability of professors in particular specializations to supervise students, and their topics are decided on the same basis.

A key requirement for acceptance in PhD is to have successfully completed a Master’s programme.  Yet, new PhD students undergo yet another year of extensive didactic teaching, followed by comprehensive examinations, which are no dissimilar to those carried during the Master’s courses.   Exhausted students are then given two short years to find supervisors and adopt scientific projects.  Students invariably fail to complete their research during this period and have minimal facilities at their disposal to keep up with the latest advances in their fields.  There are problem of access to resources, books, scientific research requirements, the unavailability of suitable laboratories, and the lack of appropriate supervisors and external collaborators.  There other endemic problems, such as the presence of deadly routine, low standards of examinations.

Fortunately, Kurdistan Region is now in a position to tackle the routes of the problems, hence the newly adopted system.

The New PhD pathway

The admission of students for the Ph.D. program will take place in accordance with the strategic plan of the Kurdistan Region. Each scholastic seat will have a special dossier clarifying the title of proposed research, its execution requirements such as supervisors, scientific references and the required financing during all stages of research. Contingencies involving extensions of time required at various stages should be included, as well as funding needs for the external advisor to visit the home university to monitor progress.

Preparing a Research Proposal 

The first step in preparing the research project dossier is to nominate a supervisor among the department's senior academics who has experience and knowledge of the subject area. This process will be carried out in collaboration with an external supervisor (if known) from an approved international centre of excellence. This dossier should contain a summary of the research project, the academic biography of the supervisors, the conditions of admission to the program and all other research requirements. The dossier will first be presented to the respective department council, before submission to the University’s scientific committee where the final decision is made. 

The research proposal should consist of clearly stated aims, objectives, plan of investigation and the expected outcome. Potential risks, obstacles and their possible solutions should be outlined.  Preferably, the research programme should focus on resolving practical and scientific problems of the Region or other scientific priorities.

The general and specific conditions and application requirements should be clearly outlined and including:       

The scientific ability of the student;

• The student’s grades at the Bachelor's and Master's levels of education;
• Work experience;
• English language or the language proficiency required during the research stage;
• The availability of internal and external supervisors;
• The project requirements in terms of laboratories in the host and collaborating departments;
• Securing the required budget to complete the research so as to cover salaries, allowances and fees necessary to carry out the scientific research abroad (for one year); fees for language courses, travel for the student and supervisors and other costs including required materials, laboratory fees, books, computers as well as the fees and expenses inside the Region, etc.;
• The researcher should dedicate himself to the Ph.D. study on a full time basis.

The supervisors of doctoral students should nominate external supervisors from international research centres or known universities abroad who are recognized by the Ministry (as per the list provided by the Ministry). There will be mutual visits between the external and internal supervisors as needed.

Internal supervisors are encouraged to take 6-12 months sabbatical leave to visit and work in the external supervisors’ departments/laboratories on the topic of interest.  This visit also serves to update the skills and knowledge of the supervisor, extend their academic network and transfer foreign experience which will help improve the quality of the scientific research. The results of the collaborative research ought to be published in high impact international journals which can be used by the supervisors for promotional purposes.

The University’s scientific committee should seek advice from external referees before endorsing the project. The department undertakes to advertise the available PhD place inside and outside the university and appoint the most talented student in open competition.  Selected candidates, will undertake, via a contract, to complete their course of study and work for five years after graduation in one of the Region’s institutions.  The sponsoring institution will be responsible for all financial costs.

Upon completion, an internal and an external expert examiner will examine the thesis, submit their reports prior and after the viva voce.

Applicants

All those who apply under the New System shall have solid academic backgrounds.  English language skills may not be less than average as per examinations such as TOEFL, IELTS and PASSWORD. Some universities offer other examinations, such as the Institutional ITP TOEFL, but they are not acceptable to the Ministry.

The purpose of the language requirements is to ensure that the student possesses the language capability to perform successfully at the Ph.D. level.

Stages of the New System of Ph.D. Program 

First Stage (Preliminary), the first six months: 

This stage is used for familiarization of the student with the new research environment, research topic, the literature, the supervisor’s area of interest and basic research techniques. The student will also attend special seminars/lectures on safety, research methods, research ethics and improve their language and computer/software skills. These lectures comprise fifteen to twenty units or hours and are subject to quality assurance processes. The student must attend at least one or two lectures on his/her subject area weekly, delivered by experts. These seminars will replace the old fashioned lectures and unnecessary examinations. In parallel, student should begin to carry out the research of project. They should aim at achieving the following:  

• Reach the required level of English language proficiency, computer skills, and other specified computer application systems pertinent to the type of study.  After six months the student must pass another English language examination in accordance with the program specifications noted above.
• The university must schedule the required lectures for the doctoral students, or the departments may perform this task. The student could also engage in individual activities to improve his/her qualifications, computer skills and language qualifications during this time.

At three months the student prepares a report in English (2500 words) outlining the research subject and literature review. This report will be evaluated by both internal and external supervisors. 

At six months the student prepares a second report of 5000 words, divided into two sections:  the first reviews the available literature on the selected research subject; the second part contains the methods, results and discussion of the actual research conducted by the student so far. The report will be evaluated by the supervisors and the internal and external examiners. The external evaluator should be an international academic expert with experience in a related topic from a international research centers. The evaluator should not have no conflict of interest, i.e. not directly linked to the current research project . 

Successful students who pass this stage, will be permitted to be allowed to prepare for travel to the external supervisor’s country.  Those who fail to improve their language and computer skills, they may extend the period for three additional months, and retake the language tests.  After this second attempts, failing students will be dismissed from the program.  

Second Stage: Studying Abroad 

Upon arrival to the external supervisor’s country, the student may begin his/her research study as long as he/she has achieved the required language proficiency. However, if he/she requires additional language training, then the student must take part in intensive language courses for up to 3 months, the costs of which will be paid by KRG. 

If the student fails to make the mandated progress during this period, then he/she may renew the period for a second three-month period, during which time the student's salary and allowances will be paid, but the costs of the additional language training period will not be paid. 

If the student fails to reach the language level mandated for accomplishing the research project during this second three-month period, he/she has the right to extend the period for a third three-month period, but the salary and allowances will not be paid during this period. If the student cannot afford the costs of additional training and upkeep, then the contract will be terminated. Since the student may not continue in the scientific program, he/she will return to the Kurdistan Region and may not again apply for doctoral work.   

The steps for learning the English language also apply to programs that involve other languages in non- English speaking countries, if the study and research are in English in these countries. As for the non-English speaking countries, if the study is in a language other than English, the student should learn the language of the country which allows him or her to perform the required scientific research. Learning the country’s language is a fundamental condition and the funding will be specified and written in the dossier of the doctoral program and approved by the supervisor, council of the respective department as well as the college council.  

Third Stage (Performing the Research Abroad) second year: 

After completing linguistic training, the student begins the scientific research in the special laboratories with the external supervisor. The time period for performing the research abroad is a minimum of one year, capable of being extended to a second year, if necessary, upon approval of two supervisors and the respective departmens. During the first year the KRG will bear all expenses, such including salaries, allowances and study fees. 

• To extend the period of research for an additional year requires the approval of two supervisors and the respective departmens. The salary and allowance will be paid to the student for this time period with the exemption of study fees.
• An extension for an additional six months may be obtained with the approval of two supervisors and the college council. Applicable salaries and allowances will be paid to the student with the exemption of study fees, however.
• Depending on the needs of research, the student may return to his university in the Kurdistan after spending six months in the laboratories of his external supervisor in order to collect samples/data to complete the required research. Afterward, he/she may return to the department of the external supervisor to perform the pertinent experiment(s). The student may also begin his/her research at his/her university in the Kurdistan Region and finish the research in his/her external supervisor’s department. This will be coordinated by the student and his/her supervisors. This contingency should be mentioned in the research plan, in which case the financing and spending during this contingency phase would be covered within the specified budget of the project.      
• The student is expected to submit a progress report after each six-month period of research once admitted to candidacy and annually thereafter until completion of the doctorate.
• The annual report is to be evaluated by the supervisor and the external evaluator.
• If the student fails to pass any of these stages of performance, he/she may not continue in the doctoral program.
• The evaluation results and opinion of the two supervisors are to be sent in an official report to the council of the respective department of the home university and a copy of this report is to be filed in the student’s personal dossier.
• At this stage of the doctoral program the internal supervisor will make a supervisory visit of two weeks’ duration to the laboratories related to the external supervisor. The purpose of this visit is to discover the student’s progress in research and to aid the student in handling any difficulties he/she may be facing.

Fourth Stage: Returning to the home institution (3rd & 4th year): 

In this stage the student returns to the Kurdistan Region and continues performing his/her research, writing progress reports every six months. The writing of the thesis begins at this time as well. The external supervisor undertakes to visit the student at least twice during this stage (for a minimum of one week for each visit) to check on the progress of the student’s writing and laboratory work. The expense of these visits will be itemized in the research plan of the project and approved in advance.   

• The external supervisor and evaluator evaluate the annual reports during this stage. If the student fails in any of these stages of reporting, he/she will not be allowed to continue the study.
• At the end of this stage the student submits his thesis to the scientific department of the university, to be examined by the internal and external examiners (selected earlier by the supervisors).
• The two examiners submit their pre-exam evaluation separately to the scientific department one week before the viva voce. After the viva a detailed report about the progress of the work, the student's performance during viva will be submitted.
• The student may complete this doctoral work after a minimum of two-and-a-half-years, if feasible. 
• There may be legitimate reasons (e.g., medical issue or disease) for a student to extend the time period for six months to complete the doctoral work. This requires the approval of two supervisors and the college council. In this case the student’s salary continues, but the two supervisors receive no allowances.

Concluding remarks 

The result of restructuring the system of admission to, pursuit of and the granting of Ph.D. degrees is to connect the scientific research community of the Kurdistan Region to the academic community in the rest of the modern world. The goal of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research is to connect all departments, colleges and universities in the Kurdistan Region with prominent research centres and advanced universities abroad that have achieved reputations of scholarly excellence. The New System for the granting of Ph.D. degrees in the Kurdistan Region is an important component of the Ministry’s overall strategy to raise the quality of scientific research in the Kurdistan Region. By bringing Higher Education in the Kurdistan Region into the realm of accepted scholarship, recognised by the international academic community, we will be able to build and develop the Kurdistan Region while producing experts that will make us competitive in the international marketplace as well as in the laboratory.