Last week in The Australian, Australian National University economics professors Bruce Chapman and Rabee Tourky reignited a debate about a levy on international student tuition revenue (“Universities should pay levy on ‘foreign student industry’ ”, 15/11).
PhD by practice must have a practical application
INSIGHTS & RESOURCES
PhD by practice must have a practical application
The Australian
4 April 2018
Key Takeaways:
- PhD by practice requires practical application along with contributing to knowledge.
- Tom Spurling advocates for this approach, emphasizing its position in Pasteur’s quadrant.
- The program allows professionals to pursue a PhD relevant to their employer’s problems.
- Students receive research training and work on solving real business issues while completing a traditional thesis.
Scroll down to read the full article below…
Full Article:
When a student does a PhD by practice they have to make a contribution to knowledge but there must also be a practical application.
Tom Spurling, a practitioner of traditional scientific research, a one-time head of the CSIRO’s division of chemicals and polymers, and later a CSIRO board member, is a leading advocate.
He points out that the PhD by practice sits in Pasteur’s quadrant, a term invented by author Donald Stokes as a way of illustrating the benefits from a researcher such as Louis Pasteur whose work bridged the gap between basic research (such as Niels Bohr’s work in atomic physics) and applied research (like that of inventor Thomas Edison).
Source: Donald Stokes
Professor Spurling, now a part-time professor of innovation studies at Swinburne University, plays a role in supervising many of the students in the PhD by practice program.
“Many jobs in the public service or in companies require the employees to do some research on a topic,” he said
“The university realises they have a lot of graduates who have been involved in research in their jobs. So they devised a program to take in these students to do a PhD on a problem that is relevant to their employer.”
The students are trained in research methods, which they might not be familiar with if they have only completed a bachelor degree, and the remainder of their PhD involves their research and a normal thesis. The difference is that their research is directed to solving a key business problem.
Tom Spurling is president of the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies and a senior coach with Research Coaching Australia
For several weeks, those interested in higher education have been contemplating the interim report of the Universities Accord review. The report makes many insightful and far-reaching observations. Undoubtedly it will be a turning point for important aspects of the educational offerings within our public universities.
It’s now virtually certain that the South Australian Legislative Council, the state’s upper house, will initiate a parliamentary inquiry into the planned merger of the state’s two largest universities.