Policy for the PhD education at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Purpose: The Faculty offers a postgraduate research program for candidates with a pharmaceutical or related degree. Candidates complete their PhD program with a research profile matching one of the scholarship areas of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences. The program's academic standard must match the standard of international PhD programs. The capacity of the PhD education should be such that candidates are available to fill positions both in the primary and the secondary health sectors, at universities, including the Faculty, in the pharmaceutical industry and other sectors.
Organisation: The Academic Council at the Faculty designates scholarship areas for PhD projects. The Scholarship Committee and the PhD Committee are responsible for the PhD program jointly with the PhD Administration. Some of the PhD programs are organised by the Drug Research Academy (DRA), a research academy catering to the pharmaceutical industry.
Projects: The PhD projects at the Faculty will often constitute pure research. These projects may be collaborative research projects involving other research institutions and/or private enterprises. Some PhD programs are organised under the DRA and include the following elements: 1) studies of at least three months' duration at a pharmaceutical company, 2) compulsory attendance of taught PhD courses within drug research and 3) a co-supervisor from the pharmaceutical industry.
Selection of scholarship candidates: The Scholarship Committee recommends candidates for PhD scholarships to the Dean/The Board of DRA. Recommendations are based on an overall assessment of each candidate's master's degree, the average degree grade, the relevancy of his or her thesis and the thesis grade, any articles accepted for publication, further training and experience and on the comments and priorities of the supervisors.
PhD plan: The students must set out their entire PhD program in a study plan called a PhD plan. The PhD plan must be submitted to the PhD Committee for approval. A PhD plan must contain a description of the student's project and the courses he or she plans to complete. It must also include training activities involving communication and dissemination of knowledge and participation in other research environments. The PhD project should have a clear pharmaceutical content and the group of supervisors must have academic expertise within the project area. The main supervisor must be carrying out active research at an international level within the research area. To ensure that all these requirements are met, all project proposals as well as the individual supervisors must be approved by the Faculty's Scholarship Committee/PhD Committee. PhD plans submitted by DRA scholarship students are subject to the approval of the DRA's Board.
Courses: The PhD Committee is responsible for ensuring that the PhD courses offered have a high academic level. PhD students may also follow PhD courses offered by other research institutions both in Denmark and abroad, just as PhD students from other research institutions may follow PhD courses at the Faculty. Courses are conducted in English if one or more students are not native speakers of one of the Nordic languages. The PhD Committee ensures that the academic standard and extension of the PhD program of each individual PhD student are adequate.
Internationalisation: At the Faculty, PhD programs usually include studies at a foreign research institution, typically for six months. Most PhD students will also participate in one of the ULLA summer schools, which the universities in Uppsala, Leiden, London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Paris take turns to arrange. By virtue of its status as a Marie Curie Training Site the Faculty offers study stays for PhD students enrolled at a European university.
Evaluation: The PhD degree is conferred upon the recommendation of the Assessment Committee, which consists of one member who is employed by the Faculty and two external members, who may well be foreign researchers.
