Editorial: PhD training is no longer fit for purpose — it needs reform now
https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781800080188Too often, PhD training is still, at least conceptually, organized as it was after its development in and subsequent export from mid-nineteenth-century Germany. At that time, young scholars were attached to individual professors in a master–apprentice relationship, with the objective of safeguarding and advancing knowledge in individual disciplines.
That cannot continue if the next generation of scholars is to meet society’s demands. There needs to be a revolution in the organization and funding of PhD training. And it must be on a similar scale to the shake-up that took place when school and university education stopped being a privilege enjoyed by relatively small numbers of people — those with wealth, or those training for occupations such as politics, religion or teaching.
Reforming PhD training will be like turning a tanker. It will be slow. It will require planning and resources. But the end result must be a transformation on a massive scale, just as happened when primary, secondary and university education was reformed. If our leaders want scientists to work harder for society, they, in turn, need to work with research to ensure that PhD training finally exits the nineteenth century and joins the twenty-first.
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