The Swedish Higher Education Authority (UKÄ) has released the result of its first evaluation of a new quality assurance scheme. Licentiate and doctoral degrees in veterinary medicine at SLU are rated "high quality".
The education fulfils all the quality requirements, and the report from UKÄ emphasises the depth and breadth of the programmes, the high-quality research environment and the very well established national and international research networks.
The quality assurance scheme at SLU systemtically goes through all aspects of the programmes, and the doctoral students are well prepared for working life. Doctoral students are offered seats on all preparatory and decision-making bodies related to their education.
Proposals for development areas include a systematic follow-up of the development of supervisors' teaching skills. SLU should also consider introducing more compulsory basic courses and reviewing the design of individual study plans.
This is the first published result of UKÄ's new evaluation of quality in doctoral programmes. In total, one third of all doctoral programmes in Sweden will be evaluated by UKÄ, that is about 100 programmes.
– The good result is due to all our staff workingto raise the quality of doctoral programmes. Sometimes the supervisors think we have a lot of rules, but the aim is to offer the doctoral students the support they need. I would like to thank all who have contributed to writing the self-assessment and collecting all the documenation needed, says Vice Dean Lena Lidfors, responsible for doctoral education and equal opportunities at the VH Faculty, as well as the main coordinator of the evaluation work.