Heads of LIS Departments
Dear Colleague,
Impact of Doctoral Research in LIS
As you may be aware, we have recently been carrying out research,
funded by the BL Research and Innovation Centre, into the impact
of doctoral research supported by the scheme formerly operated
by the Department for Education and Employment.
This work is almost finished, but I would like to collect, if
possible, the observations of Heads of Departments on the value
of the scheme, and of individual holders of research awards at
their institutions, to complete the assessment.
I am attaching, therefore, a brief questionnaire which I hope
you will find time to complete. If there are issues relating
to the scheme (now operated by the Humanities Research Board),
or to specific benefits not covered by the questionnaire, on which
you would like to comment, please do so in a covering letter.
My apologies for inflicting this upon you at a rather difficult
time of year, but, these days, almost any time is a difficult
time of year! Yours sincerely, Professor Tom Wilson, Ph.D.
The impact and value of the DfEE Ph.D. studentships
1. How many Ph.D. studentships (under the DfEE
scheme) were awarded to your Department/School in the
academic years 1981/82 to 1996/97? ________________
2. How many of these have resulted, to date, in
completion of the Ph.D.? _________________
3. How many are still registered and in process of
completing their degrees? _________________
4. Have you appointed any of your own former Ph.D. students to academic
staff positions in your Department? If so, please give their names and
current positions:
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
5. Have you appointed any former Ph.D. students of other Departments or
Schools of LIS to academic staff positions in your Department? If so,
please give their names and current positions:
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
6. Have you appointed any of your own former Ph.D. students to research
staff positions in your Department? If so, please give their names and
current positions:
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
7. Have you appointed any former Ph.D. students of other Departments or
Schools of LIS to research staff positions in your Department? If so,
please give their names and current positions:
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
8. Were any of those listed under 4 to 7 above returned, under any
category, to the 1996 Research Assessment Exercise? If so, please give
their names:
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
7. Have any of those listed under 4 or 5 been responsible for significant
innovations in degree programmes or in the development of successful
research proposals? If so, please describe, briefly, the nature of their
contribution and your assessment of its value:
8. Please comment on any other benefits you feel that the Ph.D. awards have
for your Department/School and/or any problems you experience in, e.g.,
supervision, or in the conduct of the awards scheme:
Thank you for your help in completing this
questionnaire.
Prof. Tom Wilson
Mary Dykstra Lynch and T.D. Wilson ©British Library Board 1997