UK Considering 'Rebranded' PhD

The PhD turned 150 last year, but its future could soon be called into question - in the UK at least.

The government is pressing ahead with a wide-ranging programme of higher education reforms and it now seems that a shake-up of postgraduate research qualifications could also be on the cards.

The news comes amidst major changes to funding for postgraduate training, with Research Councils UK now managed by a new body - UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) - and student loan support due to be introduced for doctoral degrees later this year. However, Brexit also looms large over these proposals, as it does over so much of the current policy landscape.

A spokesperson for the Department for Education provided the following context for the plans:

First of all, it's important to recognise that these proposals are at a very early stage. In fact, you might say that we're currently conducting our 'literature review'. Secondly, our aim here is to celebrate what's great about UK higher education. We have some of the best universities in the world here and the qualifications they award have always been internationally renowned and respected.

The UK PhD is a prime example of this. What we have now is a very distinctive qualification. Our doctorates are designed for highly capable candidates, prepared to tackle independent research almost from the get-go: much sooner than in North America - or, indeed, in many European systems.

Yet, the doctoral degrees these institutions are awarding are, on paper at least, more or less indistinguishable from those granted in other parts of the world. We have a lot of respect for the PhD, but we feel it's right to ask whether a qualification originally developed in nineteenth-century Germany should really reflect the pinnacle of excellence achieved at universities in twenty-first century Britain.

Exact details of what might replace the PhD are yet to be confirmed, but it's understood that structure and content will be broadly similar, with the qualification continuing to focus on roughly three to four years of independent research, culminating in the submission and defence of an original thesis.

What will change, however, is the name of the degree. Instead of the PhD ('Doctor of Philosophy') UK universities will award the PDE (Doctor of the British Empire). Logistical issues mean that certificates for the new PDE may need to be printed in France. However, they will be blue.

Further details of the PDE are subject to confirmation - and lengthy public consultation - but the following proposals have all been mooted:

• Instead of being referred to as 'Doctor', graduates of the new PDE will be titled 'Sir' or 'Madame'. Existing Knights and Dames are to have PDE qualifications automatically conferred.
• Accelerated PDE qualifications may also be offered. Candidates will undergo an immediate viva, followed by a written 'reflection' on the experience; supervisors will be replaced by professional counsellors.
• Viva voce examinations for the standard PDE may take place on a specially designed offshore facility. International partners could potentially be involved in the delivery of programmes at new branch campuses.

Finally, we can confirm that FindAPhD.com will also be rebranded to reflect this momentous change. Our new FindAPDE.com website is expected to be live in a year's time, on April Fool's Day 2019.