Graduate school is facing a new reform.
What do I think about the reform of Russian graduate school announced by RAS President Alexander Sergeev. Indeed, it is necessary to reduce the number of non-core lectures and classes. In most cases, such hours are given to someone who has the greatest lobbying power at a particular university. They usually have nothing to do with the scientific activities of graduate students. But the introduction of compulsory writing of a scientific paper based on the results of training raises questions. Previously, Education Minister Olga Vasilyeva even spoke about mandatory protection of these works (it is quite possible that in the end this tougher option will win). In other words, what is the meaning of such obligation? After all, in the past, only those who either did not have time (often did not want, being distracted by more important matters) to do anything, or who themselves assessed the quality of their dissertation extremely low, did not come forward for defense. Why force graduate students and their supervisors to imitate scientific activity, take up time from experts, torment the dissertation council, etc.? It would be much easier to evaluate those whose graduate students successfully defended themselves by the quality of the work they completed, because measuring the success of scientists and universities by the number of defenses has already led to sad consequences for the scientific community, which even the tireless Dissernet cannot cope with.
It is also not entirely clear how graduate students will be forced to submit their work? They cannot fire them from anywhere, nor threaten them with expulsion from graduate school, because by refusing to come forward to defend themselves, they themselves are admitting that their choice in favor of graduate school was unsuccessful. Postgraduate Diploma in modern conditions it does not matter. So what - they will bring censure to work book? Will they post photos of the offenders on the “wall of shame” on the university website? Will they be blacklisted by the Ministry of Education? Will they issue a fine? Will they be forced to compensate the state for the money spent on them? Or will all sanctions affect only scientific leaders? But this is a kind of shifting of responsibility from one to another. Graduate students are not small children to force their supervisors through a whip policy to help their students write more work than formal rules and common sense require.
Increasing the time of study in graduate school from 3 to 6 years also seems to me to be a harmful, archaic proposal. Now that life has accelerated significantly, spending an extra 3 years writing a dissertation is a luxury no one needs. And the dissertations themselves, in my opinion, have long become archaic. Perhaps it is necessary to award academic degrees based on the totality of scientific works and the contribution of a particular person to science. Abolish the division between candidates and doctors of science, and, instead, simply recognize that a person is a qualified scientist in a specific field of knowledge. And then his reputation will depend on how his work will be assessed by various scientific communities and organizations. We have a myriad of hierarchical systems and all kinds of fennecs. Complex, branched hierarchies are present in every university, academy, institute, public organization. But all these titles, orders and honorary awards, as a rule, have nothing to do with science.
The Ministry of Education and Science has prepared a plan for the reform of one of the most traditional forms of education post-Soviet space– postgraduate studies. It is not surprising - at the moment, only a third of graduate students defend their PhD theses, while others use their status for completely different purposes. How exactly is it proposed to reform graduate school and what is the expected result?
The day before, the Ministry of Education and Science was considering options for reforming graduate school. According to the authors of the reform, innovations will help level out a number of negative aspects that Russians applying for an academic degree are forced to face.
Today, a university graduate with a master's or bachelor's degree can enroll in graduate school, having previously passed the candidate's minimum. During three years of study he is required to write scientific work in their specialty, publish at least two scientific articles in specialized journals, collect documents for admission to defense, conduct at least 50 hours of teaching work. Each of the points carries difficulties and risks, which is why only 30% of those admitted to graduate school are ready to defend their dissertation.
“I don’t know a single graduate student who was able to write a scientific paper in three years, despite the graduate plan. After three years, the applicant received a certificate from the institute, which extended the period of study, candidate of historical sciences Alexander Chausov told the newspaper VZGLYAD. – In addition, it was impossible to immediately defend a scientific work; there was a waiting list of applicants on dissertation councils. But even after the defense, I had to wait a long time for official documents confirming my academic degree.”
As a result, graduate school often becomes a screen behind which young people hide from military service. And even those who sincerely wanted to connect their lives with science, encountering obstacles over and over again, give up the idea of getting a scientific degree.
Representatives of the scientific community explain this by saying that the result often does not justify the effort expended:
“A university teacher (PhD) earns less than a middle manager, especially in the regions. Therefore, often being in graduate school has nothing to do with motivation to defend a dissertation. The pedagogical component in graduate school also, of course, seems like an unnecessary element to me, all this need to be distracted from your research by assignments and tests,” says Doctor of Philology, Head of the Department of Journalism at Novgorod state university named after Yaroslav the Wise Tatyana Kaminskaya.
In her opinion, the three-stage education system (bachelor’s, master’s and postgraduate studies) did not justify itself, since all three stages have little connection with each other:
“I had several graduate students who, having written one chapter and one article for the VAK journal (Higher Attestation Commission - approx. VIEW), at this stage quit the race, realizing that these efforts of one year are only a quarter of what is required . And no one guarantees them advancement at the university or employment at all.
As a result, at our university average age 40 years is a very good indicator, and for many departments it is unattainable. Those who remain are either science fanatics, or those who managed to defend themselves back in Soviet times or the 90s, when there was no such formalism and red tape.”
The "Golden Age" of Soviet graduate school
Postgraduate studies as a form of training highly qualified specialists arose in the RSFSR in 1925, and in the 1930s it spread to universities and research institutes of the USSR, when the country was building new system training of scientific and teaching personnel. Graduate school accepted specialists with higher education who had worked in their specialty for at least two years. The age of applicants was at least 35 years, and the state gave two to three years to write and defend a scientific work. During this time, the graduate student received a decent stipend, comparable to salaries in large industry.
In the post-war period Soviet authority proclaimed the training of scientific personnel a fundamental principle of the state. Until the 60s, resolutions were adopted to improve the training and certification of specialists, the standards of dissertation work were raised, and institutes and universities were encouraged to train highly qualified personnel. All this contributed to the fact that since the 60s, postgraduate education in the USSR has been on the rise: in 1968, over 96 thousand people were studying in graduate school.
However, after the collapse Soviet Union prestige scientific degree fell sharply, it ceased to be a sign of elitism. Postgraduate students and doctors could work for an idea and with a ghostly prospect of salary, remaining in universities and research institutes, leaving for more profitable areas or going abroad. Eventually
period from 1995 to 2012 in the scientific community it is called the “graduate bubble” - and is considered an outright failure in the university postgraduate system.
The high requirements for a candidate for an academic degree remained virtually at the same level. However, time, sufficient financial support from the state, and individual assistance from the scientific community are often not enough.
Graduate students from the former Soviet republics face even greater difficulties, since their own scientific base is often insufficient, and the percentage of those who defend their dissertation is even lower there. For example, in Belarus in 2014, out of 1,148 graduate students, only 67 successfully defended their defense.
Experts from the Ministry of Education and Science have been talking about the need for reforms in this area for a long time: the head of the department, Olga Vasilyeva, that the Ministry of Education and Science proposes to return the mandatory defense of dissertations for graduate students, is discussing the possibility of increasing the duration of graduate school from three to five years and dividing it into two stages.
“There are several different scenarios. The scientific community and the university and professional community must choose the most adequate and most modern model postgraduate studies. It can be two-level or two-stage,” says Deputy Head of the Ministry of Education and Science Grigory Trubnikov.
He explained that when such a scenario is implemented, the first stage, which will last two to three years, involves three traditional exams: specialty, foreign language and, possibly, philosophy, as well as a qualifying exam based on the results of training. “And this graduate school is entirely financed from the budget, that is, it budget places", noted Trubnikov.
The second stage, he said, will also last two or three years and will be a specialization in a specific field of science in which graduate students are going to defend their PhD work. In this case, a graduate student can receive a scholarship both from budget funds and through the grant system.
“I completely agree with Trubnikov. State postgraduate studies must necessarily end with a candidate's dissertation.
Now the percentage of protection is extremely small. The state spends huge amounts of money on training highly qualified personnel, but the protection of a graduate student depends only on the strong-willed qualities of his supervisor, the diligence and intelligence of the graduate student himself,”
– Vice-Rector for Research of the Far Eastern Federal University, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Kirill Golokhvast told the newspaper VZGLYAD.
According to the deputy minister, the reform assumes that upon completion of the first level of postgraduate study, a young scientist will be required to defend a qualifying thesis, which will be a kind of analogue of a PhD degree in foreign universities (PhD is an analogue of the Russian candidate of sciences, an academic degree awarded by universities in most countries - approx. . SIGHT).
Trubnikov proposes to discuss the mutual recognition of a qualifying diploma, which would be similar to a foreign PhD diploma. Professor Kirill Golokhvast emphasized that a Russian candidate of science degree is automatically recognized throughout the world by the scientific community.
The crisis post-perestroika period in the Russian scientific community is being overcome step by step, but it is far from a second “golden age,” experts say. However, the state is no longer ready to let the postgraduate education system take its course and, along with rights, gives graduate students more responsibilities. Leaving high standards quality of dissertation research, the Ministry of Education and Science may, as part of the reform, remove bureaucratic and teaching responsibilities from graduate students. Increased scholarships and grants will allow graduate students to think less about their personal budget. In this way, time will be freed up for writing a scientific work, and a young scientist, if he really intends to engage in science and not procrastinate, will no longer have objective reasons not to defend his dissertation.
Soon, postgraduate studies may leave the education system and return to their usual field of science, and defending a dissertation at the end of the postgraduate period will again become mandatory. This was discussed at a joint meeting of the Council of the Russian Union of Rectors (RUR) and the presidium held this week Russian Academy Sciences (RAN) said the head of the Ministry of Education and Science Olga Vasilyeva.
Today, almost everyone knows that the situation with domestic graduate school is more than unfavorable. Only every fourth or even fifth graduate student defends their dissertation on time, while about half do not defend it at all.
However, according to the new law, this is not necessary: graduate school has become a stage of education, and a graduate student is not a scientific researcher, as before, but a student. And the latter’s job, as Lenin wrote, is “to study, study and study.” And so they poured into graduate school training courses, test papers, exams, lectures, seminars... Where can I write dissertations - today's graduate students simply do not have time for this. And then there are the meager scholarships that force the vast majority of graduate students to get a job. There is no other way, because many graduate students already have families...
The impasse in which the system of training domestic highly qualified personnel finds itself requires its immediate reform, the acting director has no doubt. President of the RAS Valery Kozlov: “We need to make a serious decision!” - he said to the approving roar of rectors and academicians.
The Ministry of Education and Science, as it turns out, is ready for postgraduate education reform. “Already this year, we propose, firstly, to cancel accreditation for postgraduate programs (it was the need for accreditation that became the reason for a sharp, several-fold reduction in enrollment in postgraduate studies at academic institutions that, unlike universities, are not familiar with this practice - ROSVUZ). Second, return priority to postgraduate research. Thirdly, return the obligation to defend dissertations,” said Minister of Education and Science Olga Vasilyeva. “In addition, we propose to extend the period of scientific research to 5 years.” And after 2018, try to carry out a general reform, for the preparation of which a working group should be created now.”
Rectors of universities and members of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, having heard the minister’s statement, breathed a sigh of relief: “Graduate studies must return to their previous state,” Kozlov expressed the general opinion.
However, the graduate students themselves were happy about the upcoming changes. Moreover, the return of mandatory protection does not frighten them at all, Denis Fomin, co-chairman of the public association “AAA” or the Autonomous Association of Postgraduate Students, assured ROSVUZ:
“The overwhelming majority of us who went to graduate school to do scientific work, and not hide from the army! But there is practically no science in graduate school now: it’s all classes and exams. Yes, we went through all this while still in graduate school! But now I want not theory, but practical scientific work, I want to learn the practical skills of a researcher. Unfortunately, there is none of this, and many of us, even those who fell into best universities, terribly disappointed. Well, why was it necessary to destroy the good things we had? The old system must be returned. And if the period allotted for research actually increases to 5 years, it will be very good. It’s easier for postgraduate students in the humanities: if you push them, they can complete their dissertations in 3-4 years. And for techies, the experimental base is always slow. This process is very long: it is precisely because of the experiments that many of us do not have time to defend ourselves on time,” he explained to ROSVUZ.
2018 2 interviews were published with the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Sergeev, about the imminent reform of graduate school and the introduction of mandatory defense for graduate students. Then we did not comment on the words of the head of the RAS until all the details were clarified. Now, thanks to our sources, we have the opportunity to find out the details and analyze them.
1. Dates for the start and implementation of the reform
In 2017 We have already written about the draft Federal Law “On Scientific, Scientific, Technical and Innovative Activities in the Russian Federation,” which provides for mandatory defense upon completion of graduate school. This draft Federal Law was supposed to be adopted in 2018, but was postponed to 2019. It is the adoption of this Federal Law that will mark the beginning of the reform of graduate school. The head of the Russian Academy of Sciences speaks about it in particular in his interviews. Our sources confirm that defense for graduate students will become mandatory until November-December 2019 at the latest. If the draft Federal Law is adopted before the end of March, then already in September 2019. After this, within 1-2 years you should expect updates to GOSTs relating to graduate schools.
2. Consequences of the introduction of mandatory defense for graduate students.
It is already clear that the introduction of a mandatory defense will only bring a relatively guaranteed defense to some graduate students. It is worth paying attention to the fact that in his interview the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences speaks specifically about the percentage of graduate students who defended their defenses, and not about the increase in the number of defenses. According to him, the main goal of the reform is to increase the percentage of those who defended themselves by at least 1.25 times, and those who submitted for defense by at least two times by the end of 2024. Which is quite understandable by the fact that an increase in the number of defenses themselves is impossible, primarily due to the expected reduction in the number of postgraduate students against the backdrop of a reduction in the number of postgraduate courses (the presence of postgraduate studies at a university will be conditioned by the presence of a dissertation council, similar to doctoral studies). Also, do not forget about the policy of the Ministry of Education and Science to reduce the number of dissertations. councils up to 1200-1300 at the end of 2019 (as part of optimizing the network of dissertation councils and the transition of a certain number of universities to their own degrees), and tightening the responsibility of the remaining ones (New regulations on the council for the defense of dissertations). Therefore, if now out of 90 thousand graduate students only 12% defend their defense, then after the reform the number of graduate students will decrease significantly, but the percentage of those defending their defense will actually be higher. In this regard, we should also expect a deterioration in the situation of job seekers. First of all, because the percentage of defenses among graduate students can actually be increased only by reducing the percentage of defenses among applicants (which is still extremely low). The ability of councils to allow “outsiders” to participate in the defense will also be noticeably reduced. It is important to understand that dissertation councils are now placed in conditions under which they cannot significantly increase the number of defenses without being suspected of putting defenses on stream. Suspicions that the council has become a “dissertation factory”, as practice shows, leads to its fairly rapid closure. There are exceptions, but they relate mainly to dissertation councils southern regions Russia, whose activities are still viewed rather loyally. This does not guarantee that those who are there will be protected from scandals and reputational costs. When discussing the consequences of introducing mandatory protection for graduate students and applicants, one cannot fail to mention that this will significantly affect the increase in costs. It is obvious that universities will raise the official tuition/attachment fees due to the fact that the number of graduate schools and councils will be noticeably reduced. As for free places in graduate schools, we should expect their reduction. If, of course, they will be available at all to the average graduate student (why - see paragraph 4) With the growth of official ones, unofficial costs will also increase. In conditions significantly limited opportunity defend, as well as increasing the risks for dissertation councils, the applicant will be forced to either pay for assistance in working on the dissertation and defense, or work out the very opportunity to defend. We have been observing this practice for a long time, but in the new conditions it is likely to become even more widespread. All the consequences considered will undoubtedly contribute to growing interest in universities’ own degrees. Which in turn will increase the cost of obtaining university degrees. Especially from among the top five or ten, who are already able to compete to some extent with ordinary degrees. At the same time, you need to understand that the status of your own degrees will still be somewhat lower. The difficulty of obtaining conventional degrees significantly increases their status. To overcome this situation, a complete abandonment of state degrees is required. However, this will definitely not happen in the next 5-6 years. The policy of the Ministry of Education and Science over the past 6 years has clearly been aimed at reducing the number of citizens receiving degrees from the state, but not at completely abandoning degrees.
It is important to note: The introduction of mandatory defense will apply only to graduate students who enter graduate school after the entry into force of the new Federal Law. As for graduate students who entered graduate schools before the entry into force of the new Federal Law and applicants, then if theywill not have time to defend their defense before 2020-2021, they will also begin to feel the effect of the postgraduate reform because By this time, GOST will be changed and not only the new Federal Law will influence the activities of graduate schools and dissertation councils.
3. Increasing the duration of postgraduate studies to 5-6 years and reducing the educational load on postgraduate students
According to our sources, we can indeed expect an increase in the duration of postgraduate studies. This will happen as soon as the new GOST, which the head of the RAS speaks about, comes into force. Those. in 2020-2021 First of all, this will concern technical and natural science specialties. For these specialties, the period will most likely be increased to 6 years. The possibility of establishing a minimum five-year training period for other specialties is also now being considered. The exact list of specialties will become known in 2020. At the same time, it is planned to reduce the educational load on graduate students to “increase time for doing science.” However, in fact, this will simply lead to the “spreading out” of the graduate program for an additional 1-2 years. The positive effect of these innovations will be appreciated only by graduate students who do not want to join the army. For other categories of potential graduate students, this will make graduate school much less attractive and they will look for other ways to obtain an academic degree. First of all, this is a job search. What will happen in turn additional factor an increase in the official cost of applying to universities, as well as unofficial defense costs.
4. The introduction of grants for postgraduate studies and salaries for postgraduate students as an actual refusal of free postgraduate places
According to our data, the introduction of grants for postgraduate studies is practically resolved. In 2020-2021 they will be entered. The purpose of their introduction is to provide the opportunity for free education in graduate schools only to persons developing important for the state and organizations scientific topics. Moreover, capable of bringing training to its logical conclusion. Those. before defending a dissertation. In this review, we will not write about possible abuses in the provision of grants; we will only note that this in itself can become an insurmountable barrier to free education for the majority. In fact, it is proposed (and this is what Sergeev is talking about) that a potential graduate student will have to find a supervisor, decide on a topic and graduate school (and also agree there). Then, together with the manager, submit an application for a grant, receive it, and only after that he will be able to receive the opportunity for free training. If the graduate student ultimately does not defend his defense, he will not fulfill the conditions of the grant. In this case, the question of a refund will most likely arise. In other words, getting the opportunity to study in graduate school for free will become either practically impossible for the average person or risky.
Also, the introduction of salaries for graduate students may have a rather negative result. It is not without reason that the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences says that it may make sense to provide the opportunity to open postgraduate schools (with free seats) only to universities that can provide salaries for graduate students at least in the first years of study. How many such universities are there? Most likely very little. This measure is currently being discussed and many recognize it as highly controversial. Most likely it will not be introduced in the coming years. However, even if everything is limited to grants, there will actually be no free places in graduate schools. Education in postgraduate schools will become almost entirely paid.
5. Conclusion.
In conclusion, I would like to note the following: Unfortunately, the reform of graduate school, which will begin this year, will mainly only bring additional difficulties to graduate students and applicants.. As the reform progresses, by 2020-2021. Postgraduate studies will become virtually completely free for applicants. And the cost and duration of training in them will increase. Unofficial costs for graduate students and job seekers will also increase. Once again we would like to emphasize that the main goal of the reform is not to increase the number of protections, but to increase its percentage. The number of graduate students and applicants will only decrease. Therefore, if your goal is to obtain a PhD degree, you should already negotiate with a specific dissertation council and, if possible, speed up the defense. if you have necessary connections, then they are worth using. After the development of new GOSTs and as the deadline for the defense of graduate students from reformed graduate schools approaches, it will become increasingly problematic to defend. Both for graduate students who completed their postgraduate studies according to the old rules, and for applicants. If you are determined to enroll in graduate school, then it makes sense to enroll only after the new Federal Law comes into force. At the same time, you must be prepared to spend at least 5 years on this and incur significant expenses throughout this period. If you have a supervisor who can help you get a grant for free training, then in this case you must be absolutely sure that you have the necessary strength and time to bring everything to its logical conclusion.
In particular, training will be extended and time for scientific work will increase. It’s not easy to be a graduate student in Russia: you have to spend time on part-time work and not on science. There are those who even go to study abroad. Will reform help?
The head of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexander Sergeev, announced the reform of graduate school. He proposes to extend the studies there to 5-6 years, while reducing the number of lectures and increasing the number of hours for scientific work. Defense of a candidate's dissertation will also become mandatory; now it is optional. Plus, in the first years of graduate school, it would be possible to introduce special measures of financial support for graduate students, the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences believes.
“Humanities” students now study in graduate school for three years, “naturalists” for four. Many nonresidents go to graduate school for the sake of the hostel. Some young people are trying to evade the army - those who have defended their Ph.D. are not conscripted. There are also those who dream of a career as a teacher or scientist - without graduate school you cannot defend a candidate’s dissertation. But it is impossible to live on a graduate student’s stipend—the national average is no more than 10 thousand rubles.
Irina Abankina Director of the Institute for Educational Development, State University Higher School of Economics“Very many universities, if they accept students, do not limit themselves only to scholarships, but also to enrollment on an internal part-time basis. research fellows, and they actually pay remuneration for work in scientific research, in scientific projects."
The previous reform took place two years ago. Postgraduate studies were turned into a continuation of the bachelor's - master's degree system. The number of subjects has increased, because of this, the time to write a candidate’s dissertation has become much less, and it may become mandatory, complains MSU graduate student Maxim. At the same time, you have to earn extra money. He has a job at a museum with a salary of 20 thousand, plus he leads private excursions around Moscow, but this is only during the warm season. Many of his friends make a living by tutoring. There is no need to talk about support for scientific projects, says Maxim:
Maksim graduate student of the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University“There is a grant system, but it is extremely difficult to get a grant, and it is a huge responsibility in terms of reporting. After all, already established scientists apply for grants, but this is not so easy for graduate students, only if the supervisor is involved in this. There are more different additional subjects in addition to the main ones for which exams are taken candidate minimum. You feel a little like a resident of Kafka’s world, who walks somewhere towards the castle for a long time, but along the way something distracts him all the time. If they cut that down, that would be great.”
Reducing the number of lectures could harm both students and teachers, believes Ilya Utekhin, a professor at the Faculty of Anthropology at the European University, which now exists as a research center in St. Petersburg:
Ilya Utekhin Professor, Faculty of Anthropology, European University“If we allow initiatives, when the scientific community itself organizes something new and allows graduate school to be truly educational, then we will really overcome the lag in the field of science and in the field of higher and most higher education, which is clearly evident now when comparing Russia and developed countries.”
Business FM spoke with those who went to graduate school abroad. Diana Grishina, a graduate of the physics department of Moscow State University in 2013, dreamed of connecting her life with Russian science. But with the prospect of receiving approximately six thousand rubles a month in graduate school, Diana understood that she would have to sacrifice science. She started looking online for offers abroad. Her work in the field of creating three-dimensional photonic crystals from silicon interested Dutch scientists. In many European countries, a graduate student can live peacefully without a part-time job, continues Diana Grishina:
Diana Grishina postgraduate student, graduate of the physics department of Moscow State University“You are hired as a “young scientist”, you have a contract for four years with a fixed salary, there are no lectures, you only teach students yourself sometimes, but at the end you are expected to write a dissertation. When graduate students are recruited, the group already has funding that it won as a grant, that is, it cannot be that the money has run out, there is nothing more for you to do. There are no wars, which I saw a lot in our faculty. Sometimes it seemed to me that there are a lot of scientists in Russia who are mainly busy not with science, but with finding money for science. It is necessary to submit applications much in advance, even for some small things. I remember in the physics department I kept samples in yogurt boxes because we couldn’t buy sample boxes.”
As for increasing the training period, there are both disadvantages and advantages. Among the shortcomings is the status “ eternal student" The advantage is that everyone will probably have time to complete their PhD. Now some students do not complete the three or four years.