Revealing future research capacity from an analysis of a national database of discipline-coded Australian PhD thesis records

This article reports how statistical analyses of PhD thesis recordscan reveal future research capacities for disciplines beyond theirprimary fields. The previous research showed that most thesescontributed to and/or used methodologies from more than onediscipline. In Australia, there was a concern for declining mathematicalteaching and research capacity. We decided to investigatethe ‘hidden’ mathematics research capacity in PhDs outside ofmathematics. Australian PhD records were re-coded with up tothree fields. Records with mathematics as one of their codes wereselected and analysed for their relationships to disciplines in theirother codes. Triple-coding revealed ‘hidden’ mathematicalresearch capacity that had previously been single-coded inanother field had mathematics as one of their subsequent fields.The findings have implications for policy and planning for mathematicsin Australia, and multiple coding of PhD theses recordsenables analyses for other disciplines to be undertaken to showtheir research capacities.

Glonacalling doctorates?: The international and global connectedness of Australian PhD graduates

Simon Marginson and Gary Rhoades coined the term ‘glonacal’ the express the interconnectedness of global, national and local social relations, especially in terms educational systems and experiences. This paper presents some selected data from a recent ARC Discovery Project entitled Research capacity-building: the development of the Australian PhD programs in national and emerging global contexts. Some of selected data show the extent Australian PhD theses have addressed topics in South and East Asia as an illustration of how research capacity-building may be created in/for Australia through topics which address problems or ideas located in other (in this case East and South Asia) national and local contexts. Other data relate to the international movements of—particularly astronomy and chemistry—PhD graduates out of Australia, some of whom return to Australia. The paper discusses these movements in terms of PhD culture being ‘glonacal’ in nature from its programs and postdoctoral relations.

Disciplinary differences in Australian PhD theses 1987-2006 and the implications for future research capacity

The paper, which draws on data previously presented at the 2010 World Universities Forum in Davos, Switzerland (Evans & Macauley, 2010), presents and tabulates a variety of trends from the Database of Australian Doctorates, in particular, those relating to the ebb and flow of PhDs in particular selected ‘academic’ and ‘professional’ disciplines in Australia. The paper commences with an overview of the research methods and outcomes. Four academic disciplines (astronomy, chemistry, cultural studies and demography) and four professional disciplines (architecture and building, education, librarianship and nursing) are selected for analysis of their 1987–2006 PhD thesis records. These selections were made to reflect a range of academic and professional disciplines in Australia and to illustrate the changes that have occurred over the past two decades. The period 1987-2006 covers several major changes in Australian university education and PhD education.

Research capacity implications for government, universities and disciplines from research into Australian PhD theses and their graduates’ scholarly, professional and community impacts

The authors (with colleagues) have conducted research into Australian doctoral education for over a decade. Two recent projects have produced as part of their outcomes: a database coded by discipline of all Australian PhD theses (dissertations) from 1987–2006. This paper commences with an overview of this work in terms of its purposes, research methods and outcomes. It is contextualized in terms of the current Australian and international debates about the nature, substance and impact of doctoral education on nations, societies, communities and economies. The paper presents some analyses of trends in the 1987–2006 Australian PhD theses. The period 1987-2006 covers several major changes in university education in Australia from the impact of the establishment of the Unified National System in the early 1990s, through the implementation of the Research Training Scheme (RTS) from 2001, the deliberations and demise of the Research Quality Framework (RQF), the rise of Excellence in Research Australia (ERA), through to the review of research training and the research workforce in Australian universities by the House of Representatives. The paper presents and tabulates a variety of trends from the bibliometric and bibliographic data, in particular those relating to the ebb and flow of PhDs in particular disciplines. The implications for national, institutional and disciplinary planners and policymakers with interests in the development and sustainability of research capacity are discussed.

Classifying Australian PhD theses : linking research and library practices

This paper draws on the findings from, and the methods and approach used, in the provision of a database of Australian PhD thesis records for the period 1987 to 2006, coded by Research Fields, Courses and Disciplines (RFCD) fields of study. The project was funded by the Research Excellence Branch of the Australian Research Council. Importantly, the project was not merely the creation of yet another database but constitutes a valuable research resource in its own right. It provides an alternative source of data about research training with a focus on research output and research capacity building rather than input as does data on enrolment. The database is significant as it can be used to track knowledge production in Australia over a twenty year period and contains approximately 54,000 bibliographic records. The database of Australian PhDs has been constructed from downloaded bibliographic records from Libraries Australia. Recommendations for practice relate to university libraries, doctoral candidates, and the coded database. We suggest that libraries are more consistent with cataloguing procedures, including the thesis ‘publication’ date, and that they are more timely in uploading their thesis records to Libraries Australia or, alternatively, Australian Research Online. We also suggest that PhD candidates code their own theses using the new ANZSRC scheme (which replaced the RFCD classification in 2008), and also use clear and communicative thesis titles and thesis abstracts. With regard to the coded database, we suggest it becomes a requirement for universities to provide the ANZSRC coding of submitted theses

Spatio-Temporal Scanning and Statistical Test of the Accelerating Moment Release (AMR) Model Using Australian Earthquake Data

The Accelerating Moment Release (AMR) preceding earthquakes with magnitude above 5 in Australia that occurred during the last 20 years was analyzed to test the Critical Point Hypothesis. Twelve earthquakes in the catalog were chosen based on a criterion for the number of nearby events. Results show that seven sequences with numerous events recorded leading up to the main earthquake exhibited accelerating moment release. Two occurred near in time and space to other earthquakes preceded by AM R. The remaining three sequences had very few events in the catalog so the lack of AMR detected in the analysis may be related to catalog incompleteness. Spatio-temporal scanning of AMR parameters shows that 80% of the areas in which AMR occurred experienced large events. In areas of similar background seismicity with no large events, 10 out of 12 cases exhibit no AMR, and two others are false alarms where AMR was observed but no large event followed. The relationship between AMR and Load-Unload Response Ratio (LURR) was studied. Both methods predict similar critical region sizes, however, the critical point time using AMR is slightly earlier than the time of the critical point LURR anomaly.

Some characteristics of early Australian PhD theses

The first PhDs in Australia were awarded in the late 1940s and 1950s. This paper reports on some research being conducted by the authors that involves reviewing early PhD theses from the Universities of Melbourne, Queensland and Sydney. The paper discusses some selected features of the candidates, fields of study and theses. Photographs and facsimiles from a selection of early theses illustrate some peculiarities of the time.

Classifying Australian PhD theses: linking research and library practices

This article draws on the findings from, and the methods and approach used in the provision of a database of Australian PhD thesis records for the period 1987 to 2006, coded by Research Fields, Courses and Disciplines (RFCD) fields of study. Importantly, the project was not merely the creation of yet another database but constitutes a valuable research resource in its own right. The database is significant as it can be used to track knowledge production in Australia over a twenty year period and contains approximately 54,000 bibliographic records. Recommendations for practice relate to university libraries, doctoral candidates, and the coded database.

Australian PhD theses in selected professional and academic disciplines 1987–2006 and the implications for future research capacity

This commences with an overview the research methods and outcomes. It is contextualised in terms of the current Australian and international debates about the nature, substance and impact of doctoral education on nations, societies, communities and economies. Four professional disciplines (architecture and building, education, librarianship and nursing) and four academic disciplines (astronomy, chemistry, cultural studies and demography) are selected for analysis of their 1987–2006 PhD thesis records. These selections were made to reflect a range of professional and academic disciplines in Australia and to illustrate the changes that have occurred over the past two decades. The period 1987-2006 covers several major changes in Australian university education and PhD education in particular.

Classifying Australian PhD bibliographic thesis records by ANZSRC field of research codes

This report provides a brief report detailing the methods and approach used to classify the 2007-2009 theses by ANZSRC Fields of Research codes and any recommendations.

Socioeconomic status and quality of life in population-based Australian men: data from the Geelong Osteoporosis Study

Objective : To investigate the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and reported perceptions of quality of life (QOL) in a cross-sectional population-based analysis of a representative sample of Australian men.

Spatio-temporal scanning and statistical test of the accelerating moment release (AMR) model using Australian earthquake data

The Accelerating Moment Release (AMR) preceding earthquakes with magnitude above 5 in Australia that occurred during the last 20 years was analyzed to test the Critical Point Hypothesis. Twelve earthquakes in the catalog were chosen based on a criterion for the number of nearby events. Results show that seven sequences with numerous events recorded leading up to the main earthquake exhibited accelerating moment release. Two occurred near in time and space to other earthquakes preceded by AM R. The remaining three sequences had very few events in the catalog so the lack of AMR detected in the analysis may be related to catalog incompleteness. Spatio-temporal scanning of AMR parameters shows that 80% of the areas in which AMR occurred experienced large events. In areas of similar background seismicity with no large events, 10 out of 12 cases exhibit no AMR, and two others are false alarms where AMR was observed but no large event followed. The relationship between AMR and Load-Unload Response Ratio (LURR) was studied. Both methods predict similar critical region sizes, however, the critical point time using AMR is slightly earlier than the time of the critical point LURR anomaly.