Postgraduate Education Quiz

Overview of Postgraduate Education

• Postgraduate education refers to academic or professional degrees pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate degree.

• The organization and structure of postgraduate education varies in different countries, as well as in different institutions within countries.

• Graduate degrees can include master's degrees, doctoral degrees, and other qualifications such as graduate certificates and professional degrees.

• Producing original research is a significant component of graduate studies in the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences.

• Graduate students in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences often receive funding from their university or a teaching assistant position or other job.

• Graduate instruction is often offered by some of the same senior academic staff and departments who teach undergraduate courses.

• The two main types of degrees studied for at the postgraduate level are academic and vocational degrees.

• The concept of postgraduate education can be traced to the workings of European medieval universities.

• In most countries, the hierarchy of postgraduate degrees is as follows: master's degrees and doctorates.

• Most universities award honorary degrees, usually at the postgraduate level.

• Postgraduate education can involve studying for qualifications such as postgraduate certificates and postgraduate diplomas.

• In Australia, the government usually offers full funding to its citizens and permanent residents who are pursuing research-based higher degrees.Overview of Postgraduate Education Systems in Various Countries

• In Australia, taught-degree scholarships are almost non-existent for international students, while domestic students have access to tuition subsidy through the Australian Government's FEE-Help loan scheme.

• Requirements for the successful completion of a taught master's programme in Australia are that the student pass all the required modules. Research-based programmes' requirements vary among universities, but generally, a student is not required to take taught modules as part of their candidacy.

• In Brazil, a Bachelor's, Licenciate, or Technologist degree is required to enter a graduate program, called pós-graduação. Public universities do not charge fees for undergraduate level/course, and funding is available but is usually granted by public agencies linked to the university in question.

• In Canada, admission to a graduate certificate program requires a university degree, while admission to a master's (course-based) program generally requires a bachelor's degree in a related field, with sufficiently high grades, and recommendations from professors. Admission to a doctoral program typically requires a master's degree in a related field, sufficiently high grades, recommendations, samples of writing, a research proposal, and an interview with a prospective supervisor.

• Graduate certificates require between eight and sixteen months of study. The length of study depends on the program. Master's and doctoral programs may also be completed on a part-time basis.

• In France, there are 87 public universities, and they are based upon the European education ladder including bachelors, Masters, and Ph.D.s. Admission to a doctoral program requires a master's degree, both research-oriented and disciplinary focused, and high marks are required.

• In Germany, the traditional and most common way of obtaining a doctorate is by doing so individually under supervision of a single professor without any formal curriculum. With the establishment of Graduiertenkollegs funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the concept of a graduate school was introduced to the German higher education system. In the early 1990s, the Graduiertenkolleg aims to provide young researchers with a structured doctoral training under the supervision of a team of professors within an excellent research environment.

• In Ireland, higher education is operated by the Higher Education Authority.

• In Nigeria, admission to a postgraduate degree programme requires a bachelor's degree with at least a Second Class Lower Division, not less than 2.75/5. Admission to doctoral programmes requires an Academic master's degree with a minimum weighted average of 60%, and applicants may be subjected to written and oral examinations depending on the school.Graduate School: Admission and Funding

Admission:

• Admission to graduate school typically requires a strong bachelor's degree or Scottish M.A.
• Doctoral candidates are often initially admitted to a Masters in Research Philosophy (M.Phil. or M.Res.).
• Funding for postgraduate study in the UK is awarded competitively, and usually disseminated by institution.
• Funding is available for some Ph.D./D.Phil. courses, with more funding available for those in the sciences.
• In the US, admission to graduate school requires a bachelor's degree, with high grades in one's field of study being important.
• Graduate schools often weigh admission materials differently, and admission decisions are made by the department to which the student is applying.
• Many schools allow students to apply as "non-degree-seeking" for additional study at the graduate level.

Degree Requirements:

• Graduate students often declare their intended degree in their applications, with master's programs allowing students to continue towards the doctorate degree.
• Doctoral students who have advanced to candidacy but not filed a dissertation often receive master's degrees and an additional master's called a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) or a Candidate of Philosophy (C.Phil.) degree.
• Many graduate programs require students to pass one or several examinations to demonstrate their competence as scholars.
• Most graduate students perform teaching duties, often serving as graders and tutors.
• Doctoral students generally spend roughly their first two to three years taking coursework and begin research by their second year if not before.
• Many master's and all specialist students will perform research culminating in a paper, presentation, and defense of their research.
• Doctoral programs often require students to pass more examinations in the second and third years of study.
• The typical doctoral degree takes between four and eight years from entering the program to completion.
• After the doctorate degree, a second training period is available for students in fields such as life sciences, called a postdoctoral fellowship.

Funding:

• Funding for postgraduate study in the UK is awarded competitively, with most master's students being self-funded.
• Funding is available for some Ph.D./D.Phil. courses, with more funding available for those in the sciences.
• In the US, many departments offer tuition-forgiveness and a stipend that pays for most expenses to students with research or teaching responsibilities.
• Research positions are more typical of science disciplines, while teaching positions are more common in humanities disciplines.
• Some students can attain funding through dissertation improvement grants funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) or through similar programs in other agencies.
• Many students are also funded as lab researchers by faculty who have been funded by private foundations or by the NSF, National Institutes of Health (NIH), or federal "mission agencies."Funding opportunities for Ph.D. students differ greatly by departments and universities, with some universities offering five years of full funding to all Ph.D. students, while others do not offer any funding to humanities or social science students. Foreign students face unique financial difficulties such as high tuition fees, visa fees, and surveillance fees under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program of the United States Department of Homeland Security. Graduate employees at universities in the United States have organized labor unions to bargain a contract with their university, but private universities are covered under the National Labor Relations Act, not state labor laws. Many graduate students see themselves as junior faculty, but with significantly lower pay, and many feel that teaching takes time that would better be spent on research. The United Auto Workers and the American Federation of Teachers are two international unions that represent graduate employees. Private universities' administrations often oppose their graduate students when they try to form unions, arguing that students should be exempt from labor laws intended for "employees". Graduate employee unions sometimes go on strike when negotiations fail, using teach-ins, work-ins, marches, rallies, and grade strikes as forms of job action.