| Description | Minutes of a committee appointed by the Senate to advise it on matters of policy and on amendments to regulations for PhD degrees submitted by Faculty Boards, with responsibility for looking in detail at applications by individuals to become candidates for PhD study where cases needed detailed consideration. It is possible that the committee existed before 1945, but no records survive and it is not listed in the printed University Calendars. There are references in Faculty minutes from 1943 to the establishment of a permanent PhD Committee which would receive reports from Faculties and consider proposed courses of study
Minutes survive from December 1945 to November 1982, when the committee was disbanded. It typically met twice a year in June and December, but meetings were increased to three times a year from 1965 due to the increased amount of business, resulting from the expansion of the higher education system. Membership consisted of professorial staff from each of the Faculties. The Vice-Principal acted as chair in the 1940s and 1950s.
The routine business of the committee was to decide whether to accept candidates for PhD study, and the minutes contain discussion about individual cases, the fulfilment of entrance requirements, and PhD regulations for assessment and viva voce examinations. The minutes contain lists of Faculty recommendations for the approval of candidates for PhD study, including the names of students and the titles of their research. By 1946 these lists include details of candidates previous university education, the name of their PhD supervisor, the commencement date of their studies, and the title of their thesis. The minutes sometimes contain personal information about individuals, primarily when more complex decisions were required about their candidature
The list included with minutes of the meeting held on 14 December 1945 contain a number of cases in which candidates in the Physics department were undertaking 'secret work' or where the title of their research was labelled 'secret thesis'
Minutes of the meeting held on 27 February 1951 contain discussion of procedures for recognising affiliated institutions for students there to be eligible to become candidates for higher degrees while undertaking research work at affiliated institutions. Minutes of meetings held in 1956 contain references to the acceptance of students from overseas as candidates for the degree of PhD and comment on practices within different Faculties. There is also discussion of regulations for the admission of non-graduates but who held diplomas or other qualifications commonly regarded as equivalent to a degree for the degree of PhD in the Faculty of Science. Minutes of meetings held between 1962 and 1964 contain references to amendments to the wording of the criteria adopted by the Faculties when considering applications from individuals wishing to register as candidates for PhD, and proposed amendments to PhD regulations. Copies of draft revised regulations are included with minutes of meetings held in 1964.
Minutes of the meeting held on 14 February 1964 include a copy of a memorandum by Professor A. A. Walters arguing that the current PhD was not a suitable training for economists and some other social scientists because of the lack of training in research methods, and that economists and social scientists needed wider education and wider ranging research interest. He mentions the Robbins report which suggested that high level courses and seminars may be better preparation for a higher degree than concentration on one research topic
Minutes of the meeting held on 7 July 1972 include a copy of a paper submitted by Board of Faculty of Science and Engineering proposing a new framework for PhD study and the provision of advanced training facilities leading to a doctorate in which a student could work on a wider front in less depth than was required in the PhD and in which performance in written examination work could be taken into account alongside the thesis. Minutes of the meeting held on 12 March 1973 mention that the Senate had referred this matter back to the Board of Science and Engineering as it was thought that the objectives proposed could be accommodated in the existing PhD Special Regulations
Minutes of the meeting held on 6 July 1973 record discussion by the committee to a reference from the Senate questioning whether there should be separate PhD degree committees supervising the PhD degrees in each Faculty. It appears that this reference arose originally from a recommendation of the Review Body that each Faculty should be responsible for its own PhD degrees subject to the overall guidance of the Academic Executive. The minutes record the committee recommendation that the standing Senate Committee should continue with both the duty of advising the Senate on matters of policy and upon amendments to regulations submitted by the Faculty Boards, and with the responsibility for looking in detail at such applications as fall outside what it regarded as acceptable limits. It was thought that as the majority of cases were straightforward, consideration of each individual case was not necessary, and it would be left to the chair to decide within principles to be decided by the Committee which applications should be delayed for consideration by the full Committee. The minutes continue to contain full lists of all registrations for candidature for PhD degrees.
The Committee of Principals and Deans discussed the role of the PhD Degree committee at its meeting on 6 July 1982 and agreed that the PhD Degree Committee should be asked to define the essential requirements for the PhD to which all Faculties should conform; that the PhD Degree Committee should assure itself that the present regulations governing the PhD degree in the several Faculties were in good order and entirely suitable for their purpose; and that the PhD Degree Committee should be wound up and ultimate reponsibility for maintaining the standard of the degree should rest with the Academic Executive and the Senate. A copy of a paper setting out these points is included with minutes of the last meeting of the PhD Degree Committee held on on 26 November 1982. The Committee suggested that Academic Executive might wish to delegate to a Pro-Vice-Chancellor the responsibility for advising the Executive when regulations might need to be amended or decision needed about whether to allow individual candidature. It also suggested that the Registry might need to provide administrative oversight in PhD matters which may be referred to the Academic Executive |