ABSTRACT
The doctorate, usually designated with the abbreviation PhD, has become increasingly important not only in the academic world. Instead of being a qualification for would-be teacher-researchers in universities, it is now also a stage of education followed by those who will enter other professions, and many more people are involved than ever before. At the same time, the doctorate has become part of the internationalization of higher education and universities – and in particular those who supervise doctoral research – are experiencing major changes among the students. Furthermore, in Europe, the doctorate is also subject to the Bologna Process and the creation of comparability across universities in Europe. This chapter introduces these themes and then explains the development and implantation of an empirical project analysing six case studies in six countries – five in Europe and one in China – to investigate comparability through the analysis of students’ and supervisors’ reflections on and perceptions of the doctoral experience. The chapter explains the research methodology practiced in all six studies and then describes the structure of the book consisting of a chapter on each case and three chapters on the transversal themes of “supervision”, “languages” and “identities”.
