Flexible Learning as a Way of Integrating Russian Doctoral Programmes into European High Education Area

Abstract

AbstractDoctoral education in the modern globalised world is a dynamic field in which key challenges of higher education and research come together. The recent transition to a three-level system led to considerable changes in the training of doctoral students. Currently in Russia, much attention is paid to improving the structure and quality of doctorate education in the European context of the Bologna process and the Lisbon objectives. The purpose of this study is to examine the experience of Russian universities in the course of reforming their doctoral programmes, to analyse best foreign practices and then develop an approach to establishing such a doctoral education model that would best integrate into the global high educational area and contribute to the training of a competitive scientific elite. The paper also presents key results of more than a decade of doctoral education reforms in Russia, which has been marked by the introduction of the so-called third stage of higher education with its regulatory documents and requirements. It shows that this change led to a significant decrease in the number of doctoral candidates and doctoral graduates. The authors then introduce a model of a doctoral education programme divided into stages and individual elements that represent independent objects of study for Russian and European researchers. The basis for this programme is flexible learning. KeywordsDoctoral educationFlexible learningEducation reformsDoctoral programmes