Evaluation of the national research school scheme

Abstract

The main conclusion of this evaluation is that the national research school scheme has led to more national cooperation between research environments, and that the components of the training program provided to the PhD students is of high quality. So far, it is, however, not possible to see any measurable effects of this on completion degree and completion time, which reflects that the schools have been more concerned about increasing the quality rather than the efficiency of the education. The research schools have contributed to internationalization of the teaching, but we find few measurable effects on students’ (long-term) stays abroad or international co-authorship. We recommend that the RCN considers a more differentiated research school scheme with differentiated funding and evaluation criteria.