By Hugo Horta

Chair: Mark Bray

Time to completion of PhDs has been rising. This reflects an increased opportunity cost for those interested in doing a PhD. It has been a longtime concern for policymakers, students and universities in countries with developed scientific and higher education systems, but starts to be an issue in developing countries where doctoral education is emerging and expanding.

This seminar will focus on the extent to which public funded PhD grants, under a competitive framework, impact on time to completion of doctorates in a country where doctoral education only developed substantially since the mid-1990s. The analysis is guided by contract theory, from a signaling approach perspective, to show that credentials (signals) can have either a positive or negative effect on time to completion.

Hugo Horta is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Education of the University of Hong Kong, His research interest focuses on overlapping issues of science and higher education policy, namely academic mobility, careers and knowledge networks, internationalization of higher education, scientific productivity, and comparative studies. He is a Coordinating Editor of Higher Education, a leading journal in higher education research.

12.45 – 14.00
Tuesday 20 October
Runme Shaw 202