Research Education

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Population and Education, Social Statistics
Alexander Erik Friisnæs
+45 23 45 51 43

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Research Education 2023

The aim of the statistics on PhD-students is to show the volume of PhD-education. Furthermore it gives information on the progress of the education and the subjects of the project. Data are comparable since mid-eighties which is as long the PhD education has existed in Denmark.

Statistical presentation

The statistics gives information on numbers of PhD-students and numbers of PhD-graduates at institutions approved to offer PhD-educations in Denmark. The statistics gives information on the progress of the education, under here schemes and special arrangements, periods of leave, and study periods spent abroad. The statistics also gives information on the subjects of the project and on sources of financing. The statistics also covers doctorate granted after §15,2, according to this paragraph a doctorate can be granted based exclusively on a positive evaluation of a thesis without participation in an education.

Statistical processing

The statistics is based on reports from all Danish institutions approved to offer PhD-educations. The data collection covers the total population. The reported data from each respondent is examined carefully. The examination is concentrated on missing data for each respondent. It is also checked if consistent information are reported for each student. Data reported from a university is furthermore compared to data for previous time periods.

In case of missing data or unexpected trends the respondent is contacted for verification of the reported data.

A year late, the Ph.D. registry is also part of the Student registry and checked according to the standard processes there as well.

Relevance

These statistics are relevant for Ministries, Universities, Public service, Business organizations, Media and Researchers, for research and analyses. The statistical data are also used in other areas within Statistics Denmark as education statistics are relevant in many contexts.

Accuracy and reliability

In general the accuracy is very high. All universities and other Institutions approved to offer PhD-educations reports data. Concerning the central units: PhD-students and PhD-graduates, the quality is considered as being very good as the corrections-procedures are very thoroughly. Concerning the information on Main field the quality is considered as good, but since it is based on the students institutional setting and the Faculty structure is under reconstruction these years the accuracy of this information can be affected in a few cases.

Timeliness and punctuality

The statistics is published during spring after the reference year. Data collection and data processing have been under revision and the production time has therefore been shortened compared to earlier years.

Comparability

Comparability over time for the main variables is good. The statistics also contains information on education schemes, research topics, financing, stays abroad and employment. the content of these variables has changed over the years, but have been consistent since 2009.

International comparability of statistics on number of PhD-students are considered to be very good. Concerning international comparability of statistics on the education level of the population, countries using surveys have the possibility of including persons, who have obtained the PhD-degree abroad. These group is in most cases not included in the Danish statistics.

Accessibility and clarity

Please find further information on the homepage: https://www.dst.dk/da/Statistik/emner/fuldtidsuddannelser/forskeruddannelser.aspx?tab=nog
The main figures are published in Statbank Denmark
A detailed analysis is published yearly in "Innovation and Research".
Tailor-made statistics is available via Statistics Denmark's Costumers Center
Micro-data is accessible via Statistics Denmark's Researcher's Center