Quality

Quality work in a broader sense is a natural part of the day-to-day operations, where the university as a whole is characterised by a conscious quality culture. Teachers, researchers and other staff, as well as doctoral students and other students, are expected and encouraged to contribute to quality work as a common concern.

The goal is for quality assurance and the development of competitive doctoral education to be a well-integrated part of the university's overall quality system, with support from the Swedish Defence University's organisation and university-wide operational management.

A fundamental prerequisite for high quality in doctoral education is, of course, the development of research and the research environment as a whole. In addition to the fact that the doctoral students themselves conduct research and education in a particular research area, the university offers an institutional context and a social community that contributes to high-quality research. In addition, the already existing research environment contributes to the emergence of a mature and well-integrated research education environment, characterised by competent research supervision and appropriate organisation of doctoral education.

Follow-up, development and evaluation

The organisation for doctoral education creates a clear structure for ongoing and coherent follow-up and well-coordinated development work with regard to the education as a whole. In the first instance, the responsibility for this lies with the directors of doctoral studies and the area director, with the support of the heads of department and the relevant subject councils as well as the board of supervisors. The area manager is a permanent co-opted member of the Research Committee and in this capacity is responsible for regular feedback to the Research and Education Board. Each year, the area manager shall present an overall follow-up and evaluation of the activities from a quality perspective according to criteria established by the Research and Education Board. This may also include the presentation of a development and action plan.

Continuous follow-up

Continuous follow-up and feedback takes place through course evaluations within the doctoral programme. These are collected by the directors of studies and the results are communicated to the area manager and the doctoral students. Via the Supervisors, an inventory of problems is regularly carried out, which through the area manager's co-opted position in the Research Committee is made available to the Research and Education Board. If measures are required in terms of resources or administrative decisions, the area manager turns to the head of research.

Doctoral education is also included in the regular university-wide follow-up process, which is based on an annual cycle with tertiary reporting. In this process, which includes university-wide operational goals and risks, staffing, finances and efficiency, but also issues of quality, the Head of Research has overall reporting responsibility for doctoral education.

Swedish Defence University's quality system

The Swedish Defence University is working to develop the quality assurance system for education at all levels so that it corresponds to the framework set out by the Swedish Higher Education Authority's national quality assurance system for higher education. A component of the Swedish Defence University's local system consists of regular quality evaluations of all courses and programmes at the university, carried out within the framework of a six-year cycle. Doctoral education is also subject to such evaluations, in addition to annual reconciliation against the quality plan.