Can new PhD evaluation be a double-edged sword for talent development?
Health's new PhD evaluation process is welcomed, but will increased emphasis on merits discourage young talents from applying, asks chair of the Academic Council.
"Two side of the same coin": A column in Inside Health
In Two sides of the same coin, chair of the Academic Council Søren Dinesen Østergaard provides insight into the debates that take place in the council.
The column addresses topics that are up for debate in the council – often issues that also spark discussion in the academic environments at Health.
At the Academic Council meeting on 10/4, we had a visit from representatives of Health's Stipend Committee, who informed us about the revised evaluation of PhD applicants that came into effect in 2025:
Still thorough evaluation – now with interviews
The already thorough evaluation process has not fundamentally changed, but there are some significant changes regarding the selection of applicants who are considered for a fully funded scholarship. Scholarship applicants who receive the best evaluation based on their written applications are invited to an interview, where they present their project in a short "pitch" followed by questions from the Stipend Committee. This is an excellent and very positive development that was warmly received by the Academic Council.
But is the changed weighting of applications appropriate?
Another change is that the applicants’ "personal and academic qualifications" are now weighted higher (50%) than previously (30%). Here, the Academic Council expressed concern about whether this could deter some from applying for a scholarship - based on the perception that one would already need to be an experienced researcher to be considered. This seems particularly relevant to consider at a time when many students experience increasing pressure to perform and doubt their own abilities.
We will invite the Stipend Committee to a meeting in the Academic Council in the fall of 2026, to learn about the experiences from the first two application rounds with the revised evaluation process.
Contact
Professor og forperson Søren Dinesen Østergaard
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine
Academic Council
sdo@clin.au.dk
Phone: +45 61282753