§ Mr. FormanTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what progress has been made by the pilot scheme for research masters, announced by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in October 1994. [7846]
§ Mr. Ian TaylorThe progress has been encouraging. It is plainly too early to reach firm conclusions about either the first year or the pilot more generally, but I congratulate all the university and research council staff involved on their achievements to date.
The new, one-year, research master's—"MRes"— degree comprises: a significant, original research component; a grounding in research techniques and/or development of specialist knowledge; and modules to broaden the student's experience by equipping him or her with transferable skills and knowledge, such as team-working, communication, and the exploitation of research. The purpose of the pilot is to test the effectiveness of this new degree as a direct route into employment or as a preparation for a PhD. Courses began admitting students for the first time this October.
We estimated that the research councils would support some 250 students. However, in view of the quantity and quality of submissions from university departments, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council—BBSRC—Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council—EPSRC—Medical Research Council—MRC—and Natural Environment Research Council—NERC—made provision to support a total of 275 students on some 35 courses in 25 universities. A total of 265 places had been taken up by the end of October. Successful applicants were required to hold at least an upper second class honours degree, as for research council PhD studentships. The table gives the numbers of studentships offered, applications made, and awards taken up by the end of October in more detail.
Offered Applications Taken up BBSRC 45 321 45 EPSRC 160 442 150 MRC 25 166 25 NERC 45 467 45 Total 275 1,396 265 I understand that many of the courses have additional students supported by industry or other means, and that other industry or external involvement includes offers of placements for research projects, of contributions to teaching and course modules; and of assistance in final examinations.
The research councils are currently collecting more detailed information from the first year's intake by means of an "entry" questionnaire. Preliminary analysis will be available in the spring. The councils also plan to visit courses, and to collect further data using an "exit" questionnaire. I shall publish a more detailed report on overall experience with the first year of the pilot as soon as this is possible.
The Economic and Social Research Council—ESRC—and the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council—PPARC—are not involved directly in the pilot. The ESRC has very largely anticipated the research 1262W master's in the social sciences through its research training guidelines and course recognition procedures. There will, for example, be some 350 ESRC students on 135 master's courses with a recognised research weighting in 1995. The ESRC is asking students starting standard and research-weighted master's course to complete the "entry" questionnaire which is being used in the pilot. PPARC is monitoring the EPSRC's experience with the pilot, as well as the progress of recently introduced, four-year, first degrees–"MPhys" and "MSci".