ORPHEUS

ORPHEUS, the Organisation for PhD Education in Biomedicine and Health Sciences in the European System, is an association of biomedical and health science faculties and institutions. ORPHEUS is dedicated to the development of standards for the PhD.

History

ORPHEUS was established in April 2004 with a European Conference on Harmonisation of PhD Programmes in Biomedicine and Health Sciences held in Zagreb. It became clear that despite many similarities PhD programmes there are also important differences in content and the standard expected. Thus a PhD title (also known as Doctor of Philosophy) may have different meanings in different parts of Europe. While some countries did not have any clinical PhD programmes, others had even two. Thus, the delegates coming from 25 universities and from 16 European countries agreed that there was a need for European harmonisation and they accepted 'The Declaration of the European Conference on Harmonisation of PhD Programmes in Medicine and Health Sciences' ('Zagreb Declaration'), which contain the first European consensus statement what a PhD programme should consist of and aim for. Many of the ideas of the 'Zagreb Declaration' are also seen in the '10 Salzburg Principles'^[1] and in the subsequent Salzburg II paper from the EUA-CDE.

The Second European Conference held in Zagreb in 2005, included delegates from 33 universities, from 21 European countries, issued a document ‘Guidelines for Organisation of PhD Programmes in Biomedicine and Health Sciences’ and launched the idea for the necessity to establish a European association of PHD programmes, for which the name ORPHEUS was accepted.

Third ORPHEUS 2007 conference was held in Helsinki. Participants from 43 universities from 26 European countries issued a document: ‘Helsinki Consensus Statement on PhD Training in Clinical Research’ (‘Helsinki Consensus Statement’) emphasizing the importance of PhD research in clinical medicine

Fourth ORPHEUS 2009 conference was held in Aarhus with 165 participants from 33 European countries the main topic: Maintaining the quality of the PhD degree. A major outcome of the conference was the production of a position paper, "Towards standards for PhD education in biomedicine and health sciences".^[2]

Fifth ORPHEUS 2010 conference was held in Vienna with 196 participants from 39 European countries with the main topic “The Advancement of European Biomedical and Health Science PhD Education by Cooperative Networking”.

Sixth ORPHEUS 2011 conference was held in Izmir with 305 participants from 39 European countries with the main topic "PhD Quality Indicators for Biomedicine and Health Sciences”.

Seventh ORPHEUS 2012 conference in Bergen with 200 participants from 30 European countries with the main topic "Establishing evaluation of PhD Training".

Aims

The aims of ORPHEUS are:

To safeguard the reputation of the PhD as a research degree and to strengthen career opportunities for PhD graduates.
To give active support and guidance to members of ORPHEUS in enhancing their contributions to medicine and society in general.
To provide information to members of ORPHEUS and all PhD candidates all over Europe.
To represent higher education and research in biomedicine and health sciences and to influence policy making at national, European and international level.
To encourage cooperation among members of the Association and the development of effective bilateral and multilateral networks.
To promote cooperation in research and development of joint PhD programmes.
To promote harmonisation of PhD programmes in biomedicine and health sciences
To encourage mobility of PhD candidates and academic staff through all regions of Europe.
To stimulate quality assurance of PhD research and education, and in particular to develop an accreditation process of PhD programmes in biomedicine and health sciences.
To cooperate with other associations with similar goals.

ORPHEUS documents

ORPHEUS has published Standards for PhD Education in Biomedicine and Health Sciences in Europe. Joint publication with Association of Medical Schools in Europe and World Federation for Medical Education. Published by Aarhus University Press, Aarhus 2012. ISBN 978 87 7934 600 0.

Sources

This document incorporates text verbatim from Orpheus Mission Statement, a document released under GFDL.

ORPHEUS conferences

First European Conference on Harmonization of PhD programs in Biomedicine and Health Sciences. Zagreb 2004.
Second European Conference on Harmonisation of PhD Programmes in Biomedicine and Health Sciences. Zagreb 2005.
ORPHEUS2007. Third European Conference: Biomedical and Health Science Doctoral Training. Helsinki 2007.
ORPHEUS2009. Fourth European Conference: Setting Standards for PhD Education in Biomedicine and Health Sciences. Aarhus 2009.
ORPHEUS 2010. Fifth European Conference: The Advancement of European Biomedical and Health Science PhD Education by Cooperative Networking. Vienna 2010.
ORPHEUS 2011. Sixth European Conference. PhD Quality Indicators for Biomedicine and Health Sciences. Izmir 2011.
ORPHEUS 2012. Seventh European Conference. Establishing Evaluation of PhD Training. Bergen 2012.

References

↑ Bologna Seminar, Salzburg, 2005)
↑ http://www.orpheus2009.org/upload/orpheus/final%20version%20(3)%20(3).doc

Nerad M, Heggelund M (eds): Toward a Global PhD, Univ Washington Press 2008.
The Bologna Declaration. 19 June 1999; Joint declaration of the European Ministers of Education.
WFME Global Standards for Quality Improvement in Medical Education: European Specifications For Basic and Postgraduate Medical Education and Continuing Professional Development. WFME/AMSE International Task Force.

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