foundationsof institutions. arts colleges have merged with other colleges in order to gain the
critical mass necessary. other colleges have joined universities or signed co- operation
agreements with regard to research training.
my own country, sweden, may be one of these exceptions, at least when it comes to
the right for art schools to award research degrees (switzerland is apparently another
example). a few paragraphs about the swedish scene may be of interest since the
problems raised in this country are of a general nature.
The problems of degree- awarding powers in sweden have been related to the
varied status of art schools in the country. The schools in stockholm are generally
old, regarding themselves as rather prestigious. some of them are quite small but they
all enjoy institutional autonomy. The schools in the two other major cities, göteborg
and malmö, form parts of larger universities, the university of göteborg and lund
university, respectively.
universities have traditionally had the right to award doctoral degrees as a matter of
course. This historical fact was confirmed in university reforms in the 1990s when the
right to award research degrees became an option for university colleges throughout
the country if they had a proven track record of research excellence in a given area of
research. The condition to prove excellence in research before being given the right to
award research degrees is of course difficult to achieve in an emerging research area.
The schools affiliated to universities have, on the other hand, been able to profit from
the general licence to award research degrees given to universities and similar research
institutions. dynamic environments for research in the arts and formal research training
have therefore been established in göteborg and malmö. a considerable number of
doctorates have been awarded in these art schools whereas the schools in stockholm
have been left behind.
Recent legislation has, however, changed the landscape. The right to award research
degrees could no longer be taken for granted even in universities. more stringent rules
for quality assurance will be applied in the future. a university that fails to fulfil quality
criteria in research assessments may be deprived of the right to award degrees in specific
areas.
What will the consequences be for practice- based research in the arts in sweden?
it is yet too early to foresee what will happen. it may become easier for the schools
in stockholm to pass a quality test and be eligible to award doctorates and it may
simultaneously become more difficult for the schools in göteborg and malmö to
continue with business as usual.
an added circumstance is the fact that the government has introduced a special
research degree for the creative and performing arts. The ‘old’ phd will be reserved for
research in traditional academic disciplines and it will be supplemented with the new
doctoral degree, which will be defined in distinctive terms related to the practice- based
research. This means, for example, that the statutes for the ‘artistic doctorate’ will
avoid the word ‘thesis’ but rather talk about a ‘documented artistic research project’.
according to the government, an important motive for the establishment of a
special doctorate in the field of creative and performing arts is to allow research in this
field to be based on purely artistic grounds.
Would this in the long run be seen as a wise decision? That remains to be seen. on
the wider european scene there are voices who would argue that it is counterproductive