Doctoral programme: Enriching African practice and scholarship

Since its launch in 2000, the SOPH doctoral programme in Public Health has made significant progress. We are experiencing an increasing and differentiated demand for doctoral education and the number of PhD students has grown over the last 20 years from an annual average of 4 to around 50 per year. The programme’s flourishing reputation is seen in the 272 applications we received in 2019 and 2020. In addition to the School’s good reputation, the flexibility of the programme and its niche orientations are big attractions – in addition to its relatively affordable fees. We have a growing pool of available supervisors covering a range of topics, reflecting the expertise of SOPH colleagues and a network of collaborators from other institutions. Student profile

The table below reflects the profile of PhD graduates, current students and recent applicants in the School. In 2020, 46 students enrolled in the programme, three-fifths of whom were female (60%). Just over half (56%) were living in South Africa while one third were from other African countries. These profiles are consistent with those of the PhDs who have graduated to date. The only difference is a slight increase in the ratio of foreign to South African students – which reflects the high demand for doctoral training from other parts of the continent and realises the SOPH’s vision and purpose of promoting equity and dedicating our limited resources to making an impact on the continent.

Graduates to date

Total number Gender Female Male

Country of residence

South Africa Other African countries Countries outside Africa 51

60% 40% 60% 27% 13% Current students Recent applicants (2019-2020) 46 272

65% 35% 56% 33% 11% 35% 65% 25% 69% 6%

The majority of students are embedded in research or programmes, either at the SOPH or in their respective institutions. Some are attached to research projects that carry PhD scholarships, and the rest are self-funded or receive funding from various sources. The majority of candidates work full time and are self-sponsored.

Recent graduates

In 2019 and 2020, SOPH graduated nine PhD candidates (see page 14). The topics of their dissertations are given on page 15, reflecting the wide range of fields in which they are engaged. Their careers also vary, from being scholars in academia, leaders or managers in the health or development sector, to practitioners and knowledge workers in various health-related settings. A streamlined and integrated doctoral programme

The expansion of the doctoral programme has necessitated more structured approaches, from selection to supporting students through the doctoral journey, integrating them into the life of the SOPH and maintaining throughput rates. A PhD co-ordinating team of four SOPH staff screen the candidates’ submissions using a newly developed process which streamlines and systematically manages diverse categories of applicants. They identify those candidates who are most likely to succeed in completing the ‘academic marathon’ that a PhD journey represents, and whose interest and focus matches the supervision expertise and availability in the School.

Facilitating support for candidates

Writing a doctoral dissertation can be lonely at the best of times – exacerbated in 2020 by the restrictions imposed by COVID-19. To sustain momentum amongst students and supervisors, we developed a multi-facetted programme of support and learning activities, encouraging communication and engagement, not only with the SOPH, but also among peers. We did the following:

• Developed and implemented a virtual induction series for incoming doctoral students. • Ensured almost daily communications through our Sakai-based on-line doctoral portal (called

iKamva) – including celebrating achievements like publications, proposals accepted, etc. We regularly posted information regarding internal and external opportunities for virtual learning and support to our students. • Hosted a bi-weekly on-line journal club on Monday mornings. • Intensified peer support and networking opportunities through bi-monthly webinars. Ten webinars were held in 2019 and 2020 – addressing field work challenges; wellbeing and resilience during the pandemic; engaged scholarship; celebrating learning; practical issues in theory application and development; knowledge translation; mixed methods research; and PhD by publication or monograph.

• Held an on-line writing camp every Friday morning during 2020. This provided an opportunity for protected writing time, to enhance discipline, motivation and self-accountability, to feel part of a community, and get guidance and tips from others. In addition, the School facilitated access to financial support for more than half the students through generous support from partners – notably the Belgian Directorate-General for Development Co-operation (through its Framework Agreement with the Institute for Tropical Medicine at the University of Antwerp), and the South African National Research Fund (through two SARChI chairs in Health Systems Governance and in Health Systems, Complexity and Social Change – see page 22). Furthermore, once enrolled, candidates are encouraged to participate in postgraduate teaching, which is considered a valuable part of the doctoral journey, supporting a range of graduate attributes such as deepening knowledge, developing critical and analytic abilities and communication skills. Over the last few years, at least a dozen of the enrolled candidates have been integral to the research and academic life of SOPH, including supporting the Diploma and Master teaching programmes. These engagements are in line with the commitment of the School and University to build senior academic capacity in the country and on the continent – and indeed, a significant proportion of graduates have become lecturers and supervisors at SOPH and other universities.

Coping with COVID-19

Since the onset of COVID-19 and subsequent lockdown measures, students and supervisors have faced new sets of challenges. We have created space for, and engaged in, collective sense-making and have reinforced wellbeing and resilience.

As the responses to COVID-19 began to take hold, we conducted short surveys with supervisors and students about the implications for individual projects. The survey revealed that a significant number of students who were in their data collection phases had to make changes or adaptations. We compiled an inventory of COVID-19 impacts on all students, supporting adjustments to research proposals, especially those in field work phases (e.g. shifting to secondary data analysis, conducting systematic reviews). The success of our programme during this period, especially our ability to sustain momentum and progress among students and supervisors, rested on our readiness to make use of remote working, on-line and distance-based learning modalities, capitalising on our many years of experience with these modalities. This allowed us to move into new modes of delivery fairly quickly, facilitating expanded participation of staff and students no matter their location. In addition we hosted meetings of supervisors every four months, to share approaches to supporting students through the COVID-19 crisis and to further develop supervisory capacity among staff the SOPH.