Governance and quality assurance

The governance structure of the programme is structured as follows:

Advisory Board
The Advisory Board will address the link between academic scholarship and research and practice. It will facilitate the exchange of creative ideas between academic research and cultural and social environments. The Advisory Board will consider the Annual Monitoring Report from the Academic Board of Studies.

Academic Board of Studies
The Academic Board of Studies will be responsible for the delivery of the DCGC programme and monitors the progress of the doctorates. The Board will be responsible for ensuring the day-to-day responsibilities of the Consortium are fulfilled.

Management Board
The Management Board will establish a framework for the management of the DCGC programme. It will oversee all aspects of delivery of the programme and ensure that the programme adheres to the stated quality assurance measures. It will make strategic long-term decisions on the programme of study and review the effectiveness of the promotion of the programme.

Candidate Council
The Candidate Council will organise the representation of candidates registered under the Consortium for the DCGC.


Academic and administrative staff are engaged in the process of quality assurance and enhancement throughout the programme. There will be feedback on the application and selection process, from a candidate, academic and administrative perspective; feedback and evaluation of the taught components, both during and at the end of each module. All the candidates will be asked on an annual basis to complete a questionnaire concerning their research experience developed by the UK Higher Education Academy.

All of this information will be collated into a formal monitoring and review process on an annual basis. This will include feedback from associated members. Quantitative and qualitative performance data from all sources will be used to create an historic database to evaluate the progress and development of the programme.There will also be an external review on a three-year cycle by an external Review Board composed of external academic and professional experts who are not members of the Advisory Board.