One in four Durham PhD students leave study without achieving their target doctorate degree. The data, acquired through a
Palatinate Freedom of Information request, reveals performance is particularly poor in certain departments, with Computer Science, Education, and History performing amongst the worst in their respective faculties.
Palatinate received data from 10 UK universities counting the number of PhD students who left study between the 2015/16 and 2019/20 academic years and how many of those students received a doctoral degree. The figures include some medical students and other doctoral awards, while a small minority of students leave study due to transferring to another university.
The finding, published today in the journal
Scientific Reports, is the result of reconstructing an unusual trace fossil that they identified as a burrow of these ancient worms.
According to the study’s lead author, SFU Earth Sciences PhD student, Yu-Yen Pan, the trace fossil was found in a rocky area near coastal Taiwan. Trace fossils are part of a research field known as ichnology. “I was fascinated by this monster burrow at first glance,” she says. “Compared to other trace fossils which are usually only a few tens of centimetres long, this one was huge; two-metres long and two-to-three centimetres in diameter. The distinctive, feather-like structures around the upper burrow were also unique and no previously studied trace fossil has shown similar features.”
Credit: Masakazu Nara
Simon Fraser University researchers have found evidence that large ambush-predatory worms some as long as two metres roamed the ocean floor near Taiwan over 20 million years ago. The finding, published today in the journal
Scientific Reports, is the result of reconstructing an unusual trace fossil that they identified as a burrow of these ancient worms.
According to the study s lead author, SFU Earth Sciences PhD student, Yu-Yen Pan, the trace fossil was found in a rocky area near coastal Taiwan. Trace fossils are part of a research field known as ichnology. I was fascinated by this monster burrow at first glance, she says. Compared to other trace fossils which are usually only a few tens of centimetres long, this one was huge; two-metres long and two-to-three centimetres in diameter. The distinctive, feather-like structures around the upper burrow were also unique and no previously studied trace fossil has shown similar features.