GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The doctoral program in Applied Physiology and Kinesiology is now included in the programs tracked by the National Research Council of the National Academies. The National Academies, comprised of 3 private, nonprofit institutions (National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine), provide science, technology and health policy advice under a congressional charter. The Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of further knowledge and advising the federal government.

Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the National Research Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public and the scientific and engineering communities. The Research Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine through the National Research Council Governing Board.

The National Research Council has conducted two assessments of research-doctoral programs under the auspices of the Conference Board of Associated Research Councils, the first in 1982 and the second in 1993. A study of the assessment methodology was completed in late 2003. This study investigated new measures and methodologies so that the second phase, planned for 2006/7, may accurately reflect changes in scholarship and graduate education that have occurred over the past twenty years. Covering over 55 fields and including fields in agricultural sciences, biomedical sciences in medical schools and communication for the first time, the proposed study will place considerably more emphasis on quantitative measures of doctoral education. It will also explore alternative ways to provide ratings of program quality. Finally, it will provide a number of new measures that should be useful to prospective doctoral students.

For more information on the NRC, go to their website at: http://www.nas.edu/nrc/