EUA Council for Doctoral Education

EUA-CDE Annual Meeting: excellence through diversity in doctoral education

The EUA Council for Doctoral Education (EUA-CDE) brought together 225 participants on 7 and 8 June to discuss excellence through diversity in doctoral education. Hosted by the University of Ljubljana, exchanges on this topic were held against the background of an ever more international higher education landscape.

After a welcome address by Maja Makovec Brenčič, Slovenian Minister of Education, Science and Sport, Igor Papič, Rector of the University of Ljubljana and Luke Georghiou, EUA-CDE Steering Committee Chair, the Meeting started in earnest with a presentation of the key results of a major study on the organisation of doctoral education in Europe. Participants were presented an overview of doctoral education diversity in Europe, including doctoral schools and programmes coexisting with a variety of other structures, while also noting common trends such as a clear focus on original research accompanied with preparing doctoral candidates for a variety of career paths. A SlideShare with the results is available here.

Plenary sessions discussed various aspects of excellence through diversity in doctoral education, including its role as a central hub for mutual learning and collaboration in universities and its contribution to the internationalisation of higher education institutions. Exchanges between participants also shone a light on emerging topics such as doctoral candidates’ wellbeing, which will be taken up in future activities.

Presentations and pictures of the event are available on the EUA website and Flickr account respectively. For a recording of the panel discussion on the contribution of doctoral education to the internationalisation of higher education institutions, please see the EUA YouTube channel.

The Meeting was preceded on 6 June by the Regional Rectors’ Round Table on Doctoral Education with academic leaders from the Regional Platform for Benchmarking and Cooperation in Higher Education and Research. Participants discussed doctoral education challenges specific to their universities and region and held and exchange on strengthening their relations with the European doctoral education community.

The day before the Meeting Luke Georghiou, Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester and Chair of the EUA-CDE Steering Committee, published in Times Higher Education an editorial on the importance of doctoral education for Europe.

The next EUA-CDE Annual Meeting which will be hosted by the University of Brescia on 13 and 14 June 2019. Also keep an eye out for the next Thematic Workshop on inter-institutional collaboration in doctoral education, hosted by VU Amsterdam on 17 and 18 January 2019.