EUA Council for Doctoral Education

The Doctoral Debate

“The Doctoral Debate” is an online platform featuring original articles with commentary and analysis on doctoral education in Europe. Articles focus on trending topics in doctoral education and state-of-the-art policies and practices. The Debate showcases voices and views from EUA-CDE members and partners.

All views expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of EUA Council for Doctoral Education. If you would like to respond to this article by writing your own piece, please see The Doctoral Debate style guidelines and contact the CDE team to pitch your idea.

• 18 Mar. 2020
  Precarious careers: postdoctoral researchers in the Netherlands | Christine Teelken, VU University Amsterdam | Inge van der Weijden, Leiden University The number of postdoc researchers is growing and while they enjoy their work and colleagues, studies in the Netherlands revealed that they experience high stress levels. Christine Teelken and Inge van der Weijden discuss mental health and the main stressors, including lack of academic career prospects, publication and grant pressure, work-life imbalance and lack of institutional support. Read more
• 06 Mar. 2020
  Why doctoral candidates should develop their teaching expertise | Susan te Pas, Utrecht University Developing teaching expertise alongside research will translate into a well-rounded generation of academics. Susan te Pas of Utrecht University explores in detail why it is smart to invest in teaching expertise, in particular among doctoral candidates. Read more
• 22 Jan. 2020
  Empowering doctoral candidates in shaping institutional Open Science policy | Roberta Moscon, University of Trento Online courses in Open Science are ready and available for free and anytime, many upon the initiative of doctoral candidates who are engaged in advocacy and dissemination events. As Roberta Moscon from the University of Trento explains, empowering doctoral candidates in shaping Open Science policy and making them ambassadors in the design and delivery of courses, as well as in coordinating and integrating institutional services is crucial to innovative doctoral training and research. Read more
• 27 Nov. 2019
  How “publish or perish” damages doctoral research | Alexander Hasgall, EUA-CDE As early-career researchers strive to publish more and more, research quality and integrity – as well as the researchers themselves - pay a heavy price. EUA-CDE’s Alexander Hasgall discusses a new EUA study on the topic and a way forward for doctoral candidates. Read more
• 01 Oct. 2019
  How doctorates vary across Europe, from the perspective of doctoral candidates | Eva Hnátková, European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers (Eurodoc) Doctorates across Europe differ in rules about admission and employment, requirements for performance, rules for supervision or doctoral dissertation. What are the strong points and where are the challenges? The Eurodoc survey “Doctorates across Europe” provides some answers. Read more
• 28 Aug. 2019
  Doctoral education for the future — drivers and needs for development | Maija Urponen, University of Helsinki The political, cultural and economic environment of universities is changing at an accelerated pace. These dynamics place new demands on higher education. Maija Urponen considers that the rapid technological and environmental changes, digital transformation, and changing structures of work have consequences for the skills needed for successful doctoral careers both inside and outside academia. Specifically, the challenges posed by AI for knowledge production, the adoption of the UN’s SDGs, and the reorganisation of research work will require upskilling and reskilling. Read more
• 25 Jul. 2019
  No future for the doctorate without uptake | Laetus O.K. Lategan , Central University of Technology, Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa This contribution argues that research uptake is essential for doctoral studies. The doctorate is a qualification that serves the needs of academia, government, private and public sectors and social communities. As Laetus O.K. Lategan writes, research uptake addresses the relevance of doctoral research and is a strong reminder of the doctorate’s contribution to the social contract, the usefulness of research for economic development and the imperative to move research away from a mono-disciplinary perspective. The importance of research uptake for doctoral education is based on the meaning, impact and value that new knowledge creation should have as an outcome of the research. Read more
• 12 Jun. 2019
  Doctoral education and the Sustainable Development Goals | Alexander Hasgall, EUA-CDE Doctoral education has a major role to play in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. EUA-CDE Head Alexander Hasgall explores this, as well as how the goals, in turn, can benefit doctoral education. Read more
• 07 Jun. 2019
  New strategies for translating transferable skills into diverse contexts | Pam Denicolo, University of Surrey | Dawn Duke , University of Surrey | Julie Reeves, University of Southampton Despite extensive efforts by universities to embed transferable skills training within doctoral programmes, Pam Denicolo, Dawn Duke and Julie Reeves observe that UK employers across sectors express a lack of key employability skills in doctoral graduates. The authors consider a core issue the lack of guidance on translating these skills into diverse contexts, both within and beyond academia. Read more
• 06 Jun. 2019
  "My thesis in 180 seconds": entertainment, communication and doctoral education | Denis Billotte , Conférence universitaire de Suisse occidentale (CUSO) Over the last decade, a number of public presentation events involving young researchers have bloomed in academia. In French-speaking universities, “Ma thèse en 180 secondes” has become a must. As Denis Billotte of CUSO argues, beyond the entertainment and the promotional aspects, such competitions also have great value for doctoral education. Read more
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