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.

• 13 May. 2022
  Rethinking doctoral education for careers within and beyond the academy | Anneleen Mortier, Ghent University | Neda Bebiroglu, Observatory of Research and Scientific Careers | Christine Teelken, VU University Amsterdam | Inge van der Weijden, Leiden University | Lynn McAlpine, University of Oxford The training of doctoral candidates remains largely oriented towards academia. Given that increasing numbers of doctorate holders will eventually work beyond the academy, we need to rethink doctoral education. This article proposes several recommendations (‘rethinks’) emerging from empirical studies targeting collaboration, transferable skills and the relations between doctoral candidates and their future employers. Read more
• 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