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The EUA Council for Doctoral Education has developed this publication at a time when global challenges such as the climate crisis and the need to build a more sustainable planet, together with emerging opportunities (e.g. digitalisation), have led universities to a deep reflection on how doctoral education can further progress and remain open and observant of the core values of academia.
This also marks almost two decades since the Salzburg Principles set the foundations for important reforms in doctoral education. Since then, the landscape of doctoral education in Europe has significantly evolved with regard to its form and content.
This document analyses intrinsic and extrinsic drivers that shape the future of doctoral education in Europe and suggests possible ways forward for universities to meet current and future challenges in this key area.
It also serves as a source of reflection for universities that wish to keep their strategies and processes up to date in a fast-changing world.
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For the European higher education sector, the past five years have seen many changes and transformations, some gradual, others more drastic and disruptive. ...
The European University Association (EUA) calls on European and national policy makers to make a substantial leap forward in supporting transnational university cooperation including the alliances und ...
Postdoctoral researchers are important contributors to European higher education, playing significant roles in research, but also in teaching and societal engagement. ...
The general context in which the European University Association’s Strategic Plan ‘Europe’s Universities Shaping the Future’, was developed has shifted, in some respects dramatically so. ...
Higher education and research form the backbone of European innovation and development, and with it, the EU’s global competitiveness and long-term ambitions to tackle complex societal challenges. ...
This report analyses external drivers of change in six dimensions (political, economic, social, legal, technological and environmental) and outlines four different forecasts of possible futures for tr ...
In recent years, co-tutelles de thèse have become increasingly popular among universities in Europe in the area of doctoral education as one of the main components of their internationalisation strat ...
This publication provides an up-to-date overview of important developments in doctoral education in Europe. It serves as a follow-up publication to the previous large-scale study “Doctoral education ...
Tento kľúčový dokument je výsledkom rozsiahlych konzultácií a rokovaní s členmi a partnermi EUA počas šesťmesačného obdobia v roku 2020. Presadzuje víziu odolných a efektívnych univer ...
This seminal document is the result of extensive consultations and deliberations with EUA members and partners over a six-month period in 2020. It sets out a vision of resilient and effective universi ...
The process to renew the European Research Area (ERA) is gathering pace and is set to continue in the coming weeks, months and years. Building on previous policy positions, this policy input further e ...
In recent years, European universities and other stakeholders have taken interest in career tracking in doctoral education as one of the ways to better understand the potential professional future of ...
EUA is the largest and most extensive association of universities in Europe. Discover its work and the various membership opportunities in this brochure. ...
This EUA-CDE report presents the results of an extensive and unique study on the state of play of doctoral education in Europe. Offering findings gathered from more than 300 institutions across Europe ...
The purpose of this document is to provide guidelines for the continued implementation of reforms in doctoral education building on the Salzburg Principles and Recommendations. It is directed at ...
As defined in the Salzburg Recommendations, internationalisation is a significant component of developing the quality of research and of doctoral education within universities. At the s ...
The project “Promoting Collaborative Doctoral Education for Enhanced Career Opportunities” (DOC-CAREERS II) looked at how universities work with their business and other non-university partne ...
European Universities met in Antwerp on 16-17 April 2015 to discuss the role of European universities in research and innovation around three main axes: "People, Policies and Partnerships". Discussion ...
Major concrete results have been achieved by EUA with its large membership in moving forward the implementation of European Research Area policies and raising further awareness of their importance. Su ...
Quality assurance and doctoral education have been elements of the Bologna Process since the 2003 ministerial meeting in Berlin, but until rather recently, they have been developing on two differ ...
Abstract The ORPHEUS/AMSE1/WFME2 PhD standards document, published January 2012, is a practical tool for quality assurance of PhD programmes. Another document, the new PhD principles document: &ldquo ...
The starting point for the CODOC project was the need to develop a new, global approach to doctoral education, taking into account the development of new means of communication and easi ...
European universities met in Aarhus from 12-15 April 2011 to discuss the centrality of nurturing greater numbers of talented individuals to the mission of universities and to securing E ...
In 2005, the Salzburg Principles were established in the Bologna Process as the basis of the reforms for doctoral education. In the half decade that has passed since then, Europe’s univers ...
Bei einem Treffen der europäischen Universitäten vom 18.–21. März 2009 in Prag wurde das Thema „Globale Herausforderungen annehmen – Europäische Strategien für europäische Universitäten ...
European universities met in Prague from 18-21 March 2009 to discuss the topic “Facing Global Challenges: European strategies for European universities“. We also addressed the prese ...
The EUA Charter has been elaborated on the basis of extensive consultation, not only with EUA’s 800 member universities and 34 national Rectors’ Conferences, but also with a wide range o ...
This report, “Collaborative Doctoral Education: University-Industry Partnerships for Enhancing Knowledge Exchange” presents the findings of the project “DOC-CAREERS: From Innovati ...
At the first-ever global meeting on graduate education, "The Strategic Leaders Global Summit on Graduate Education" held in Banff, Canada on August 31, 2007, higher education leaders from North Americ ...
Doctoral education is a major priority for European universities and for EUA. In the context of the Bologna Process the importance of doctoral education as the third cycle of higher education and ...
The Lisbon Declaration results from the discussions that took place during the fourth EUA Convention of Higher Education Institutions hosted by the five Lisbon universities and the Portugues ...
Taking forward the commitments made in the Glasgow Declaration, the EUA General Assembly adopted at its annual meeting in Hamburg a document entitled “A Vision and Strategy for Europe’s Universiti ...
This report aims to provide EUA members and other stakeholders in higher education and research with a broad view of the current landscape of doctoral programmes in Europe. EUA is grateful t ...
The Glasgow Declaration results from the debates that took place during the third EUA Convention of Higher Education Institutions hosted by the three Glasgow universities from 31 March to 2 April 2005 ...
The Bologna Seminar on ''Doctoral Programmes for the European Knowledge Society'' provided the first major forum to discuss the new Action Line in the Bologna Process entitled “European Higher Educa ...
The Graz Declaration is the major EUA policy document resulting from the 2nd Convention of European Higher Education Institutions hosted by the three universities in Graz from 28-3 ...
Over 300 European higher education institutions and their main representative organisations gathered in Salamanca on 29-30 March 2001. Their purpose was to prepare their input to the Pr ...
The European University Association is pleased to announce that it is strengthening its Secretariat with the appointment of a new senior team member. ...
In a joint statement, the European University Association (EUA), the Young European Research Universities Network (YERUN), Aurora Universities, The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universiti ...
The European University Association (EUA) has joined the “Improving Research Ethics Expertise and Competencies to Ensure Reliability and Trust in Science” (iRECS) project. ...
Last week, the EUA Council for Doctoral Education has released a new publication entitled “Building the Foundations of Research - a Vision for the Future of Doctoral Education in Europe” that iden ...
The EuroScience Open Forum 2022 (ESOF2022) will take place from 13 to 16 July 2022 in Leiden, the Netherlands. Several EUA colleagues will organise and contribute to various sessions during the confer ...
EUA-CDE has published a new report on the findings of the 2020 Thematic Peer Group on “Co-tutelles and Joint Doctorates”. The report outlines the conclusions of this second EUA-CDE Thematic Peer ...
The University of Aveiro in Portugal organises an intensive training session on Innovation and Global Engagement in Doctoral Education from 25 to 27 March. Registrations are open until 31 January. ...
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, ...
Registrations for the 11th EUA-CDE Annual Meeting “Excellence through diversity: Doctoral education in a globalised world” are now open. The event will be hosted by the University of Ljubljana on ...
Implementing an ethos of research integrity has become a crucial challenge for academic leaders and professionals working on doctoral education. Universities are facing uncharted ethical questions ste ...
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Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) has become an important area of activity for universities across Europe, not least due to their key role in advancing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and ...
The 2024 EUA-CDE Thematic Workshop addressed the multiple dimensions of leadership in doctoral education. To meet today’s large-scale, complex societal challenges and to respond to the big transform ...
The 2024 EUA-CDE Annual Meeting focused on the topic of data from various perspectives. Hosted by the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, it discussed this topic by looking into the available data on ...
Photos taken during the event are now available! The 2023 EUA-CDE Annual Meeting will focus on the different dimensions of communication in doctoral education and developing comprehen ...
The 2023 EUA-CDE Thematic Workshop will focus on how universities can develop a strategic approach to sustainability in doctoral education, while maintaining key principles and values. Topics ...
The EUA Council for Doctoral Education is organising an online focus group on 20 January. The event contributes to the development of a new EUA-CDE vision paper on the future of doctoral educa ...
The 2022 EUA-CDE Annual Meeting ddressed the question of time and timing, taking a close look at this key issue for doctoral education. Through workshops and sessions in various format ...
In the light of the current coronavirus pandemic, the EUA Council for Doctoral Education (EUA-CDE) chose to replace the 2020 EUA-CDE Annual Meeting with a series of online sessions and a webin ...
Nowadays, doctoral candidates pursue different careers both inside and outside of academia. Many will become highly qualified knowledge workers for the public and private sectors, while others ...
Recording of the webinar is available on the EUA YouTube Channel. Doctoral education is at the forefront for the future of research, but how does its current landscape look like today in Euro ...
The Annual Meeting of EUA-CDE is the largest and most comprehensive event dedicated to European doctoral education. It is an opportunity for all stakeholders in doctoral education from Europe ...
The EUA-CDE thematic workshops provide a forum for exchange and discussion between members. The tenth edition focused on ethics and integrity in doctoral education and research training. ...
The EUA Council for Doctoral Education (EUA-CDE) was proud to present its 10th annual meeting, titled ‘Doctoral Education and Harnessing Digital Possibilities’. The event was hosted by Tal ...
The EUA-CDE Thematic Workshop on doctoral education reform in Europe reflected on the impact and outcomes of newly implemented practices and institutional structures. ...
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of EUA-CDE, the Meeting highlights diversity as an enduring characteristic and strength of doctoral education in Europe. ...
The 2019 EUA-CDE Annual Meeting explored the many aspects involved in the larger social contribution of doctoral candidates and doctoral schools and their exchange with various sectors of soci ...
The 2019 EUA-CDE Thematic Workshop will focus on inter-institutional collaboration in doctoral education. Participants will reflect on how universities with different goals and levels of devel ...
A new Finnish pilot scheme for doctoral programmes offers a transformative model for higher education, emphasising interdisciplinarity, real-world relevance and mental health support, states Minna Hen ...
For Anders Ahlbäck, universities must embrace inter- and transdisciplinary education to equip students with the skills to tackle sustainability challenges. Here, he presents an approach to achieving ...
The culture of interdisciplinarity and co-creation is one of the strongest assets of research and innovation in the quest for sustainability. As honest brokers and exponents of this approach, universi ...
Universities must rethink the way they address digital transformation. Strategic planning must evolve to take advantage of opportunities in the digital world and organisations must learn to use data m ...
The emotional health of students in Europe is receiving increased attention. Here, Valérie Van Hees and Ronny Bruffaerts reflect on the existing European landscape and introduce a new project to supp ...
In May 2022, the world of higher education met for the first UNESCO World Higher Education Conference in over a decade. Here, after returning from the event in Barcelona, EUA’s Thomas Jørgensen rec ...
What will the future hold in terms of geopolitics, digitalisation and democracy? How will this affect universities? This University World News piece delves into different scenarios, offering a reflect ...
A new EUA study reveals that higher education institutions in Europe are highly engaged in activities that address environmental challenges and the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ...
Sustainability is an important issue for universities. At Trinity College Dublin, the current strategic plan articulates sustainability as a priority supported by two goals: alignment to the UN Sustai ...
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the European University Association, Andrée Sursock analyses two decades of transformation and renewal in Europe’s higher education landscape, and charts ...
Students from disadvantaged and marginalised backgrounds still struggle to participate in higher education. Covid-19 has made inclusion even more difficult. EUA expert Luisa Bunescu discusses three so ...
As the world faces complex challenges, universities are taking the time to reflect about the future strategically. How do we want Europe’s universities to look in ten years? What should be their rol ...
The Covid-19 pandemic presents new challenges for inclusive teaching. This article shares the experience of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy and discusses how to act towards inclusi ...
We enter into a New Year, a world more enriched and more impoverished than just 12 months ago. We have endured great loss of life, a heavy burden of illness and deep economic shock. Yet, lessons from ...
In a rapidly-changing labour market, how can students be prepared to be citizens of the world, as well as the future job creators and workers? Wyn Morgan and Catherine O’Mahony look at the definitio ...
The radical digitalisation of higher education due to the Covid-19 crisis offers an opportunity to engage in deeper institutional change addressing the digital and green transitions. As Natalia Timus ...
The Bologna Follow-up Group has developed a new strategic document that defines ten principles and guidelines to strengthen the social dimension of higher education in Europe. Ninoslav Scukanec Schmid ...
The coronavirus pandemic demonstrates the renewed importance of universities’ civic engagement, whether it takes the form of a direct contribution to healthcare, research on the virus, or explaining ...
Diversity is, as much as excellence, the strength of our universities. Mathieu Schneider from the University of Strasbourg highlights the need for a new narrative, giving concrete examples of how to m ...
The Erasmus+ Programme prescribes affirmative action in favour of disadvantaged students. Unfortunately, it works much less effectively than the European Commission intends. Howard Davies discusses a ...
A new year brings new opportunities to address global challenges. EUA President Michael Murphy addresses university leaders and the crucial role of higher education in discovering solutions to urgent ...
As societies transform, diversity is becoming a key concern for higher education institutions across Europe, impacting learning and teaching, research and institutional cultures. EUA’s Thomas E. Jø ...
The Global Convention on Recognition will provide a strong instrument for higher education institutions in dealing with the increasing global mobility of students. Allan Bruun Pedersen, Vice-President ...
Universities together with business partners are the motors of regional development. As EUA’s Lidia Borrell-Damian and Thomas Jorgensen explain, by fostering the link between education, research and ...
Why should sustainable development be on universities’ agendas? Monika Skadborg from the European Students’ Union discusses the purpose of higher education institutions and why it is strategically ...
Universities have a key role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and it is clear that they are ready to face the challenge. However, as EUA’s Thomas Jorgensen explains, universities still ...
Research and innovation benefit from diversity in all respects. As Lokesh Joshi of the National University of Ireland, Galway and Elmer Sterken of the University of Groningen discuss, it is key to unt ...
In 2019, we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of EU activities to advance gender equality in research. Marcela Linkova from the Czech Centre for Gender and Science and Chair of ERAC Standing Workin ...
Access to education holds great potential for refugees, especially women. Dr Sezer Ş. Komsuoğlu of the Turkish Council of Higher Education discusses what her country is doing to support Syrian women ...
It is at the apex of higher education, research and innovation, but issues around integrity and employability must be addressed for doctoral education to continue to thrive, says Luke Georghiou. Ambi ...
In the Upper Rhine region, the universities of Basel, Freiburg, Haute-Alsace and Strasbourg together with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology are breaking new ground in cross-border cooperation. The ...
“Yebo! Development of the Internationalization of PhD Studies in South-Africa” (2017-20) is an Erasmus+ funded project focused on further developing the internationalisation of doctoral education ...
The FRINDOC project was managed by a consortium of six partners, coordinated by EUA, and consisting of the University of Hong Kong, Stellenbosch University, Imperial College London, the University of ...
Europe’s universities are increasingly developing partnerships in their research and innovation missions, embracing the “Open Innovation model” of university-business collaboration and seeking t ...
At the meeting point between higher education and research and in support of early career researchers, doctoral education plays a key role in addressing the key challenges that research currently face ...
The European University Association’s Council for Doctoral Education (EUA-CDE) is inviting applications from member universities to host key events in 2026 and 2027. ...
The call for participation for the 2025 EUA-CDE Thematic Peer Group on “Doctoral schools: building bridges beyond academia” is now open. ...
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