the European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers

ERA-MORE Launching event of the Greek Mobility Centres Network

Thessaloniki, 5 th November 2004

Widening Europe for Young Researchers

Renzo Rubele

President of Eurodoc

What is

e

uro

d

oc ?

E uro d

oc is the federation of the national associations of PhD candidates and junior researchers in Europe Members Individual contacts Applying for membership

Why was e uro d oc founded ?



Bologna



Lisbon

declaration, 1999 strategy, 2000, "3% objective" in R&D  Knowledge-based society: a challenge for Europe  PhD candidates’ associations from Europe met in Uppsala, Sweden, in February 2001  Need for an official frame of representation and discussion at the European level  02 02 -02  Foundation and 1 st annual meeting E uro d oc 2002 in Girona, Spain

How does e uro d oc work ?

 7-member Board  Annual Conference (

Eurodoc 2004

in Athens)  Delegates representing countries from all Europe  Workgroups for a number of priority issues:       PhD Supervision & Training International Mobility Professional Future Labour Conditions Gender Equality Communication

www.eurodoc.net

Mobile researchers: building a value for Europe

     International

dimension

Manifold

ways

of research for a mobility experience   Go out for a research degree Period of stay abroad during a research degree programme     Doctoral networks/joint degrees/co-tutelle arrangements Postdoctoral position Network of scientific collaborations Sabbatical/Leave of absence

Personal

development – new environment Fight inbreeding and bad practices of

localism

Mobility can be also

disciplinary/sectorial

The mobility gradient in Europe



South-north and east-west

 Environment for research  Economic treatment  Academia-industry relationships  Professional future  Visibility and social role

All this is true in general for the Europe-USA relationship

Foreign Ph.D. candidates

Italy Portugal Spain Belgium Austria Finland Sweden Norway UK Switzerland Australia Canada USA 1,1 6,1 5,7 0 10

Source: OECD

12,4 14,2 14,1 14,5 17,3 21,4 20 26,9 30 36,2 34 36,8 40

Bologna Process with

3 tiers

« […] Ministers consider it necessary to go beyond the present focus on two main cycles of higher education to include the doctoral level as the third cycle in the Bologna Process. […] Ministers call for increased mobility at the doctoral and postdoctoral levels and encourage the institutions concerned to increase their cooperation in doctoral studies and the training of young researchers. […] »

Berlin Communiqué of Ministers, 19 th september 2003

The doctorate as the 3

rd

cycle

Evidence

 Doctoral programmes are the link between Higher Education and Research  Everywhere in Europe candidates must defend a thesis in front of a committee, with original research

Problems

 National and local traditions prevail – laws and rules vary a lot among departments and disciplines  To what extent might it be useful to introduce common structures? Similar practice? The ECTS credit system? The Diploma Supplement? Qualification frameworks?

Working Group on International Mobility

 Identification of best practices at the international level  Discussion of relevant problems, exchange of experience  Evaluation of institutions and of the funding agencies  Partecipation in the External Advisory Group of the Marie Curie Actions, public interventions, conferences

http://www.eurodoc.net/workgroups/mobility and surveys on countries…

Reported obstacles to mobility

   Loss of reintegration prospects in the country of origin (9)  Financial issues (10) Bureaucratic/Administrative obstacles (6)  Family-related issues (10) Language problems (5)  Social and Cultural problems (5)  Lack of information (5)  Difficult transfer of social benefits (4)   Lack of international networking (3) Opposition by the supervisor (2)

Defining a professional profile

 Which

identity

for a researcher? Necessity to build on the existing definitions (e.g. Frascati Manual) and deepen our understanding of various practices  What are

duties

and the results of research

rights

? Address the mixing of researching, administrating research and communicating  Consider the various responsibility, …

environments

: disciplinary, geographical, employer type, contract type, position of 

Young

researchers’ concerns: "status" of doctoral candidates, post-docs; openness, perspectives …

e

uro

d

oc Annual Conference Strasbourg, 10-13 march 2005

Web site: http://2005.eurodoc.net

Contact: [email protected]