Researchers’ Careers Support and Development18 March 2010 - 19 March 2010

Event overview

The career of doctorate holders is a topic that is of obvious importance. For the doctoral candidate, the issue of choosing a career grows in importance as the day of the thesis defence approaches, which career: academia, industry, NGO or public administration? For the political stakeholders that see research as the path to growth for European societies, employing researchers on the highest level is the key to larger societal developments. The institutions that offer doctoral education play a vital part whether seen from the perspective of the candidate or that of society as a whole. How can institutions provide the support needed for the increasing number of career paths that ever more doctorate holders take?

This is the underlying question of the 2010 spring workshop of the Council for Doctoral Education. With the knowledge that the doctorate is more than the entrance ticket to an academic career and that doctorate holders are increasingly needed in society, how do institutions set up structures that improve the awareness of the numerous career choices, how do they prepare doctoral candidates for a career outside academic research and - not least - how do they communicate the value of the doctorate to potential employees?

The workshop will be centred on a number of concrete practices from the members of the Council for Doctoral Education, dealing with specific issues concerning doctoral careers. It is an opportunity to learn and share experiences.