University-industry links benefit regions
Funded by the EU, the project on 'Promoting Collaborative Doctoral Education for Enhanced Career Opportunities' (DOC-CAREERS II) examined how universities work with businesses and other non-university partners in doctoral education. A Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) Support Action, the project sought to contribute to European Commission objectives: reinforcing human resources in research in Europe and stimulating a culture of mobility and career development for doctorate holders. Its approach built on the results of the previous FP6DOC-CAREERS project, which had found that factors hindering cooperation between academic and business partners were particular to local or regional cultural and economic factors. As a Support Action, the specific goal was to organise regional workshops that would explore ways of implementing the recommendations of FP6 DOC-CAREERS in a local context. A central focus of the project was the employability perspectives of doctorate holders, and how the collaborative nature of their doctoral programme could enhance their career perspectives. DOC-CAREERS II used case studies in the form of presentations and questionnaires to identify common trends and cross-cutting issues. The regional workshops brought together interested research partners in cooperation through doctoral education to share and discuss specific tools and incentives that could have wider application across Europe. A unique characteristic of the workshops was the format of the presentations as they were either “doubleact” (university-doctoral candidate or university-non-university partner) or “triple acts” (university-doctoral candidate or university-non-university partner). One of the positive outcomes of the project efforts was the decision by three universities to further invest in developing a common industrial graduate school. The reported benefits of the workshops included the development and improvement of institutional, regional, national and European codes of practice in collaborative doctoral education. They were also a good platform for participation of small and medium-sized businesses. The organising institutions of the workshops also indicated positive outcomes related to enhanced European networking, promotion of long-term university-business collaboration and assistance in building consortia for funding applications. Other project findings validated the fact that collaborative doctoral programmes contributed to enhanced employability of doctorate holders in the non-academic sector. By boosting research and development capacity of a region, they also helped to enhance the personal and professional development of the local population. The outcomes of DOC-CAREERS II fully validated the findings and conclusions of the FP6 DOC-CAREERS report. As such, there is clear evidence that regional workshops are a useful instrument for fostering university-business research collaborations. The European University Association (EUA) has since then used the results of this project in other activities related to research and innovation, especially in researcher training, employment opportunities and researchers' careers. EUA has also used the outcomes of this project in other projects, such as those entitled 'European Universities Implementing their Modernisation Agenda' (EUIMA), 'Mapping University Mobility of Staff and Students' (MAUNIMO), and 'Accountable Research Environments for Doctoral Education' (ARDE).
Keywords
Regional workshops, collaborative doctoral programme, career opportunities, university-industry relations, employability, education
