Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DocTalent4EU (Transforming Europe Through Doctoral Talent and Skills Recognition)
Período documentado: 2023-01-01 hasta 2023-09-30
DocTalent4EU is a two-year HORIZON EUROPE funded project aimed at improving training and career development for PhD candidates.
While the number of researchers in Europe has increased substantially in the last years, this growth was higher for junior research positions than for senior research positions (European Commission, 2021).
Given that junior positions are often associated with more precarious conditions (Hnatkova et al., 2022) and do not necessarily lead to permanent contracts, it is crucial that doctoral programmes develop training curricula and services preparing PhD candidates for careers both within and outside academia.
Building from the results of DocEnhance, a previous Horizon project, DocTalent4EU will enhance transversal skills training and career development of PhD candidates by focusing on four interrelated pillars:
Pillar 1: Boosting skills intelligence and identifying the most demanded transversal skills
Pillar 2: Developing an interdisciplinary curriculum on selected transversal skills
Pillar 3: Implementing a digital credential system to facilitate and boost recognition of skills
earned during the PhD
Pillar 4: Providing career orientation support through the creation of local talent management
services.
To ensure that the activities developed as part of DocTalent4EU will benefit PhD candidates that will pursue careers outside of academia, the consortium will establish tight cooperation with stakeholders from industry, and public and social sectors. The results and outcomes of the project will be summarised in clear guidelines and policy recommendations with the aim of building capacity and informing policies in the domain of doctoral education.
While the number of researchers in Europe has increased substantially in the last years, this growth was higher for junior research positions than for senior research positions (European Commission, 2021).
Given that junior positions are often associated with more precarious conditions (Hnatkova et al., 2022) and do not necessarily lead to permanent contracts, it is crucial that doctoral programmes develop training curricula and services preparing PhD candidates for careers both within and outside academia.
Building from the results of DocEnhance, a previous Horizon project, DocTalent4EU will enhance transversal skills training and career development of PhD candidates by focusing on four interrelated pillars:
Pillar 1: Boosting skills intelligence and identifying the most demanded transversal skills
Pillar 2: Developing an interdisciplinary curriculum on selected transversal skills
Pillar 3: Implementing a digital credential system to facilitate and boost recognition of skills
earned during the PhD
Pillar 4: Providing career orientation support through the creation of local talent management
services.
To ensure that the activities developed as part of DocTalent4EU will benefit PhD candidates that will pursue careers outside of academia, the consortium will establish tight cooperation with stakeholders from industry, and public and social sectors. The results and outcomes of the project will be summarised in clear guidelines and policy recommendations with the aim of building capacity and informing policies in the domain of doctoral education.
DocTalent4EU focused on identifying the most needed skills for doctoral candidates to fit with the current labor market. The project analyzed around 300 job ads relevant for PhDs and 89 answers from the non-academic sector to their survey. Face-to-face interviews with industrial representatives were also conducted. 8 most needed transferable skills (according to ESCO definition) for PhD candidates to join the workforce were identified.
We pioneered the development of a comprehensive framework to establish meaningful connections between employer requirements in job offers and sets of transferable skills. This framework laid the foundation for a cutting-edge model that utilizes deep learning systems to predict the essential skills for Early Career Researchers to enter the job market.
DocTalent4EU aimed to generate three pilot courses covering transversal skills that have not been previously addressed. After analyzing available courses from project partners and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) platforms, the selection of the initially planned transversal skills was justified. The courses are being designed to be delivered in two rounds (winter 2023 and summer 2024).
The project also aimed to create a common system to recognize the transferable skills and competencies that PhD candidates developed during their doctoral programme through the development of digital credentials (DocTalent4EU credentials). The process for issuing DocTalent4EU digital credentials has been effectively implemented. Initial testing has been carried out by 2 universities among the consortium. Internal promotion of the digital credentials, along with assured institutional support, has been achieved. The inaugural webinar on digital credential issuance provided a hands-on demonstration of the process.
Another important goal of DocTalent4EU is to improve career development for PhD candidates through relevant service provisions and training opportunities, and to organize the activities within the frame of a Talent Management Centre. The consortium mapped existing resources and local needs for career development support to PhD candidates at each partner institution, and developed a methodology for creating local Talent Management Centres at each partner institution. They also published a Catalogue of Services to be provided through the Talent Management Centre.
We pioneered the development of a comprehensive framework to establish meaningful connections between employer requirements in job offers and sets of transferable skills. This framework laid the foundation for a cutting-edge model that utilizes deep learning systems to predict the essential skills for Early Career Researchers to enter the job market.
DocTalent4EU aimed to generate three pilot courses covering transversal skills that have not been previously addressed. After analyzing available courses from project partners and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) platforms, the selection of the initially planned transversal skills was justified. The courses are being designed to be delivered in two rounds (winter 2023 and summer 2024).
The project also aimed to create a common system to recognize the transferable skills and competencies that PhD candidates developed during their doctoral programme through the development of digital credentials (DocTalent4EU credentials). The process for issuing DocTalent4EU digital credentials has been effectively implemented. Initial testing has been carried out by 2 universities among the consortium. Internal promotion of the digital credentials, along with assured institutional support, has been achieved. The inaugural webinar on digital credential issuance provided a hands-on demonstration of the process.
Another important goal of DocTalent4EU is to improve career development for PhD candidates through relevant service provisions and training opportunities, and to organize the activities within the frame of a Talent Management Centre. The consortium mapped existing resources and local needs for career development support to PhD candidates at each partner institution, and developed a methodology for creating local Talent Management Centres at each partner institution. They also published a Catalogue of Services to be provided through the Talent Management Centre.