The Bologna Process so far has been, understandably, mainly concerned
with the compatibility of structures and the mobility of people. In his
presentation to Ministers in Bergen, EUA President, Professor Georg
Winckler, underlined the importance of linking the Bologna Process to
the needs and challenges of the emerging knowledge society and
specifically to the EU’s Lisbon goals.
One of the main ways that EUA is engaged in demonstrating the
importance of linking these processes is through a continued emphasis on
the unique role of universities in doctoral education and training the
promotion of researcher careers. The important innovative feature of the
EUA project on “Doctoral
Programmes” completed in autumn 2005 was the “evidence-based”
dialogue established between its forty-nine university partners and
higher education policy makers on the present landscape of doctoral
training, current practices and issues for reform.
The key event in 2005 was the Salzburg Conference (February 2005), an
official “Bologna Seminar” which identified “ten basic principles” for
the future development of doctoral programmes. The results of this
conference fed into the drafting of and are, indeed, reflected in the
Bergen Communiqué which formally requests EUA to prepare a report on
doctoral programmes for the London Ministerial meeting in 2007. EUA has
now launched a series of activities in this area for 2006, designed to
ensure broad discussion and further development of the work done
hitherto, working together with the Austrian and French governments, EURODOC and ESU.
EUA activities include two workshops focused on specific aspects of
doctoral programmes; a working group on the funding of doctoral
programmes and doctoral candidates at the conference 'A
Researchers Labour Market - a Pole of Attraction' on 1-2 June 2006
in Vienna; and a final Bologna Seminar. The main objectives of these
activities are to share examples of good practice from universities
across Europe and to disseminate the results of the EUA Doctoral
Programmes Project and the Salzburg recommendations.
• The first
workshop 
which was held in Brussels from 23-24 March 2006
focused on two aspects of doctoral programmes: the supervision,
monitoring and assessment of doctoral programmes; and generic
(transferable) skills training and its relation to learning outcomes and
employability.
Presentations
from the first workshop
• The second workshop took place in Brussels from 26-27 October 2006,
and focused on the organisation of graduate/doctoral/research schools
and their place in the global competition; the link between the Master
and the doctoral level; the European dimension and mobility.
Presentations
from the second workshop
• The final Bologna
Seminar on doctoral programmes was hosted by the University of
Nice, 7-8 December 2006. It brought together all main actors to draw
conclusions, look at policy implications and prepare recommendations for
the Ministerial meeting in London 2007.
Presentations
and results from the Seminar