EAT2018 Education and Technology PhD Training Network and Summer School (University of Bergen, Norway)

EAT2018 Education and Technology PhD Training Network and Summer School

“Planning a research career from master to Postdoctoral level. Combining  the assets of physical mobility and digital culture.”  

University of Bergen,

15-19 October 2018

Aims: The Education and Technology Research Training Network and Summer School (EAT 2018) aims to explore and  enhance  career opportunities to young doctoral and postdoctoral researchers in the interdisciplinary field of research in Educational Science, Information Technology, and Digital Culture, to foster postdoctoral research careers among participating PhD candidates. Particular attention will be given to exploring the value of developing transferable digital skills and  intercultural skills, as well as of committing to international mobility.

Background: The EAT doctoral network is the result of previous efforts (since 2007 involving close to 300 participants) to internationalise and structure the doctoral research across partners with the aim of improving the scientific quality, international scientific competitiveness of candidates, and improve the professional visibility of young researchers during and after their PhD.

Why EAT2018?: In 2018, junior PhD researchers in this field, more than ever, face serious challenges when considering a postdoctoral career. Among these, the most crucial challenges are (1) to find suitable multidisciplinary support and theoretical access to the pursued doctoral subject, (2) to  acquire and capitalize on transferrable skills and intercultural skills, (3) to integrate efficient research mobility and internationalisation as part of doctoral training, and (4) to achieve high competitiveness for successfully obtaining financial and institution support for postdoctoral research in Europe and elsewhere, e.g., obtaining Marie Curie or being successfully included in ERC grants.

Rationale of EAT2018: In HEIs, prevailing expectations of successfully processing externally funded projects as a priority tend to oversee the strong need for personnel development of young PhD researchers after mid-term and early planning of the transition phase from recently fulfilled PhD to postdoctoral research and research. These challenges need to be addressed more systematically given the tough requirement to attain postdoctoral funding short time after PhD. There are also similar challenges for young postdoc researchers.

Novel approaches and seeding dimension of EAT 2018 : The EAT European doctoral network has been predominantly focusing in previous years on individual process support in PhD project achievement and networking. EAT 2018 will capitalise on previous successes in this area to develop new approaches for increasing the qualification of doctoral candidates after mid-term, as well as offering direct support to participants in their concrete research situation.

EAT2018 activities: Breakfast talk sessions will pool together experts in the field of research career development and junior researchers. Regular sessions will address two interrelated strands: (1) project-specific interaction between junior and senior researchers. Each doctoral and postdoctoral participant will present his/her current project, focusing on the conceptual framework, workflow  and project progress; (2) “myself”-oriented  career interaction, focusing on the participants’ career plans, e.g., mapping opportunities, resources and obstacles. Each dimension will involve briefing and debriefing on a peer-basis by coparticipants. Plenary sessions will be devoted to discussing common issues and sharing findings. Informal events, visits and excursions,  will be organised to foster social interaction between participants.