EU-CHINA DOC Conference and Workshop on European Doctoral Education and EU-China Dialogue and Coopera

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1 EU-CHINA DOC Conference and Workshop on European Doctoral Education and EU-China Dialogue and Cooperation in Doctoral Education & Research Vrije Universiteit Brussel 8-9 May 2014 EU-CHINA DOC Conference and Workshop on European Doctoral Education and EU-China Dialogue and Cooperation in Doctoral Education has been successfully held at VUB on 8-9 May It is the second official conference and workshop of the EU-CHINA DOC, which is an EU Erasmus Mundus Action 3 project, financially supported by the Erasmus Mundus programme of the European Union. More than 100 participants including administrators, policy makers, academic staff and PhD students from EU countries and China have attended the conference and workshops. On 8 th May, Prof. Dr. Jan Cornelis, Vice Rector of VUB addressed the welcome and opening remarks. Prof. Cui Yanqiang, Vice Rector of Southwest University in China addressed the opening remarks on behalf of Chinese universities. The opening session was followed by keynote speeches by Mrs. Monika Holik, Head of Unit, Erasmus Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), Mr. Jianmin LI, Minister-Counsellor, The PRC Mission to the EU, Mr. Przemyslaw Jankowski, Policy Officer, Research careers, Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions, DG Education and Culture, European Commission, Mr. Dirk Van Melkebeke, Secretary General of the Department of Economy, Science and Innovation (EWI), the Flemish Government and Prof. Wen Xu from Southwest University. In the afternoon, both European and Chinese speakers presented their views on doctoral education and training: societal significances and research collaboration between university, industry and social actors, followed by the Round Table on Cooperation Opportunities in Doctoral Education and Research: Chinese and European universities stakeholders. Prof. Dr. Jan Cornelis, vice rector of VUB, welcomed all EU and Chinese partners to attend this EU-China DOC conference. He highlighted the fruitful outcomes of the first conference and workshop in Peking University and the importance of doctoral education cooperation in the international context. The EU-China DOC project has taken the initiatives to analyze the similarities and differences of doctoral education of European and Chinese systems, and the

2 stakeholders from both sides collaborated closely and discussed the issues of structuring and social relevance of doctoral education in detail. Furthermore, he referred to the report Beijing Recommendations on structuring doctoral education as one of the results of the Beijing workshops. On behalf of the Chinese partner universities, Prof. Dr. Cui Yanqiang, Vice Rector of Southwest University expressed sincere thanks to VUB, the coordinator of the project, for organizing the conference. He mentioned the four pillars set up by the UNESCO for education: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be. In order to achieve this goal, it is important to promote the intercultural exchange and cooperation. Built on the existing EU-China educational cooperation, it is necessary for higher education institutions in EU and China to set up a cooperation and exchange platform that can operate steadily. The EU-China DOC project provides such a good platform. Prof. Cui put forth two suggestions for this project. First, inviting and providing more chances for university faculty deans to join and pay more attention to this project. Second, synergies can be reached to facilitate EU-China academic cooperation, for example, many universities in China require that faculty members under the age of 40 should have overseas academic exchange experience. Therefore, the project can benefit more people by extending its target groups. He quoted the Confucius' saying: we are friends, we are family. Mr. Jianmin LI, Minister-Counselor, Mission of PRC to the European Union, warmly congratulated the opening of the Conference. He said that the launch of China-EU High-Level People-to-People Dialogue (HPPD) in 2012 was a milestone of China-EU relations. Mr. Li shared with us four important trends: first, a number of regular cooperation mechanisms have been set up; second, the China-EU cooperation in education has been expanding both in depth and width; third, our cooperation in jointly-run institutions and programs has been gaining momentum; fourth, the number of exchange students keeps increasing dramatically. Mrs. Monika Holik, Head of Unit, Erasmus+, Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), gave a very comprehensive presentation on the Erasmus+ programme of the European Commission. The Erasmus+ programme aims to enhance quality in higher education through scholarships and academic cooperation between Europe and the rest of the world. She introduced the three actions of Erasmus+: Joint programmes, Partnerships and Attractiveness projects. These actions also aimed at fostering the dialogue between the academic world and the policy-makers, in particular with the aim of enhancing governance of EU policies. It also aims to enhance the role of the EU in the globalised world and in promoting an active European citizenship and dialogue between people and cultures. Mr. Przemyslaw Jankowski, Policy Officer, Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA), DG Education and Culture, European Commission, introduced comprehensively the MSCA and its funding schemes for all stages of researchers' careers, from PhD candidates to highly experienced researchers. The MSCA encourages transnational, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary mobility. Several MSCA initiatives promote the involvement of industry in doctoral and post-doctoral research. Both single researchers and institutions can be involved in MSCA. Currently there are more than 300 researchers from China involved in MSCA doctoral programs. There are 312

3 institutions from China involved in doctoral programs of MSCA in cooperation with EU partners. Mr. Dirk Van Melkebeke, Secretary General of the Department of Economy, Science and Innovation (EWI), The Flemish Government, introduced the actors in the EWI policy area: public authorities, Advisory councils, other advisory bodies, and Royal academies. He also introduced the Research and innovation plan in Flanders in 2014, including 1) Research & Development (R&D) funds, which amount to 1.35 billion euro in 2014; 2) R&D expenses (in 2012 Flanders spent more than 5,204 million euro on R&D), the R&D intensity (R&D expenses related to the GD(R)P) amounted to 2.42%; 3) R&D personnel, the number of people employed in R&D has increased by about 13.7% since 2007 to 40,883 full-time equivalents in 2012; 4) R&D PhDs: in the past five years, the number of awarded PhDs in Flanders has increased more than 53%. Prof. Dr. Cui Yanqiang, Vice President and Prof. Dr. Wen Xu from Southwest University gave a presentation on Doctoral Education in China. They introduced the landscape, the concepts, system requirements and regulations of doctoral education in China. The presentation also elaborated on the comparative vision of European and Chinese doctoral education and the expectations for EU-China Cooperation in doctoral education. At the session of Doctoral education: societal significances and research collaboration, Joanne Byrne presented the experiences in European doctoral education on behalf of EUA. The EUA -Council for Doctoral Education (CDE) aims at the development of doctoral schools, doctorate-specific policy development. The EUA-CDE has involved in other European projects on doctoral education, which aims to develop evidence-based policies, to advocate policies and to promote the development of university capacity in doctoral education. Dr. Matthias Vanhullebusch from Shanghai Jiaotong University shared their experiences of developing joint programs with European partners. He elaborated issues such as the terminology of joint degrees or dual degrees, the procedures of developing joint programs, and the specific experiences from the RUCHIN program, which is a cross-disciplinary joint-dual Doctoral Programme. Prof. Dr. John Taylor from University of Liverpool emphasized on issues related to EU-China links in doctoral education. He pointed out a number of practical issues and problems, such as different views on the nature and content of the doctorate, motivations of universities, practical support and administrative issues, exclusivity, continuity, perceptions of rankings, fees, need for leadership, genuine partnerships around common interests, networking and cultural awareness. Dr. Ray Wallace of CVAS triggered further the discussion on the PhD Graduate the hidden talents that lie within. He showed some of the facts to consider and raised the question of Why should we turn our attention to hidden talents? Dr. Wallace listed some salient points appertaining to China. Among other key issues, it is argued that developing complex interactive and intellectual skills is a key goal in producing highly marketable non-research orientated graduates who will play important roles in the society at large. The insights shared provided a perfect stimulation for the all-round discussions at the workshop on PhD skills.

4 Prof. Dr. Chang Zhu, head of EU-China Higher Education Research Center, the EU-China DOC Project coordinator, presented the first findings of a survey conducted among Chinese and European stakeholders on doctoral education. The survey is jointly conducted by VUB and the University of Tampere. Prof. Dr. Yuzhuo Cai from University of Tampere also explained the findings of this study. The perceptions of European and Chinese stakeholders on the differences and similarities of doctoral education are interpreted and the expectations for cooperation on doctoral education were also elaborated. The results show great interests from both sides regarding cooperation in this field, including more opportunities for joint or double programs, academic exchanges, quality improvement, financial support, etc. Prof. dr. Karen Francois, Director of Doctoral School of Human Sciences, VUB, gave a very comprehensive summary of the conference and Prof. Jiayong Li from Beijing Normal University, also highlighted the progress achieved on the first day of the conference. The participants were actively engaged in two parallel workshops on 9 th May. The workshops focused on two themes: Doctoral education structure and supervision facilitated by Prof. dr. Karen Francois, VUB, and PhD skills Potentials and Beyond facilitated by Dr. Ray Wallace. The workshops were interactive and conclusions were summarized based on the input from all participants. On Doctoral education supervision, the expectations from three key stakeholders were summarized: PhD students, supervisors and policy makers. On Doctoral education structure, the Beijing recommendations were further discussed and enhanced by the Beijing Brussels Recommendations, in which 12 recommendations were put forth. The new Beijing Brussels Recommendations include: 1. Requirements for selection of PhD candidates 2. Establish the procedures and roles of team supervision and encourage the involvement of international supervisor team 3. Provide institutional regulations and administrative support for joint supervision or joint degrees 4. Provide transferable skills (both academic and professional) trainings for candidates and make the link to non-academic work; support career development 5. Offer courses for doctoral candidates to enhance research skill (theory and methodology) and academic writing skills 6. Establish a code of conduct for supervision to clarify roles and responsibilities and provide trainings to professionalize supervision 7. Provide a working environment to assure a good research-work balance given the different tasks of doctoral candidates 8. Establish Doctoral schools and assure dedicated professional administration according the specific need of doctoral candidates (PhD office) 9. Assure appropriate Representation of Doctoral Candidates in the decision making bodies to give them a voice and involved in the design of curriculum 11. Strive for international attractive curricula 12. Foster international mobility such as stays abroad, conferences and fora Both European and Chinese participants of the workshop PhD skills Potentials and Beyond

5 elaborated their views on expectations of the doctoral process, the employment market expectations, the competences (including professionalism, scientific ability and personal knowledge, and core skills) required through doctoral training. The following core skills are highlighted: cooperation, organizational, and acquisition skills. In order to reach these goals, some generic training will be beneficial: emotional intelligence & people management; managing ambiguity, entrepreneur skills & responsiveness to change; leadership & commercial awareness. At the closing session, the participants had the opportunity to hear the vision from Mr. Bernard Dewit, Chairman of BCECC, regarding the link between doctoral education and industry, the perspectives of Dr. Thomas Jorgensen, EUA, regarding collaboration and competition in doctoral education in the global world. The two-day conference and workshops generated fruitful discussion, outcomes, recommendations and cooperation opportunies. Prof. Dr. Jan Cornelis, Vice Rector of international policy, VUB, thanked all participants for their valuable input and stressed the significance of further collaboration in the field of doctoral education between the EU and China. Shanghai Jiaotong University, partner of the project, welcomes all participants to join the next EU-China DOC conference and workshop in Shanghai, China, November, 2014.

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