Eurodoc conference & AGM 2012 Krakow
Eurodoc annual conference and general meeting 2012
Funding – how to acquire scientific grants
The annual conference of Eurodoc took place on March 20 – 25, 2012, in Krakow, Poland. This major European gathering of doctoral candidates, young researchers and policy makers was co-organised with the National Representation of PhD Candidates in Poland (Krajowa Reprezentacja Doktorantów).
During the annual Eurodoc conference in Vilnius, in 2011, we focused on doctoral candidates as the essential link between European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and European Research Area (ERA). In 2012, Eurodoc celebrated 10 years since its founding, with the contribution of a large number of experts and organisations from politics, science, educational administration, higher education, business, and industry.
The Minister of Science and Higher Education of Poland, Prof. Barbara Kudrycka, the Rektors of AGH University, Prof. Antoni Tajduś, and UJ University, Prof. Karol Musioł, along with the Marshal of the Małopolska Region Marek Sowa, the President of KRD, Robert Kiljańczyk and the President of Eurodoc, Ludovic Garattini gave opening addresses. Further
keynote speakers during two plenary sessions (“The role of public and private institutions in the funding of science” and “Academic entrepreneurship, Spin-off companies”) included Dr. Theodore Papazoglou, European Research Council Executive Agency; Prof. Andrzej Jajszczyk, Director of the National Science Centre; David Feltz, Euroscience, Communications officer; Prof. Piotr Sztompka, Jagiellonian University; Prof. Tadeusz Uhl, AGH University of Science and Technology; David Berg, Crowdfunding Europe; Tennie Viedele, Vitae Programme Manager; Dr Anna Belcarz, scientific consortium consisting of UST-AGH of Cracow (leader and coordinator), CM Jagiellonian University of Cracow, Medical University of Lublin and Medical University of Warsaw; Michal Šefara, doctoral candidate, ADS (Slovak PhD and Young Researchers Association).
During roundtables and workshops, Eurodoc delegates and other participants discussed such issues as promoting and raising awareness on Charter & Code among young researchers, job insecurity in academia, alternative sources of funding, and the role of public and private institutions in supporting young doctoral candidates with disabilities.
The most important conclusion of the conference is that there is indeed a new generation in science, that every aspect of both present and future doctoral issues must include this generation, and that a new fashion ERA is only possible with their proactive participation. However, Eurodoc does not forget that traditions are valuable in Europe. Considering both is crucial to understand how we can successfully combine traditions and innovations in research.
Therefore, this conference reinforced the status of Eurodoc as a key partner and main voice for doctoral candidates and young researchers on the European level.
At the Annual General Meeting, which took place on March 23-24, 2012 directly after the annual Eurodoc Conference, a new Eurodoc Board was elected. The new President of Eurodoc is Slobodan Radicev. The new Board will work on strengthening the position of Eurodoc as a well-recognised stakeholder in the ERA and EHEA by representing the voice of Europe’s doctoral candidates and young researchers. The Annual General Meeting took up a resolution aimed at harmonizing the doctoral programs across Europe.
The composition of the newly elected Board is as following:
President: Slobodan Radicev (Serbia)
Vice-president: Ricardo Rosado (Norway)
Secretary: Kristina Majsec (Croatia)
Treasurer: Georgios Papavasileiou (Cyprus)
General Board Member: Dorottya Poczi (Hungary)
General Board Member: Klaudia Czopek (Poland)
General Board Member: Luke Herbert (Denmark)
Eurodoc is pleased to announce that the next Eurodoc Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting will take place in Portugal in March 2013, and is organized by the Portuguese Association of the grant-holding researchers (Associação dos Bolseiros de Investigação Científica). The key theme of the conference will be “Funding – how to acquire scientific grants”. The relevance and importance of Eurodoc and the community it represents is emphasised by increasing recognition of young researchers as core stakeholders and partners in policy debates. Considering the actions taken by the Council at the national and European level during the last few years, our participation is expected to rise significantly in the near future.
Eurodoc conference & AGM 2012 website: www.eurodoc2012.krakow.pl
