Go back

Doctoral Studies

Working Group

Chair: Adriana Zait

Adriana Zait is professor and director of the Doctoral School of Economics and Business Administration from University Alexandru Ioan Cuza Iasi, Romania. She holds a PhD in econometrics and teaches business research methods, intercultural management, services marketing and public relations. As PhD theses coordinator in Marketing, she supervised 29 doctoral students from 2007 to the present, and has been member in more than 30 doctoral coordination commissions.

Her main interests are in ensuring an interdisciplinary and intercultural education for doctoral students, in a research environment in quest of a better adaptation to the complexity, volatility and incertitude of our world.

Vice-Chair: Elise Pinta

Head of the Research Career Unit, PhD Elise Pinta is long-standing developer of doctoral training at University of Turku. She holds a PhD in medicinal biochemistry and is also trained as a teacher, rector and university administrator. Pinta has been establishing doctoral programs and graduate school activities, such as university-wide transferable skills training, supervisor training and different mentoring programs. Pinta is also an active player in national and international networks (latest, European University EC2U consortium’s Cotutelle & Doctoral Training Cooperation task force and National ERA4 action group coordinated by Unifi (Council of Rectors of Finnish Universities)).

It was Pinta’s initiative to organise the first national doctoral education day in Finland, now an annual tradition. Her development efforts are currently focused on strengthening cross-sectoral cooperation and supporting the well-being of early-career researchers.

Working Group Focus

Doctoral Studies constitute a key activity and major priority for multi-disciplinary research universities and represent one of the most important contributions of universities to the development of societies, through creative and collaborative approaches. Significant challenges and changes in higher education and substantial reforms of doctoral education and early research careers across Europe are central to the strategies of universities, and the DS WG fully assumes its important role in this process, fostering both rigorous doctoral training and meaningful doctoral research results.

The main remit of the Working Group is on a permanent exchange of information, sharing of best and innovative practice and joint activities of Coimbra Group Universities and corresponding European University Alliances in the organization of doctoral programmes and support of early research careers. We assist Coimbra Group Universities in their aim of increasing participation in European research and education projects and offer our expertise as an excellent basis for possible contributions of the Coimbra Group to European policy-making relating to doctoral studies and early research careers.

Priorities for 2025-2026

  • International collaboration and mobility in doctoral education and research, fostering debates and initiatives for joint programmes, cotutelles, best practices exchanges.
  • Participation in research and education projects.
  • Reaching out to other Coimbra Group WGs for tackling together common interest topics
  • Valorisation of European University Alliances experiences in doctoral education.
  • Permanent focus on:
    • improving doctoral supervision,
    • research communication,
    • inter- and trans-disciplinary doctoral research,
    • supporting academic and non-academic early research careers,
    • reflecting on challenges and trends.

Recent highlights since June 2024

  • DS WG online meetings in November 2024 and March 2025, to discuss previous outcomes, as well as priorities and future activities.
  • DS WG presentation “Doctoral thresholds – could our data predict the abandon rate?”, EUA-CDE Annual Meeting, 26-28 June 2024, Barcelona.
  • Internal analysis on European University Alliances best practices, challenges and future intentions regarding doctoral education and research. Synthesis prepared for the CG Annual Conference in June 2025, Bologna.
  • DS WG poster “Doctoral education and Climate action – challenges and solutions” for the Coimbra Group Climate Symposium, Durham, 24-26 March 2025.
  • Discussions with Eurodoc and EDEN for fostering common activities in the interest of doctoral students and early research careers.
  • Preparing the Coimbra Group 3MT Competition Live Final, 12 June 2025, University of Bologna.
  • Joint meeting with the Coimbra Group Employability WG during the 2025 Annual Conference, University of Bologna, 11 June 2025.

Ongoing/forthcoming activities 2025-2026

  • Important milestones for higher education and doctoral studies, from the creation of Coimbra Group Universities until now – highlighting the DS WG evolution, June 2025.
  • Supporting researchers’ careers: “Round table discussion – After the PhD”, with the participation of CG Universities early career researchers, October 2025.
  • Revisiting the Coimbra Group experiences and member universities mechanisms for joint degrees /cotutelles, end of 2025.
  • Publication of updated results/report from the doctoral supervision work stream, end of 2026.

Contact person at the CG Office: Emmanuelle Gardan (gardan@coimbra-group.eu)