Europe’s long game starts with doctoral talent: are we investing enough?
30 April 2026
Emmanuelle Gardan, Coimbra Group Brussels Office Director
As competitiveness, security and strategic autonomy increasingly dominate Europe’s political agenda, doctoral education rarely makes headlines. Yet it is decisive for all three. The launch of the first European Doctoral Day next month, on 13 May, offers a timely opportunity to shift this trend and give doctoral education the public attention it deserves. It should also prompt a straightforward question: is Europe investing in doctoral talent at a level that matches its ambitions?
Today’s doctoral researchers will become tomorrow’s academic, industrial, business and public sector leaders. They will drive the green and digital transitions, discover new therapies and medicines, strengthen Europe’s technological leadership, educate future generations and translate knowledge into societal impact. Doctoral training may operate largely out of the public spotlight, but it quietly shapes Europe’s long-term capacity to innovate, adapt and lead future transformations. Engaging wider society in a discussion on doctoral education is therefore not merely symbolic. It is a strategic priority.
This has long been clear to the Coimbra Group. For research‑ and education‑intensive universities such as those that make up our network, doctoral studies are a core institutional mission and one of the most meaningful contributions universities make to societal development. Since 2007, we have consistently emphasised that doctoral education is a cornerstone linking the European Higher Education Area and the European Research Area. It is neither a short‑term labour‑market instrument nor an add‑on to higher education. Rather, it is the space where research excellence, intellectual independence, critical thinking and academic integrity are formed.
Our dynamic Doctoral Studies Working Group actively supports practical exchange and cooperation among our members while tackling the main challenges facing doctoral education today. Its work focuses on improving the quality and recognition of doctoral supervision, strengthening doctoral researchers’ research communication skills, encouraging inter‑ and trans‑disciplinary doctoral research and accompanying early research careers within and beyond academia. But also on keeping a close eye and proactively reflecting on new developments shaping doctoral education and research cultures across Europe.
This commitment is also reflected in widely supported initiatives such as the Coimbra Group Three Minute Thesis Competition, now in its tenth edition. By highlighting the excellence of doctoral research while developing key transversal skills, such as clear communication and engagement with non-academic audiences, the competition shows how doctoral education equips researchers not only to advance knowledge, but also to share it meaningfully with society.
Our approach to doctoral talent goes hand in hand with our strong support for the Marie Skłodowska‑Curie Actions (MSCA), which mark their 30th anniversary this year. For three decades, the MSCA have played a key role in European research careers, offering open and high‑quality opportunities for doctoral and postdoctoral training and research across borders. As political negotiations on FP10 moves ahead, it is vital to secure sufficient funding for the MSCA and to protect what makes them work: their bottom-up researcher-driven approach. Above all, investing in the MSCA means investing in people, the most reliable foundation for Europe’s long‑term strength, resilience and global competitiveness.
European Doctoral Day should therefore not be an isolated initiative, but part of a sustained and collective commitment to doctoral education as a strategic priority for Europe’s future.