CODOC - Cooperation on Doctoral Education between Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe

Keywords

Higher Education, research capacity, knowledge economy

Countries

Regional focus: Southeast Asia, Southern Africa, Latin America

Summary

CODOC looks at how doctoral education contributes to the development of institutions, higher education systems and national research capacity. Doctoral education helps higher education institutions to develop and sustain their research and teaching missions. Globally expanding university sectors have emphasised this role and challenged universities to find innovative ways of achieving these goals. In addition, as governments across the world look to their higher education systems and set ambitious aims concerning their development, the place of doctoral education often gains prominence. It is apparent that the global discourse of the knowledge economy underlines the need for high quality research training for overall economic development. Doctoral education thus finds itself at the intersection of connected institutional and national agendas. The CODOC project examines doctoral education through the lens of a more balanced development in global knowledge and the role that Europe has to play in this. Its premise involves the following factors:

• Changes in the global interconnectivity of universities due to internationalisation
• Increasing drive around the world to develop knowledge societies based on high-skilled human resources
• Growth in information and communication technology and its effects on competition and collaboration in a global market

Methodology

Activities include:

• A survey of doctoral education trends in Africa, Asia and Latin America, to gain a better overview of doctoral education in these regions and to compare these trends with those in Europe (conducted by
• Three workshops (Bangkok, Thailand; Johannesburg, South Africa; Sao Paulo, Brazil) for the exchange of experience and good practice on reform of doctoral education at institutional level and networking between higher education and research stakeholders from different regions (September 2011 – May 2012)
• A final conference to disseminate the results and recommendations to a wide policy and institutional audience from around the world (Stockholm, Sweden, September 2012)

Main Cooperation Partners

• The European University Association (<link http: www.eua.be home.aspx _blank external-link-new-window external link in new>EUA) in Brussels
• Southern African Regional Universities Association (<link http: www.sarua.org _blank external-link-new-window external link in new>SARUA) in Johannesburg, South Africa
• The ASEAN University Network (<link http: www.aun-sec.org _blank external-link-new-window external link in new>AUN) in Bangkok, Thailand
• Inter-American Organization for Higher Education (<link http: www.oui-iohe.org en _blank external-link-new-window external link in new>OUI-IOHE), Montreal, Canada
• Observatory on EU–Latin America Relations (<link http: www.obreal.org _blank external-link-new-window external link in new>OBREAL)
• <link http: ki.se ki jsp _blank external-link-new-window external link in new>Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Schweden

Main Funding Partners

The European Commission’s Erasmus Mundus programme