Doctoral degrees beyond 2010: Training talented researchers for society

Doctoral programmes at LERU universities aim to train researchers to the highest skill levels to become creative, critical and autonomous intellectual risk takers in pushing the boundaries of frontier research.The modern doctorate is at its core determined by an interplay between professional research experience and personal development, the most important outcome of which is an individual trained to have a unique set of high level skills. Doctoral graduates must make a significant original contribution to knowledge as judged by a panel of experts. The modern doctorate is an excellent training for those who go into roles beyond research and education, in the public, charitable and private sectors, where deep rigorous analysis is required. The business of research and innovation in the knowledge economy is international, interdisciplinary and increasingly intersectoral. Doctoral graduates should be trained in this context. If Europe is serious about its objective 'to become the most dynamic knowledge society in the world' strong support of doctoral education is a vital. In order to provide a fertile research experience, doctoral training should be concentrated in research-intensive environments where excellence is fostered. This can be in single institutions or in collaborating groups of institutions. We provide recommendations for employers, national governments and the European Parliament and Commission, for universities and for doctoral candidates © 2010 Published by LERU.status: publishe