Internationalisation of Doctoral Education

Research Training in an Era of Globalisation

Doctoral education is at the core of academic qualification, linking training with research. While it is generally perceived as admission to a research career, a doctorate undoubtedly represents qualification for a global labour market far beyond that of academia. Observing knowledge production in different research systems reveals that major achievements are in fact made by doctoral candidates, and that they probably carry the greatest workload for actual research, as well as for undergraduate education. This may explain why the doctorate and associated approaches to structure and optimise the related qualification procedures have gained so much international attention recently. This article seeks to provide an overview of factors influencing doctoral education at different levels of the research system – from global to regional – and of specific models for research training that have been developed against an international background. Based on these findings, this contribution aims to provide practical advice to readers wishing to set up a new doctoral education programme or to revamp an existing one.