Communicating about Academic Research: Towards a sustainable future
League of European Research Universities (LERU)
PhD level
In the summer of 2010 the League of European Research Universities (LERU) will offer the first Summer School for PhD students of its member universities. The School is expected to become an annual event organized by different LERU members. While focus and format may differ depending on the institutions involved, the general ambition is to provide a learning experience of considerable and lasting added value, beyond what PhD candidates learn as a matter of course in the regular program of their PhD education.
The topic of the first Summer School will be Communicating about Academic Research, and the activities will be embedded in a theme of great interest to society. For this first LERU Summer School we have chosen the theme: Towards a sustainable future. The Summer School will be jointly organized by the University of Amsterdam and the University of Utrecht, two Dutch LERU members. The school will take place at Utrecht. The programme will be intensive and highly interactive. Exciting excursions relevant to the topic will be part of it, and there will be ample opportunity to sample the local ambiance. Amsterdam and Utrecht are two very attractive cities close to each other, and bustling with international activities during the summer. To enable this well-balanced package of hard work and play, we will draw upon the facilities and proven experience of the Utrecht Summer School organization.
Communicating about research is one of the most important and complex generic skills that you as a PhD graduate will need to be effective during your career. Your future as an academic professional at the highest level in your field depends on this skill, and your role as a responsible world citizen, who has important expertise to contribute, will benefit from this skill as well. The Summer School will provide you with a unique opportunity to further develop your generic skills.
A sustainable future is arguably the most pressing issue that faces global society, and it is, therefore, constantly in the public eye. Here, communication about virtually every aspect of academic research is crucial, complex and often controversial. Hence the choice of this theme as the driver for our programme. The Summer School will bring together a group of participants, coming from all academic disciplines and various cultural backgrounds, who are expected to be keenly interested in this theme, and able to contribute to it from various relevant perspectives.
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For all the products of the School that are of such high quality as to warrant dissemination LERU will try to find appropriate media and channels to proliferate them. We will introduce an element of competition and an evaluation by an expert jury. The products of the teams will testify to the participants’ achievement. In addition, LERU will provide certificates of achievement in Communication about Research in a closing ceremony, for which a distinguished guest speaker will be invited. Finally, we hope and expect that the highly interactive format will forge a lasting network of the participants, who will be able to find each other in the future, from many professional vantage points, to jointly contribute to responsible and effective communication about research in whatever context presents itself.
The programme will be sponsored by LERU and the organizing universities, and there is no further financial support possible for participants from LERU universities. If you would need additional support (for instance for your travel expenses), please discuss this with your home institution before being nominated.
E: J.E.J.M.vanHimbergen1@uu.nl
