Doctoral education at the intersection of academia and the professions in Europe: towards innovative writing pedagogies

Rapport, 2025

This report summarizes a collaborative, international groundwork done with the support of a Riksbanken Jubileumsfond initiation grant. This work focused on gathering information about the status of doctoral education in Europe, especially at the intersection between academia and the professional world. The collaboration involved an international, interdisciplinary group of researchers with a strong background in doctoral education, who over a year met, discussed, and investigated the current educational situation for industrial/professional PhDs in four countries: Sweden, Norway, Spain (Catalunya), and the United Kingdom. The collaboration aimed at pooling knowledge from existing research, as well as experiences and perspectives from professional educators. Specifically, we examined professional and industrial doctorates and identified potential needs and challenges as well as the role of writing and other genres of knowledge communication in doctoral training. This report encapsulates the outcomes of this work. After a synopsis of key relevant research, we summarize the educational challenges and needs of doctoral education in these four European contexts and report on what we learned from polling colleagues at conferences and through our network. We conclude with some recommendations for supervisors, directors of studies, and other stakeholders involved in industrial/professional doctoral education, and anyone committed to fostering high-quality doctoral education and facilitating PhDs graduates’ transition to the professional world. We believe that this contribution is both timely and scientifically relevant due to the changing landscape of doctoral education, which increasingly encompasses partnerships with professional entities, governmental organizations, and the industry.