1st edition of EU-CONEXUS PhD Open Courses has successfully ended

Honoring the pledge to constantly expand and improve academic opportunities available to students from all study cycles, it is time for an update on EU-CONEXUS PhD activities. At the Alliance level, the organizer of these activities is the EU-CONEXUS PhD Level Joint Actions Work Package team, led by Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest.

The objective of this new phase was to increase academic opportunities for PhD Students via the launch of the EU-CONEXUS PhD Courses’ Catalogue. It is accessible to all PhD Students from EU-CONEXUS partners and includes developing transversal competencies and courses on the topic of SmUCS (Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability) offered by partner universities within the consortium.

Completion of these courses gives the student community an opportunity to:

• Approach transversal and SmUCS-related topics in a stimulating and international environment
• Acquire new skills and competences that can elevate PhD research and enhance career potential
• Interact with other PhD Students, internationally recognized experts and professors
• improve scientific and professional communication in an international language, which enables participation in a funded Co-tutelle PhD within EU-CONEXUS Alliance
• Familiarize themselves with EU-CONEXUS PhD Programmes and PhD students’ network
• Develop new Research partnerships aimed at writing projects collectively
• Increase their chance of admission to EU-CONEXUS PhD physical Summer Schools or other EU-CONEXUS funded opportunities for PhD Students.

There were a total of 61 graduates. As some of the graduates took more than one course, the total amount of graduations is greater, amounting to 83 times. All PhD students received an EU-CONEXUS Certificate for their participation in the course. Additionally, some courses also granted ECTS. For the academic year of 2022 – 2023, the majority of courses were available online through the EU-CONEXUS Moodle Platform with no participation fee.

The 1^st round included the following courses:

• Cost and Effectiveness of Resilience Measures Proposed by the EU (La Rochelle Université (LRUniv), France);
• Building my Career Project (La Universidad Catolica de Valencia (UCV), Spain);
• Sustainable Business Development (Klaipeda University (KU), Lithuania);
• Data Science Research Methods (University of Zadar (UNIZD), Croatia)
• Geographic Information Systems (Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest (UTCB), Romania)
• Research Planning and Project Management (South-East Technological University (SETU), Ireland)
• Introduction to Academic Writing and Presentation Skills (University of Rostock (UROS), Germany)
• Collection and Analysis of Research Data (Frederick University (FredU), Cyprus)

Among those universities, the favorites were offered by:

• South-East Technological University (SETU), Ireland – 28 graduates
• Frederick University (FredU), Cyprus – 15 graduates
• University of Zadar (UNIZD), Croatia – 11 graduates

Students who took these courses sharpened the following skills:

• Capacity building in project development
• Professional career management
• Developing career objectives and planning the steps to achieve them
• Understanding the importance and significance of sustainable development, sustainable business and responsible consumption
• Understanding the objectives of sustainable development and their practical implementation in organizations

Another important update is that one of the students enrolled in the 1^st round came form EU-CONEXUS partner – Odessa I.I. Mechnikov National University (ONU), Ukraine. Learn more about how EU-CONEXUS supports Ukrainian scholars and students here.

This positive and rewarding outcome would not be possible without the concerted efforts of all partners. As new courses and series of graduates come along, further updates will be made available to the public.

As a final note, student feedback is essential for making targeted improvements in EU-CONEXUS curricula and providing lasting value to students and everyone else involved in those academic experiences. Therefore, all students are encouraged to complete a feedback survey about their experience. Some of the testimonials are available below. To find out more about EU-CONEXUS PhD activities and academic opportunities, visit: PhD – EU-CONEXUS

Testimonials from PhD Open Courses graduates

Geographic Information Systems – UTCB

I learned GIS-related knowledge very systematically and successfully completed several exercises to become proficient in using what I learned.

Data Science Research Methods – UNIZD

I have mastered and consolidated the use of R language very well, and by completing the exercises carefully, I can use what I have learned to analyze my own experimental data. An open presentation with useful information, I learned a useful data analysis method, I improved my knowledge and skills.

Research Planning and Project Management – SETU

Extremely useful tips to understand how to write and manage research projects.

Academic Writing and Presentation Skills – UROS

Advanced my knowledge in academic writing and presentational skills.

Collection and Analysis of Research Data – FredU

The lessons were very interesting and I really liked the opportunity I had to refer at any time to the recorded lectures in order to be able to listen again to what the professor had taught us and thus understand them better.

Cost and Effectiveness Of Resilience Measures Proposed by the EU – LRUniv

The course was mostly focused on species, I would suggest that in the future other topics are presented too.

Building my Career Project – UCV

Nothing to change, I now have an idea on how to plan my future career.