Academic Service

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Mission

The Academic Service (AS) oversees the recruitment and admission of researchers, postdoctoral fellows and professors; is responsible for the academic administration of researchers enrolled in the doctoral and LL.M. programmes; provides a wide range of services to the EUI scholarly community geared towards their professional development; provides wellbeing services; and engages with researchers in a wide range of extracurricular activities. Director of Service: Veerle Deckmyn Even before the formal adoption by the High Council of the EUI Strategy 2019-2021, the Academic Service collaborated on priority areas related to the Ph.D. programme with the Dean of Graduate Studies and supported the general objectives identified by the EUI management, more specifically in activities of the School of Transnational Governance and in implementing some of the Newby report recommendations. The Service was involved in the preparation of the ‘European Universities’ call, and continued to seek alliances with EUI alumni. The courses and workshops offered on academic and professional development were further developed and strengthened in some areas following the feedback of the Doctoral Programme Committee members. Account was taken of best practices in higher education and of the emerging needs and expectations of the international scholarly community. Some changes in human resources took place due to the departure of some staff members. The specific objectives below describe which actions were taken in order to achieve the general objectives.

Realisation of yearly objectives

Ph.D. programme The Academic Service is deeply involved in ensuring the smooth running and administration of the doctoral programme and in supporting the work of the Dean of Graduate Studies. Members of the AS actively participated in and contributed to many internal discussions aiming at its improvement, es

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pecially within the Doctoral Programme Committee. In 2019 some priority areas were identified (i.e. gender and diversity issues, supervision practices). These have been discussed in various settings and inserted in various teaching and training courses. The quality assurance in various parts of the doctoral programme was monitored and measured and provided very good results.

Academic and Professional Development Early career researchers need, in addition to writing a good thesis, to be well prepared for entering a competitive labour market, both in and outside academia. The Academic Service consolidated successful courses and workshops, including specific workshops and training sessions offered by the Library. The learning management system system Brightspace was used to support the training sessions and closer collaboration was sought with academic and administrative units thus responding to the expectations of the community of scholars (researchers, postdocs, STG fellows). The Institute has taken into account EU recommendations on ‘Open Science’, the cultural diversity in Europe’s research, the teaching and professional environment and best practices in doctoral programmes. A Summer School on Teaching in Higher Education was organised for external participants for the second time at the end of June and was very successful in bringing together Ph.D. candidates from all over the world. The Language Centre reviewed its webpages in order to increase the visibility of the various services offered to different groups of users (i.e. docs, postdocs and staff) and to make these more user-friendly. Last, the EUI was successful in the ‘European Universities’ call CIVICA in which the Academic Service will be involved. All objectives have been reached notwithstanding some major changes in the core staff working in this cluster.

Communication strategy An annual comprehensive communication strategy highlighting the content and specificity of the EUI doctoral and postdoctoral programmes and fellowships was reviewed in collaboration with the Communications Service with the aim to increase the visibility of the EUI programmes in all contracting states. Especially successful were live presentations, webinars, testimonials, videos, and social media activities. Some of these initiatives were carried out in close collaboration with EUI alumni.

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110 Internationalisation and mobility In 2019 16% of researchers enrolled in the Ph.D. programme and 20% of Max Weber Fellows were from outside of the EU. It is however the institutional aim to further expand its scholarly perspective and research by attracting more non-EU scholars to its programmes and by identifying funding options for these fast growing groups of scholars. To these ends the Institute signed an agreement with Fondacion Carolina to fund Latin American Ph.D.s, and with Uninorte University (Colombia). In addition a number of agreements were renewed with non-EU universities.

ICT support ICT support is key in maintaining and further developing the researchers’ database Osiris and in supporting initiatives on academic and professional development such as online teaching, the e-learning platform and a data repository. A link was established between the researchers’ database Osiris and SAP to monitor closely scholarship payments to researchers and postdoctoral fellows.

EUI Alumni The Academic Service sought enhanced collaboration with EUI alumni both employed in academia and elsewhere in order to ensure, where possible, teaching placements, internships, and the provision of career advice for researchers. Maintaining contacts with alumni and ensuring a proper division between the Alumni Association and the EUI alumni network has led to a good basis for work to be continued in 2020.

Wellbeing Various thematic workshops were offered to different user groups (for academics and for administrative staff where feasible) in addition to individual support provided by the psychologists. The organisation of social, cultural and sport activities were maintained as they prove to be an excellent way for EUI members and their families to integrate, meet and relax. The Statute of the Social Welfare Fund, since 2018 managed by the AS in collaboration with the Researcher Reps, was revised. Due to the close collaboration with the EUI accountant outstanding debts were recovered. The policy for the establishment of a maternity grant for Max Weber Fellows was implemented and managed successfully by the Academic Service.

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EUI Codex The AS updated the CODEX, but did not have time to rethink its structure in order to provide a user friendly and interactive working document.

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