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CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS Dear all I am currently organizing a workshop on "Massification of Higher Education and Research Excellence in Europe" for the annual conference of the European council of doctoral candidates and young researchers (Eurodoc). http://www.actionuni.ch/en/activities/eurodoc2008/eurodoc2008_program Eurodoc is a European-level federation of twenty-eight national organisations representing early stage researchers. www.eurodoc.net The workshop is planned to take place on 3th April, 14.30 to 16.30, at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland (on the train line connecting Zurich airport and Geneva airport). Workshop participants include Christian Schneijderberg, Co-General Secretary of VSS/UNES (Association of Swiss Students' Unions), and Dr David Livesey, General Secretary of the League of European Research Universities (LERU) (tbc). For this workshop, I'm inviting short proposals for 10-15 minute talks on the topic of "Massification of Higher Education and Research Excellence in Europe" from a practical and theoretical perspective. Questions to be addressed by the workshop include: Is excellence in research possible in a higher education landscape that is geared toward increased participation, managerialism, standardisation and commodification of higher education? Does higher education have the financial and structural capacity to continue to increase the number of doctoral candidates (to meet the lack of scientists Europe arguably has)? What does it mean, both for the quality of undergraduate and doctoral education, that much teaching at undergraduate level is done by doctoral candidates? Do the pressures of research excellence (publish or perish, research assessment exercises for individual and university-funding purposes, etc.) even necessitate the "dumbing-down" and vocationalisation of undergraduate education? Student stock and flow: are entry and exit criteria at doctoral level being lowered? Quality of supervision and training, including transferable skills training at doctoral level and the European Charter and Code for Researchers, etc. Deadline for proposals: 15 March 2008 at the latest. To: [log in to unmask] Unfortunately, we are not able to fund speakers' travel expenses. I look forward to hearing from you. Erich Kofmel Coordinator, "Career Development" workgroup, Eurodoc