On May 13, 2026, Europe will mark the inaugural European Doctoral Day, an initiative launched in 2026 and set to become an annual event.
This day aims to highlight the pivotal role of PhD holders and of doctoral education in driving scientific excellence, innovation, and societal progress – both within academia and beyond.
This day may increase Europe’s attractiveness to early career researchers and is designed to:
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Inspire European and international students to pursue doctoral education,
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Increase employers’ awareness and recognition of doctoral qualifications,
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Showcase the diverse career paths and societal contributions of doctoral graduates.
Many events are taking place across Europe for this first edition.
Explore the three of them, register and join:
On-line event- From human cognition to algorithmic bias: building fairer AI in research and industry.
Organizers: Created in 2017, PhDTalent is a Paris-based company dedicated to connecting PhD candidates and doctoral graduates with career opportunities beyond academia, while promoting the value of doctoral training across sectors.
May 13th 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
This webinar will feature a discussion between two researchers from the Onepoint Institute.
Designed for a broad doctoral audience, this event aims to illustrate how research can generate concrete impact beyond academia, and how different disciplines can work together to build more responsible AI.
University of Tübingen, Germany
“And what are you going to do with it?” – The European Competence Framework for Researchers and the value of doctoral training
May 13th 10:00 AM – 12:00 AM
Description : „And what are you going to do with it, once you are finished?” – this question is familiar to many doctoral researchers. It often comes with the implication that a doctoral degree and hence doctoral training have no “value” beyond the academic sphere.
Likewise, doctoral researchers often struggle with translating the concrete and valuable experience they have gained during their training into skills sought after by prospective employers.
In this session, we will use the European Competence Framework for Researchers to explore the transversal skills developed by doctoral researchers during their training and how the “value” of doctoral training can be made visible for future employers and the doctoral researchers themselves.
The online session will contain a presentation and time for participants to exchange ideas.
On-line event – Establishing European AI sovereignty: Why PhD expertise is the future of frontier models.
As Europe races to build more capable, trustworthy, and sovereign AI systems, one question is becoming impossible to ignore: who will provide the expert knowledge these models still cannot generate on their own?
The webinar will also offer the first public preview of a new initiative from JobTeaser in partnership with PhDTalent, aimed at connecting Europe’s research talent with a new generation of high-impact AI opportunities.
May 13th 12:00 AM – 1:00 PM
