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Doctoral education 2.0 – Is doctoral education up to the challenge?

Recipients of honorary doctorates in technology will tackle issues related to the future of doctoral education in a public panel discussion at Aalto University on 14 June.

The oft-cited view has it that industrial managers consider newly graduated doctors too old, too theoretical, too narrowly focused, unable and unwilling to tackle practical challenges and lacking in teamwork skills. 

On the other hand, a substantial portion of the new doctoral graduates are around 30 years of age, have industrial collaboration as part of their research portfolio and have worked as volunteers at Slush or participated in the start-up scene in other ways. Meanwhile, research and development are growing ever more essential, as digitalisation and servitisation transform even the most traditional of industries.

Is doctoral education up to the challenge: can we keep up with the cutting edge and how should we develop our practices? What do we need to do to maximise the impact of research expertise in industry and what are the keys to placing more doctors in industry and engaging in industry–academia collaboration?

 Please join us for a panel discussion featuring honorary doctors, who are themselves living examples of successful networking across boundaries and borders: Professor Jon Crowcroft, University of Cambridge, Director General Lea Kauppi, Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), Professor John Shawe-Taylor, University College London (UCL), Board Chair Risto Siilasmaa, Nokia, and Professor Ichiro Terasaki Nagoya University. All seven Honorary Doctorates in Technology 2018 are presented on page 

Tuija Pulkkinen, Vice President of research and innovation, will chair the panel.

The event language is English. 

Venue: Lumituuli auditori, Dipoli
Date: Thursday 14 June at 13–15. Coffee will be served after the panel discussion.

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