Conclusions - EURO-DOTS

EURO-DOTS
Conclusions
Herman E. Maes - Prof. Emer. KULeuven, consultant
26 June 2014
Investing in building bricks:
education, training and skills
Project title/acronym: EURO-DOTS-2 (European Doctoral Training Support on
Micro/Nano-electronics) - (FP7-SA 316513)
Project Coordinator : Prof. Herman Maes, imec, Leuven, Belgium
Project objective:
The major objective of EURO-DOTS (1 & 2) was:
“to create a delocalized (virtual) platform to serve the Doctoral Schools in
Europe in micro/nano-electronics”
1.
2.
3.
4.
Ensure offering and quality of training provided to PhD students and engineers from
industry, in response to the expressed needs from academia and industry.
Accreditation of advanced courses based on strict criteria and assigning ECTS credits
to PhD students upon evaluation.
Encourage universities and R&D centers to propose and organize high-quality course
modules based on their specific expertise.
Support and facilitate access to these courses for PhD students through scholarships.
www.eurodots.org
European Doctoral Training Support in Micro/Nano-electronics
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Facts/Figures
A. Facts/Figures of EURO-DOTS
• 2011-2014 : 130 one-week courses (3 ECTS equivalent) addressing
60 Themes, organized by 20 course providers from 11 countries!!
More than 250 lecturers involved!
• Good re-use of previous FP6/FP7 efforts on Education & Training and
close interaction with still on-going successful European projects :
EUROPRACTICE, IDESA, STIMESI.
• Not less than 333 PhD scholarships have been awarded for attending
these courses (many more requests but budget exhausted).
• Students coming from 19 European countries.
About 3 scholarships/attended course.
European Doctoral Training Support in Micro/Nano-electronics
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Facts/Figures
A. Facts/Figures of EURO-DOTS (ctd)
• > 150 Testimonials from students and providers (see website) pointing to :
o High quality of courses! Very focused on themes of high
relevance/importance.
o Excellent organization and information provision.
o High value of mixed attendance of PhD students and engineers from
industry :
o experience of colleagues in industry
o help in defining future career
o new ideas resulting in publications...
o Importance of financial support to students for attending courses.
o “Such program should absolutely be launched if it did not exist yet!”.
European Doctoral Training Support in Micro/Nano-electronics
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Lessons learnt
B. Lessons learnt
• Lack of uniformity in PhD Training/Education requirements at
European universities.
• Absolute necessity for international, advanced, intensive courses of
3-5 days duration for PhD students (earning ECTS credits after
evaluation) and engineers from industry.
• Importance of good and regular Capture of Training Offering and
Needs in Industry/Academia and analysis of the Gap by strong
involvement/commitment/support of industry, R&D centers and
universities.
European Doctoral Training Support in Micro/Nano-electronics
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Lessons learnt
B. Lessons learnt (ctd)
• Incentive to students : payment of registration fee either through
scholarships or direct payment of course organizer is considered
indispensable!
• Wide core of providers eager to offer excellent, relevant, high quality
courses bridging the gap. Their major motivation was : “give & take”
for own PhD students!
• Major concern : continuity and sustainability!!! EURO-DOTS is (was)
an excellent and very much appreciated initiative but at the time
when students get fully familiar with the concept, it risks to be
stopped!!!
European Doctoral Training Support in Micro/Nano-electronics
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Reached Impact
Reached impact:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Complementary and broad offering of high-quality training modules
through-out Europe, increasing the quality of PhD study and training in
Europe.
Strong and continued cooperation between industry, academia and
research centers, involving all Member States (also through Analysis and
Identification of Training Needs and Gaps).
Strengthened positioning of European industry in the field of nanoelectronics by providing advanced training modules (also to engineers in
industry) that close the gap between present training programs and
future industrial needs.
Increased mobility of PhD students in Europe.
European Doctoral Training Support in Micro/Nano-electronics
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Conclusions
Conclusions:
1.
EURO-DOTS has proven to respond to a real need for adapted, highlevel Training for PhD students (and engineers) tailored to their (and
their supervisors’) requirements.
2.
EURO-DOTS has provided high value for money. Its mission and
objectives have been successfully realized and remain fully relevant.
3.
Similar (adapted? extended?) initiative(s) are highly recommended
by all concerned (PhD students, universities, engineers, industry,
EC)! Room for improvement on funding scenario of students,
training formats, dedicated course development, ...
European Doctoral Training Support in Micro/Nano-electronics
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Other FP6/FP7 Training projects
E-LIMM:
development of
web-based
courses
Access to chip
prototyping and
hands-on
design training
Development of
MEMS design
courses
Development of
IC design
courses
Enable doctoral
student
exchange
Research Review Magazine, April 2011
European Doctoral Training Support in Micro/Nano-electronics
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