Published April 7, 2021 | Version 1
Journal article Open

Doctoral Studies as part of an Innovative Training Network (ITN): Early Stage Researcher (ESR) experiences

Creators

  • 1. Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Milan, Italy
  • 2. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
  • 3. Interacoustics Research Unit, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark
  • 4. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France
  • 5. Institute of Databases and Information Systems, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
  • 6. NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Nottingham, UK
  • 7. Dept. of Translational Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium
  • 8. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
  • 9. Health Psychology Research Group, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences,, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
  • 10. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
  • 11. Department of Neuropsychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
  • 12. Graduate School of Medical Sciences (Research School of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences), University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
  • 13. Tinnitus Assessment Causes Treatments (TIN-ACT), Groningen, The Netherlands
  • 14. Experimental Audiology, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Biomedicum, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Description

Background: The Marie-Skłodowska-Curie Actions' (MSCA) Innovative Training Network (ITN) is a doctoral training programme jointly implemented by academic institutions and industries from countries across Europe and beyond. To our knowledge no study has examined the experience of students participating in MSCA-ITNs. This study aims to evaluate and report MSCA-ITN Early Stage Researcher (ESR) experiences.

Methods: The Innovative Training Network - Evaluation Questionnaire (ITN-EQ) was developed to assess supervision, training, collaborations and experiences of ESRs and forwarded to two tinnitus-related ITNs and seven ITNs of other disciplines.

Results: Key advantages identified included better career prospects, multidisciplinary research opportunities/ collaborations, international exposure, personal/ professional development, plus generous salaries and research budgets. However, lack of a common EU framework resulted in the experience being largely dependent on host institution, country and supervisor. Moreover, managing the dual requirements of ITNs and host institutions while completing a three-year PhD seemed challenging for most ESRs. ESR involvement in workshop and training school planning was desirable. More than 80% of ESRs rated the overall ITN experience favourably and 98.3% would recommend the same to prospective PhD students.

Conclusions: This report could provide valuable insights in planning and management of future ITNs and could assist prospective students in their decision of joining an ITN for their PhD.

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Additional details

Cites
10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60142-7 (DOI)
10.3389/fnagi.2019.00053 (DOI)
10.1093/femsle/fny207 (DOI)
10.1016/j.heares.2019.02.017 (DOI)
10.1016/S1474-4422(13)70160-1 (DOI)
10.3390/s20061725 (DOI)
10.2196/21767 (DOI)
10.1177/1538192706287916 (DOI)
10.1080/13600800500120068 (DOI)
10.3389/fnagi.2017.00447 (DOI)
10.3390/jcm9092756 (DOI)
10.1038/s41598-019-48750-9 (DOI)
10.3389/fpubh.2019.00157 (DOI)
10.17430/1003431 (DOI)

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