Unique International Joint PhD Agreement

12 September 2018, by Sarah Batelka

Photo: UHH/Wohlfahrt

Prof. Bruce Dowton MD, president of Macquarie University, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Dieter Lenzen, president of Universität Hamburg, Prof. Dr Chen Zhimin, vice president of Fudan Universty (from left)

Universität Hamburg has just signed a trilateral joint PhD agreement with Macquarie University (MQ) from Sydney, Australia, and Fudan University (FU) from Shanghai in China. This is the first agreement of its kind to be signed with a Chinese university. Universität Hamburg has been running a bilateral doctoral program since 2012 with Macquarie University. The joint PhD agreement was signed as part of a trilateral conference held between the partners from 10–12 September 2018 at Universität Hamburg.

The network aims to give PhD students an opportunity to benefit from the expertise of the three universities, and complete their doctoral studies as part of a joint PhD program. Students are registered at all three universities and supervised by teaching staff from all partner universities. The program is open to students of all disciplines.

The universities have been part of a trilateral strategic partnership since 2014. It is one of the cornerstones of Universität Hamburg’s internationalization strategy, aiming for sustainable partnerships and long-term collaborations in research and education. The partnership encompasses 21 specialist projects, 12 of which are funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Strategic Partnerships and Thematic Networks program.

The trilateral conference marked the end of the first DAAD funding phase in December 2018, which also serves as the kick-off point for the second round of funding from January 2019. The goal of the second phase is to strengthen and augment this collaboration, for ongoing cooperation beyond the DAAD funding phase. The trilateral partnership has continued to develop over the funding period, and now serves as a model for other partnerships.

Professors, scholars, administrative staff and early career researchers from the three universities participated in the conference, along with representatives from the DAAD as the funding body. The delegations were led by the President of Macquarie University, Prof. Bruce Dowton MD and the Vice-president of Fudan University, Prof. Dr Chen Zhimin.