Round Table “Development of Doctoral Studies at BiH Universities“ held at the University of Zenica
Zenica. A round table on the topic “Development of Doctoral Studies at the BiH Universities” was held within the Sixth Conference Techno-Educa 2012 which marked the five-year work of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center of the University of Zenica. The round table also served as a platform for organizing dissemination within the ongoing Tempus project “Embedding Quality Assurance in Doctoral Education – EQADE”, as well as informing university representatives about the project and its outcomes after one year of its implementation.
The round table started off with a welcome and introduction given by Mr. Fikret Plevljak, Prime Minister of Zenica-Doboj Canton, and Prof.dr. Sabahudin Ekinovic, Rector of the University of Zenica, with the presence of representatives of BiH public universities, HERE experts BiH, deans, vice-deans, teaching staff and other members of the University of Zenica. The introductory presentations were delivered by Prof. Dr. Muharem Avdispahic, Rector of the University of Sarajevo (topic: Experience in realization of doctoral studies at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics of the University of Sarajevo) Prof.dr. Slavko Maric (topic: Realization of doctoral studies at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of Banja Luka – experience and recommendations), and Prof.dr. Darko Petkovic (topic: Overview of EU experience in realization of PhD studies according to the Bologna model, and expectations at the University of Zenica). The introductory presentations were followed by a substantial discussion which led to the conclusion that doctoral studies should primarily be focused on scientific research and not education and modeled according to the PhD candidates rather than strict curricula, that the ECTS system is not adjusted to the third cycle and that mobility, internationalization and involvement of institutions and organizations play a crucial role in doctoral education. What remains a major issue is the financial structure for the organizational process of such studies.
