This CU.ecr workshop will focus on sharing knowledge and exchange of practices in transdisciplinary (post-) doctoral training across Circle U. partner institutions, with a view to consolidating existing programmes, developing new ones, and fostering future collaboration and synergies.
Who is it for?
This workshop is for academic and administrative staff from the nine Circle U. institutions involved in the design, implementation and coordination of training offers for early-career researchers focused on transdisciplinary research approaches.
The following are also welcome:
- Supervisors and researchers engaged in transdisciplinary projects, who can provide insights into the practical skills and dispositions required in real research contexts;
- PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers, with experience in transdisciplinary research, whose perspectives may help in understanding current gaps and needs in training provision; and
- Non-academic partners, who contribute to transdisciplinary research projects and can address issues of co-creation, knowledge integration, etc.
What to expect
The CU.ecr workshop is designed as a hands-on, dialogue-driven event — not a series of lectures. Over two days, you'll have the opportunity to share your own experiences, learn from peers across Circle U. institutions, and explore concrete ways to collaborate on transdisciplinary training for early-career researchers.
Day 1 will feature a combination of interactive group discussions designed to foster exchange among participants, alongside flash presentations showcasing practical examples of transdisciplinary research training for early career researchers. These sessions will highlight experiences, best practices, challenges, and existing gaps. Dedicated time will also be provided to explore opportunities for collaboration in joint transdisciplinary training initiatives for early career researchers.
Day 2 will present the key insights and conclusions emerging from the CU.ecr discussions during a plenary session of the Conference on Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Research for Sustainable Development. This session will place particular emphasis on embedding university research into regional transdisciplinary research environments for sustainable development.
More information on the programme coming soon.
Thematic areas
How can (post-) doctoral training support the development of key ethical attitudes and skills, such as reflexivity, inclusivity, empathy, care and trust-building? This includes engaging with misunderstandings, power dynamics, inequalities, and conflict, and fostering the interpersonal capacities required for collaborative research.
How can (post-) doctoral researchers be trained to understand transdisciplinary epistemologies and to design transdisciplinary research projects? This includes learning to identify and mobilise boundary objects that both create shared meaning across diverse stakeholders and support collective transformation; structuring the different phases of transdisciplinary research (problem framing, co-creation, integration, dissemination); and analysing a diversity of outputs, including practical solutions, processes of social learning, critical societal perspectives, and broader epistemic transformations.
How can (post-) doctoral candidates be equipped with practical approaches to conduct transdisciplinary research? This includes the use of collective intelligence methods, co-creation approaches (e.g. design thinking), and reflexive tools to adapt research design, partnerships, and objectives.
How can the multiple outputs of transdisciplinary research be recognised, valued, and communicated? This includes scientific, societal, and educational impacts, as well as mechanisms to ensure equitable distribution of benefits among research partners.
What institutional barriers impede the development of transdisciplinarity and which institutional conditions support transdisciplinary (post-) doctoral training? This includes long-term trust-building processes with partners, balancing scientific excellence with societal relevance, and managing evolving research agendas, uncertainties, and potential divergences between partners.
Additional information
Please contact your home university for funding opportunities.
- Aarhus University: aarhus@circle-u.eu
- University of Belgrade: Nikola Savic nikola.savic@rect.bg.ac.rs
- Humboldt Universität zu Berlin: circle-u.mobility@hu-berlin.de
- UCLouvain: infocircleu@uclouvain.be
- University of Oslo: oslo@circle-u.eu
- University of Pisa: circleU.erasmus@unipi.it and on our website.
- University of Vienna: circle-u@univie.ac.at
- King’s College London: circle-u@kcl.ac.uk
- Université Paris Cité: circleu.iro@u-paris.fr
Do you have a question on the programme or on the selection process? Please contact: Pierre Mersch, pierre.mersch@uclouvain.be
Related Event
This CU.ecr workshop takes place as a complementary event to the conference on inter- and transdisciplinary research for sustainable development, also scheduled on 23-24 November 2026.
