ENLIGHT boosts international research collaboration with joint PhD agreement
Foto: Andrew Downes (XPOSURE)
(22-06-2026) ENLIGHT – the European university alliance Ghent University is a part of – has signed a broad joint PhD framework agreement covering all disciplines and all partner institutions.
The agreement sets out provisions for joint supervision, examination and defence, leading to a double PhD degree. The rectors of the ten partner universities signed the agreement early June at the biannual General Meeting, in Galway.
The agreement marks a significant step forward in strengthening structural doctoral collaboration across Europe. By establishing a shared framework applicable to all ENLIGHT partners, the alliance substantially reduces administrative barriers and accelerates the creation of joint PhD trajectories between doctoral candidates and two participating ENLIGHT partner universities. Until now, joint PhD/cotutelle agreements typically required lengthy institution‑specific negotiations, often resulting in complex administrative procedures. The new ENLIGHT joint PhD framework agreement provides a common foundation, allowing partners to initiate bilateral joint PhD agreements faster, while respecting institutional autonomy and national regulations.
Strategic choice
Ghent University coordinated the development of the agreement together with all ENLIGHT partners, starting with a joint PhD expert workshop in September 2024. This collaboration is part of ENLIGHT’s Doctoral Network, which aims to improve the quality and international dimension of doctoral studies.
By facilitating joint PhDs, the agreement strongly supports ENLIGHT’s mission to build a sustainable and inclusive European university alliance.
Prof Ignace Lemahieu, Research Director at Ghent University: "Joint PhDs are, first and foremost, about academic trust: trust between supervisors, institutions and doctoral researchers working together across borders. With this ENLIGHT joint PhD framework agreement, we move away from fragmented, case‑by‑case negotiations towards a shared understanding of each other’s doctoral systems. This creates the conditions to scale high‑quality joint doctoral trajectories efficiently, while fully respecting institutional autonomy and national regulations. For Ghent University, coordinating this process was a strategic choice: strong European research collaboration requires structures that enable excellence rather than slow it down."
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