The Romanian PhD Students at CERN: The Bologna Process and Beyond

Abstract

The Romanian PhD students who work at CERN have been included in some of the most challenging experiments worldwide and have experienced firsthand the dynamics of interdisciplinary research teams. Looking beyond the research output of the collaboration, we show that the PhD students have been effectively bridging between two academic cultures which value differently the diversity of the research landscape, interdisciplinarity and innovation. As the goal of the newly started H2020 programme is that of shortening the distance between scientific research and industrial application, as to insure the transition to a more innovative and competitive Europe, we should broaden our research assessment framework such that we properly account for all forms of scientific output. To allow PhD student to reach their full intellectual potential we should try to complement the current scientometrics evaluations with expert peer-review, as the prescriptive application of assessment standards is not fully compatible with supporting the specificities of each research field and does not catalyze creativity and innovation.