Challenges in the collaboration between European and African universities for doctoral training

Historically, doctoral training in its structured and formalized form through graduate schools, i.e., the organization of specific, often intensive training for doctoral students, has mostly developed in North America and particularly in the U.S. Up till quite recently, doctoral training was following another logic in Europe: the doctoral student was indeed attending a few PhD seminars and possibly some targeted (albeit not mandatory) training, but this training was mostly gained through the mentoring of the PhD supervisor, scientific missions, informal discussions with other researchers, etc. Currently, in European countries, doctoral training is becoming increasingly formalized, with training paths, Credits (ECTS) to be obtained through the latter etc. It is also within that context that many African universities have begun to launch doctoral training and doctoral schools. As their European counterparts, African universities find themselves in an intermediate position between the graduate schools tradition and the tradition of self-learning through the PhD research itself. When European and African colleagues collaborate within the framework of doctoral training in Africa, they meet numerous and multifaceted challenges, but these challenges can be addressed and the experience can turn out to be win-win both for the European and African colleagues.