On Thursday 25 January and Friday 26 January 2024, the Faculty of Maritime Studies at UNIST in Split hosted the second physical meeting of the SEA-EU Joint PhD Academic Committee. This gathering marked a significant step forward in shaping the SEA-EU Joint PhD programme and finalising the documentation, which is crucial for accreditation purposes, as several partner universities are not self-accrediting and must obtain accreditation for their new programme. Initial accreditation of the Joint PhD programme will be led by UNIST and carried out through the Croatian accreditation agency.

Partner universities were actively engaged in the process, providing valuable feedback on the draft documents presented. One notable aspect discussed during the meeting was the overarching programme learning outcomes. These outcomes serve as guiding principles for the programme ensuring alignment with educational objectives and standards. Additionally, discussions centred on admission requirements, procedures, and examination protocols, and how the operational governance and academic oversight of the Joint PhD programme are envisaged to work.

Physical attendees included representatives from the University of Cádiz, the University of Algarve, Nord University, the Parthenope University of Naples and the University of Malta in addition to the University of Split that hosted the meeting.

Prof. Ing. Maurice Apap, Deputy Director of the Doctoral School, attended on behalf of UM. Ms Fernanda Giraldo Guzman from the SEA-EU Office and Mr Nikolai Papagiorcopulo from the Office of the Registrar also joined the meeting online. The SEA-EU Joint PhD Academic Committee Meeting in Split has led to substantial progress towards shaping the framework for Joint PhD studies within the SEA-EU Alliance.