Diaspora Researcher at UP’s "Warm UP" School: The Future of PhDs is Constant Adaptation to Industry

On the second day of the University of Prishtina's "Warm UP" Winter School, researcher Adnan Imeri from our academic diaspora at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) gave an online lecture. He spoke about PhD programs that are based on projects, involve international collaboration, and are connected to industry.

Imeri presented the institute where he works, describing it as innovative, modern, and very important not only for Luxembourg. He believes this institute has the capacity and opportunities to collaborate with UP and its academic units.

The experienced Kosovar researcher, who has achieved international recognition, said that Kosovo's private sector is growing and that ties with the diaspora network remain strong. Imeri stated that Kosovo should make use of these two opportunities, along with benefits from European projects, to strengthen scientific research. However, he noted that Kosovo's industry is still not focused on research and development projects, which are needed to create new products or improve existing ones.

Professor Imeri, who is part of the cybersecurity research group and Reliable Distributed Systems unit at the Luxembourg Institute, said that in the past, PhDs served only for academic promotion, but this no longer matches the needs of society.

An expert and frequent publisher in the field of blockchain a technology widely used in many industries to increase transparency, security, and efficiency he emphasized that doctoral theses today must be engines for innovation and social progress.

According to Imeri, project-based PhDs should have a mentor from academia, a co-mentor from industry, a project leader to monitor progress, and an advisory committee. To avoid the project becoming fragmented, such PhDs must be linked to industry, the public sector, and universities.

These PhDs, researcher Imeri declared, increase job opportunities, since not all science PhD holders need to be employed in higher education institutions.

The WARM UP Winter School – Winter Academy of Research Methods at the University of Prishtina began on Wednesday, February 25, with an opening ceremony and a presentation about doctoral programs at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) of the University of Luxembourg, given by professors Markus Volp and Carlo Duprel.