SMART Consortium

The SMART Consortium is composed of the

1. University of Trento (Italy),

2. Queen Mary University of London (UK)

3. Freie Universität Berlin (Germany)

together with 21 Associate partners, including 10 Universities, 4 Private Companies, 2 Government Agencies and 5 Research Institutes covering 9 different countries and 4 continents.

The SMART Supervisory Board (SB) is the senior executive committee of the SMART consortium. The SMART Programme Director of the coordinating institution (University of Trento) is the Chair of the SMART SB, and there is representation from each SMART partner (the Local Programme Director and the Administrator)  The main tasks of the SB are: SMART programme implementation; financial monitoring and review (including identifying opportunities for development funding) and approval of selected Doctoral Candidates for notification to EACEA; Annual SMART Programme Review (including attainment and Doctoral Candidates feedback); review of key performance indicators; approval of marketing strategy for the coming academic year. The SMART SB meets physically each year at the time of the workshop. 

The current academic representatives of the SB for each partner  are:

• Prof. Guido Zolezzi (UniTN)
• Prof. Geraldene Wharton (QMUL)
• PD Dr. Franz Hölker (IGB - FUB)

The SMART Academic Board (AB) is the academic coordinating committee of the SMART consortium.  The Academic Board is composed by all supervisors of enrolled Doctoral Candidates. The Chair of the SMART AB is the programme director of the co-ordinating institution, supported by an administrator from that institution. Furthermore, there is representation of one DC per cohort. Normal business include: recruitment of Doctoral Candidates, monitoring DC progression and award statistics; monitoring effectiveness of DC training; approval of available project titles/themes for the coming academic year; and coordination and evaluation of DC feedback. A “closed” meeting takes place annually (in the absence of DC representatives) to consider individual DC recruitment, progress module assessment results and review of Career Development Plans.

The SMART Doctoral Candidate - Staff Liaison Committee (DC - SLC) ensures that there is an effective channel for formal communication between Doctoral Candidates and academics, and provides an opportunity for Doctoral Candidates to communicate and discuss matters relating to the SMART programme that may include: content and organisation and any proposed changes; the provision of facilities; institutional activities; operation and review of mentoring/buddy systems; local monitoring of academic standards (e.g. through consideration of Annual Programme Reviews and the results of DC feedback questionnaires); election of DC representatives to the SMART AB. The DC-SLC meets once a term by video-conference, with a face-to-face meeting at the annual workshop. The DC-SLC determines who should be committee chair and secretary. Formal minutes are required for each DC-SLC meeting, which will be considered by the AB.

An External Advisory Board (EAB) comprises three members who are external to the SMART consortium institutions, who provide external review of SMART’s activities and performance. The EAB’s main task is that of suggesting possible changes and improvements to the doctoral course structure in relationship to its research and educational objectives and to the evolving international context related with SMART science.

The representatives members of the EAB are:

Geoffrey Petts (University of Westminster)
Emily Bernhardt (Duke University)
Stefano Lanzoni (University of Padua)

A SMART Administrative Board (AdmB) supports the Consortium in the management of the operational details of the programme. The AdmB is composed of the administrative staff representatives of the Consortium who meetby video-conference at least once per year, and upon request of its members.

The SMART Secretariat supports the Coordinator, the Boards and the Doctoral Candidates. It is the main reference office for the Doctoral Candidates on the programme.

A SMART Alumni Association, although not representing a formal board, will be established with the aims of networking with former Doctoral Students and providing added value to the educational programme by connecting young and experienced researchers, thus reinforcing the bridge between research and practical innovation, in a lifelong learning perspective.