The So.Re.Com. Joint-IDP is built on the sound experience of both the European/International Joint Doctorate in Social Representations and Communication, in operation since 1996, selected as the largest Marie Curie Multipartner Organisation site in social sciences in the first call of the 5th F.P., and the So.Re.Com. THEmatic NETwork, a ”network of networks” that promotes co-operation between academic, professional research and commercial institutions and facilitates the dissemination of scientific results throughout Europe and around the world (http://www2.europhd.net/sorecomthenet-summary). It is headquartered at the state of the art Social Representations and Communication Research Centre and Multimedia Lab of Sapienza University of Rome, led by Annamaria Silvana de Rosa, founder of both the European/International Joint PhD in Social Representations and Communication and of the So.Re.Com. THEmatic NETwork.
The European/International Joint Doctorate in Social Representations and Communication represents a progressive educational curriculum for training early stage researchers through research in a cross-disciplinary paradigmatic field inspired by the Social Representations Theory and Communication studies. Although having a special focus on Social Psychology and media studies, it draws in a wide scientific community across continents and many disciplines dealing with social sciences and new trans-disciplinary thematic fields of studies focussed on “social issues”. It is a EU-approved training structure that since 1996 has been training post-graduates from EU and non-EU countries. It is a 3-year International doctorate requiring a PhD dissertation and involves a network of EU and extra-EU universities providing advanced research training in the area of social representations and communication.
The European/International Joint PhD came into being as a natural outgrowth of a pre-existing community of researchers working with the Laboratoire Européen de Psychologie Sociale (LEPS-FMSH) sharing similar research goals and epistemological interests. This common historical background greatly contributes to the complementary nature of the European/International Joint PhD’s research interests and the training skills developed since its foundation.
The European/International Joint Doctorate in Social Representations and Communication has been approved since 1993 by:
- the DG-Education and Culture (Erasmus Socrates Advanced Curriculum Development, as being among the best practices in Europe as CDAD within the IC 2000-2001 and within the Joiman EC project – Task Force 4 “Development and administration of Joint Programmes at Doctoral Level” 2010, Intensive Programs, Teaching Staff Mobility, So.Re.Com. THEmaticNETwork)
- the DG-Research (selected as a Marie Curie Training Site Multipartner Organisation, T.M.R., High Level Scientific Conferences, International Lab Meetings project within the Marie Curie Actions Series of Scientific Events)
- the Italian Ministry for Universities and Research under the Internationalisation of the Higher Education System programme
- the French and Italian ministries responsible for higher education under the Vinci Programme
- the European University Association, as main co-ordinator of the action “Network of the Networks” (Doctoral Program)
- the Fulbright Commission for Educational Exchange between the United States of America, Belgium and Luxembourg (the European/International Joint PhD programme director has been awarded a Fulbright Schuman Grant for the research project on “The Joint International Doctorate: a strategic tool for enhancing EU-US institutional collaboration on research training in a worldwide network-based knowledge society” (Host University: University of California Irvine; Period: August 2011– January 2012).
The Joint Degree is awarded by a consortium of six Universities in four European countries (Italy, France, Romania and Czech Republic) in cooperation with a wider institutional network of European Universities located in Austria, Czech Republic, France, Great Britain, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland, and extra-European Universities located in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Mexico and USA. Co-operation was established at the top institutional level on the basis of the shared Regulations of the European/International Joint PhD in Social Representations and Communication, signed by representatives of each partner university and an endorsement letter signed by the Rectors/President upon approval of the Regulation by the Academic Senates of the founding university, the University of Rome Sapienza (30-9-1996), I.S.C.T.E., Lisbon PT (27-3-1996). University of Helsinki (SF) (30-4-1996), University of Marseille I - FR (20-5-2005), and the University of Alexandru Ioan Cuza - RO (17-1-2006). These later were transformed into Institutional Contracts signed by all partner universities’ Rectors and the European Commission – and revised in the International Agreement on InterUniversity Cooperation signed by the Rector/President of the University of Rome Sapienza ITALY (24-1-2007), University of Aix-Marseille I FRANCE (29-1-2007), Paul-Valéry University of Montpellier III FRANCE (11-01-2008), Université Lumière Lyon 2 FRANCE (16-12-2008), University Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Iasi ROMANIA (25-1-2007), Masaryk University, Brno, CZECH REPUBLIC (19-11-2007) and in accordance with the Regulations on Doctorate approved by the Academic Senate of the founding university, the University of Rome Sapienza (24-10-2006).