The PhD School, based on the Human Factor in Digital Transformation doctoral colloquium, combined interactive modules, interviews and expert talks (online and in-person) with a deepening component through participation in the ETSI Conference “AI & Data” (9–11 February 2026, Sophia Antipolis, France), offering insights into current standardisation practice.
As an EDU4Standards.eu pilot, the PhD school aimed to strengthen early-career researchers’ capacity to connect excellent research with engagement in standardisation and societal impact. Standards were approached not as mere technical documents, but as outcomes of negotiation processes involving stakeholders’ interests and value choices—and as a field in which early-career researchers can position themselves strategically and responsibly.
A particular added value was the breadth of expertise contributed by 12 speakers from academia, knowledge transfer/innovation, and standardisation organisations: European perspectives from the CENELEC and ETSI environment, national practice from Austrian Standards International (ASI), innovation and policy expertise from Fraunhofer ISI, and contributions from research and education networks such as EURAS and leading universities including RWTH Aachen, Politecnico di Milano, TU Eindhoven, IT:U Linz, and the University of Graz. The programme was further strengthened by applied insights from knowledge transfer and valorisation (TTO/ASTP perspective) and innovation consultancy practice.
Key learning activities included developing a personal starting document, working through the European standardisation landscape (including harmonised European standards), practical exercises to find and assess standards relevant to participants’ fields from a Stand-EUVI perspective, sessions on valorisation and knowledge transfer and reflection formats on responsible standardisation and conflicts of interest.
At the end of the course, participants had a better understanding of standards in their field, greater confidence in the practical application of standards, and concrete experience of why it matters to go for European values and interests in global standardisation.
