Twenty-five doctoral candidates from nine universities studied together for a week in Guadeloupe in June 2026. Université des Antilles hosted them. The Universitat de les Illes Balears in Palma co-led the programme. Both universities belong to EUNICoast, the European University of Islands, Ports and Coastal Territories, an alliance of 13 universities funded by the European Union's Erasmus+ programme.
The workshop ran in two parts. Candidates first met online on 28 May 2026. They then worked together on the Guadeloupe campus from 8 to 12 June 2026. They earned 3 credits under the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System, the European measure of student workload.
What the twenty-five candidates studied
Doctoral candidates in the alliance work under nine different sets of national rules. The week therefore opened with skills that every doctoral candidate needs, whatever the country.
The trainers taught candidates how to write a competitive proposal for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship, the European Union's main funding scheme for early-career researchers. They covered research integrity. They trained candidates in FAIR data management, meaning research data kept findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable. They closed with scientific communication.
Researchers at Université des Antilles then opened their laboratories to the group. Postdoctoral researchers based in Guadeloupe answered candidates' questions about careers after the doctorate. Candidates finished the week in mixed groups, each working on a short project across disciplines. Every group brought together candidates from at least nine universities.
Why the alliance held the week in Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is a French region in the Caribbean and part of the European Union. Its port city of Pointe-à-Pitre carries the history the alliance studies.
On Wednesday 10 June, the cohort visited the Mémorial ACTe in Pointe-à-Pitre. The Mémorial ACTe is the Caribbean centre for the expression and memory of the slave trade and slavery. EUNICoast will build its future joint doctoral programme around islands, ports and coastal territories. Candidates studying coastal research met that history where it happened.
What participants said
Twenty of the twenty-five candidates answered the survey after the event. All five lecturers answered it.
Candidates rated the week 4.55 out of 5 when asked about their overall satisfaction with the programme. They gave it 9.25 out of 10 when asked whether they would recommend it to another doctoral candidate. Twelve of the twenty who answered had already begun new collaborations with people they met in Guadeloupe.
A participant from the University of Sassari (Italy) said the lasting gain was returning with "practical tools for doctoral project management, time optimisation and proposal writing, which strengthens our institutional links". A participant from the University of the Azores (Portugal) pointed to "reinforcing the relevance of island-based research within European academic networks". A participant from Université Le Havre Normandie put it simply: "It has a gigantic added value for my institution. I cannot wait to participate more in the EUNICoast initiative."
How this builds the joint doctoral school
Université des Antilles leads the alliance task called Creating the EUNICoast Joint Doctoral School, and the Universitat de les Illes Balears co-leads it. The EUNICoast Research and Innovation Coordinating Commission oversees the work. The alliance has committed to creating the joint doctoral school by October 2028.
The alliance will then run a pilot joint doctoral programme on islands, ports and coastal territories. That programme will offer five tracks, one for each of the alliance's five teaching and research hubs.
Who took part
Nine of EUNICoast's twelve partner universities sent doctoral candidates or lecturers. They were Université des Antilles in France, which hosted the week, Université Le Havre Normandie in France, the Universitat de les Illes Balears in Spain, the University of the Azores in Portugal, the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin in Poland, the University of Sassari in Italy, Burgas Free University in Bulgaria, the University of Dubrovnik in Croatia, and Åland University of Applied Sciences in the Åland Islands, Finland.
