Twice the opportunities at two universities

Dambrauskas, a Doctoral Student in the Transform4Europe Alliance: Twice the Opportunities at Two Universities

“Studying at one university provides many resources and opportunities, and at two – twice as many. In addition, a double degree doctorate means even more opportunities to travel, participate in events, and gain access to the resources of another university,” says Edgaras Dambrauskas, a doctoral student at Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) and Sofia University (SU), both members of the European University Alliance Transform4Europe (T4EU). Edgaras is researching an intriguing topic in his dissertation – disinformation and misleading texts.

Edgaras is studying in a so-called Cotutelle doctoral program – a doctoral model in which two collaborating universities admit the same doctoral student according to the procedures in force in a specific country, agree on the conditions of doctoral studies, dissertation defense, and joint supervision of the doctoral student, and after successfully defending the dissertation, a double doctoral degree is awarded. In other words, two diplomas from cooperating institutions are obtained. VMU and SU are the first T4EU alliance partners to have a joint doctoral student studying under a Cotutelle agreement.

Researching Disinformation and Misleading Articles

Dambrauskas, studying at these Lithuanian and Bulgarian universities, is researching the linguistic features of disinformation and misleading articles in his dissertation. “I hypothesize that a person speaks differently when lying; they not only present information but also seek to present it persuasively and convincingly. In my work, I aim to determine whether this is also reflected in written texts,” explains Dambrauskas.

Currently, Dambrauskas is conducting a pilot study with initial datasets from various corners of the internet. Misleading and false texts are selected for the corpus based on evidence gathered by professional fact-checkers. The doctoral student says that it is still too early to share more detailed insights, as it is first necessary to perform an analysis from various angles. “What surprised me the most? There is a truly wide variety of misleading texts. It is probably not surprising that most of these articles are related to various polarizing topics, such as health or politics, but sometimes you catch yourself reading about an alien microchip in Napoleon’s skull. Perhaps the most surprising thing was that my internet provider hasn’t cut off my service yet,” smiles the student of Vytautas Magnus University and Sofia University.

Especially Useful for Doctoral Students in Different Disciplines

The Cotutelle doctoral program provides conditions for going abroad for internships, conducting dissertation research using the infrastructure of collaborating universities, and attending courses relevant to dissertation preparation not only in Lithuania but also abroad. In Dambrauskas’ case, after defending his dissertation, he will be awarded doctoral degrees in two fields – philology and political science.

“A big plus is having a second supervisor, especially because of my rather interdisciplinary work topic. In this respect, Sofia University really made an effort; I had several meetings with the university administration, we discussed the biggest challenges of the work, and with the supervisor, we also discussed what kind of specialist insights and advice would be most needed. Communication is very important here, as living in the rhythm of two universities opens up many new opportunities,” notes the doctoral student.

Edgaras Dambrauskas’ dissertation supervisors are Associate Professor Dr. Andrius Utka from VMU and Associate Professor Dr. Ralitsa Kovačeva from Sofia University.

Allows Not Only to Expand Knowledge but Also to Get to Know Another Culture

Discussing the double degree doctorate, Edgaras emphasizes that it allows combining different advantages – not only expanding knowledge and skills but also traveling and getting to know another culture.

“I had the opportunity to participate in a week-long training in Sofia. This experience allowed me not only to improve my competencies but also to get acquainted with the university administration and meet my second supervisor in person. It was equally important (and fun) to get to know the local culture and other employees and students participating in the training, and to establish new connections,” emphasizes Dambrauskas.

The interviewee admits that doctoral studies allowed him to feel not just like an ordinary student but like an independent researcher for the first time. “In practice, this means that I can expand my research, look at it from a different angle, review research from other fields of study, and delve deeper into those aspects that seem important or particularly interesting to me. However, it should also be taken into account that greater autonomy already requires not only stricter self-discipline and time planning skills but also the ability to organize one’s own activities,” says the doctoral student, revealing that after defending his dissertation, he plans to participate in academic life – as a researcher or lecturer.

VMU Plans Cotutelle Doctoral Studies with Other European Universities

It is expected that the Cotutelle doctoral program implemented by Vytautas Magnus University and Sofia University will become an example of good practice – VMU is already intensively negotiating cooperation in doctoral studies with other partners of the European University Alliance Transform4Europe. Among the members of this alliance are higher education institutions from Germany, Spain, Italy, and other countries, such as the University of Alicante, Saarland University, the University of Trieste, Jean Monnet University, and others.

“The importance of the international scientific environment is unquestionable these days. As a member of T4EU, Vytautas Magnus University provides its doctoral students with the opportunity not only to study according to the aforementioned Cotutelle model but also to go for a shorter internship to one of the alliance’s partner institutions,” notes VMU’s Chief Specialist of the Science and Arts Department, Dr. Viktorija Kavaliauskaitė-Vilkinienė, adding that an internship abroad is mandatory for studying in most of the doctoral fields offered by VMU.

“By taking advantage of the alliance’s cooperation, the doctoral student does not need to additionally search for a foreign university where they could do an internship – doctoral students are invited to take an interest in the opportunities offered by T4EU. In addition, the alliance partners organize various courses, summer schools, conferences, and contact events relevant to doctoral students and young researchers, where they can present their research, discuss, and look for partners who would be useful in the future for preparing joint research projects or publications,” says Kavaliauskaitė-Vilkinienė.