METEOR brings transversal skills discussion to HIEST Research Seminar
On 9 June 2026, the METEOR JYU team presented the METEOR project at the Higher Education as a Pedagogical and Social Phenomenon seminar (HIEST) of the Finnish Institute for Educational Research (FIER).
The presentation was led by Dr Josephine Lau, together with Dr Sotiria Varis and Prof. Terhi Nokkala. Higher education researchers from FIER joined both online and in person, and METEOR mentors and a mentee contributed firsthand reflections from their participation in the programme.
Skills and support for doctoral researchers
Beyond introducing the project, the seminar focused on the skills and support structures doctoral candidates and early-career researchers need in order to navigate changing academic and professional environments.
The discussion highlighted transversal skills at the centre of METEOR’s training approach, including intercultural communication, project management and interdisciplinary collaboration. The Peer Mentoring Group structure was presented as an important mechanism for developing these skills through exchange, reflection and community-based learning.
Using the JYU METEOR Academy as a case study
The JYU METEOR Academy was discussed as a case study for transformative learning within communities of practice. This provided a concrete basis for exploring how mentoring, peer learning and structured collaboration can enrich doctoral education.
Participants reflected on several broader questions: how doctoral education can be rethought more holistically, what role institutions should play in supporting transversal skills development, how METEOR resources and networks can remain useful in the long term, and how learning in peer mentoring groups can be conceptualised and studied.
The seminar offered a strong conclusion to the academic year for the HIEST research seminar series and reinforced METEOR’s commitment to generating evidence and practice-based insights that can help transform doctoral education for greater impact.
METEOR uses peer mentoring, collaborative learning and interdisciplinary exchange to make transversal skills development visible, practical and sustainable in doctoral education.
The article can be linked to the original JYU item and the METEOR project website to guide readers towards further information and related training resources.
Author: METEOR Project Team
Links
https://www.jyu.fi/en/blog/meteor-project-presents-at-the-hiest-research-seminar
Keywords
METEOR, HIEST Research Seminar, Finnish Institute for Educational Research, doctoral education, peer mentoring, transversal skills, early-career researchers, Horizon Europe
