PhDs a hot commodity

Representatives from 14 Canadian universities will try to attract Chinese doctoral students to their schools during a recruitment mission in Beijing starting Friday. They will be competing with institutions from eight other countries.

And while diversity on Canadian campuses is one reason behind the recruiting drive, putting more money into cash-strapped university coffers is another.

Dozens of institutions from various countries, including Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Germany and France, were invited to the PhD Workshop that runs Friday through Sunday, organized by the China Education Association for International Exchange and the Association of Chinese Graduate Schools.

The Canadian schools will meet with some of the 500 doctorate students attending the workshop and discuss areas of research, opportunities for innovation and the benefits of pursuing a PhD in Canada, a Foreign Affairs spokeswoman said.

Heather Kelly, director of student services with the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Toronto, said in an email from Beijing she plans to meet with more than 100 students.

“The University of Toronto recognizes that the key to innovation is collaboration, partnership, and co-operation with leading global institutions,” said Kelly. “So, our interest in working with top Chinese institutions is to develop targeted initiatives with universities, whether that be researcher to researcher, educational experiences, student internships or graduate student projects.”

Concordia University, Dalhousie University, McGill University, McMaster University, Queen’s University, the University of Alberta, the University of British Columbia, Universite Laval, the University of Manitoba, Universite de Montreal, Universite de Sherbrooke, the University of Waterloo and York University will also participate, Foreign Affairs said.