At the European Vocational Skills Week 2017, taking place in November in Brussels, the European Commission awarded Professor Karen Evans with the VET Research Award of the European Commission.

Congratulations for the award for an outstanding researcher which is active in VETNET for years! 

Karen Evans is Emeritus Professor of Education at the UCL Institute of Education, University of London; Honorary Professor in the Economic and Social Research Council LLAKES Centre for Learning and Life Chances; and Honorary Professor at RMIT University, Australia.

Professor Evans outstanding VET research contribution includes:

• Direction of major international high quality studies on learning and work in the context of VET.
• Long-term excellent academic publication track record with many internationally acknowledged publications.
• Major contribution to knowledge building about current and future VET, both theoretically and empirically, which is also highly relevant for VET practice and policy.
• Significant impact on basic research on VET, as well as on building bridges between VET and wider societal issues and addressing key dimensions of social sciences.
• Contribution to advancements in educational science.
• Key actor in the development of networks aiming at strengthening VET cooperation at the European level.
• Active membership of several international VET research communities.
• Lifelong dedication to the field

Karen Evans research and publications include initial, higher and continuous VET, learning at the workplace, lifelong learning, life and work transitions. Most recent publications:

• Youth and Work Transitions in Changing Social Landscapes (2013)
• Second International Handbook of Lifelong Learning, 2012
• The Sage Handbook of Workplace Learning (2011)
• Improving Literacy at Work (2011)
• Learning, Work and Social Responsibility: Challenges for Lifelong Learning in Global Age (2009).

Award holders of the VET Research Award of the European Commission

• 2016 Professor Dr. Marin Mulder
• 2017 Professor Dr. Karen Evans

Evaluation Committee and Procedure

VETNET was mandated by the European Commission to organise the nomination procedure for the award. There were many high standing propositions. The evaluation committee:

Representatives of EERA VETNET

• Prof. Dr. Barbara E. Stalder, Bern University of Teacher Education, Switzerland (link convenor of VETNET, chair of evaluation committee)
• Prof. Dr. Lázaro Moreno Herrera, Stockholm University, Sweden (VETNET board member)
• Nora Cechovsky, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria (Emerging Researchers’ Conference ERC of the ECER)

Representatives of the International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training (IJRVET)

• Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Michael Gessler, University of Bremen, Germany (editor-in-chief)
• Prof. Dr. Fernando Marhuenda, University of Valencia, Spain (advisory board member)
• Prof. Dr. Petri Nokelainen, University of Tampere, Finland (advisory board member)