The EAA has initiated partnerships with national associations with the aim of fostering the development of accounting academics, especially junior scholars and PhD students, and promoting joint projects.

The first collaboration was set up with the Portuguese Network of Accounting Research (Grudis) and involved the participation of a prominent EAA academic as guest speaker in the Doctoral Colloquium and Annual Conference of Grudis.

A similar collaboration established with the Association Francophone de Comptabilité (AFC) supported the attendance of PhD students from French universities at the 2018 EAA Annual Congress in Milan.

Recognizing the immense benefits of this type of cooperation for the development of accounting research in Europe, the EAA has recently formalized the partnerships with Grudis and AFC and hopes to extend it to other national associations in Europe and other countries.

The partnership involves a number of initiatives to enhance PhD education and promote joint events. The areas of cooperation include:

• EAA support for the participation of an EAA guest speaker at national meetings of the association;
• Award of benefits to PhD students, including EAA membership, access to the ARC resources, reduction in congress fees, and participation in the PhD forum;
• Promotion of events supported by both parties in their websites and newsletters, as well as dissemination of relevant national events in the ARC.

The partnership initiative is a unique way to create synergies between local associations and the EAA, to share the excellent resources of the EAA among its members, and to raise the academic profile of European accounting researchers.