Collaborative industry/academic PhDs on the rise

A new study released by the European University Association (EUA) has found that collaborative doctoral (PhD) programmes between universities and industry are becoming increasingly important across Europe.

EUA’s report, “Collaborative Doctoral Education: University-Industry Partnerships for Enhancing Knowledge Exchange” is based on the two year DOC-CAREERS project funded by the European Commission-DG Research. This involved 33 universities, 31 companies, and 18 other stakeholder organisations, from 20 different countries across Europe.

More than half of doctorate or PhD holders in Europe now move into careers outside academia. At the same time, Europe’s universities are increasingly looking to develop stronger research links with business.

John H. Smith, EUA Deputy Secretary General, said, “The new report reflects the values, opportunities and challenges of university-industry dialogue in doctoral education and the widening employment prospects offered to doctorate holders in Europe.”

The EUA report highlights that both universities and business consider collaborative doctoral programmes as important channels for supporting innovation and recruitment.

From the industry perspective, participation provides access to a highly skilled workforce and cutting-edge academic research. At the same time, PhD programmes are one way to enable universities to establish long-term collaborations with business, and help build awareness of the added value that university research can bring to industry and society at large.

Universities highlighted that such programmes should help to improve recognition of the PhD qualification and ultimately increase the number of doctoral candidates enrolling in these degrees. Collaborative doctoral programmes also give doctoral students crucial exposure to non-university environments, and are seen as an excellent way to improve the ability of young researchers to relate abstract thinking to practical applications.

EUA’s new study demonstrates that companies both large and small have high expectations of PhD holders. They expect them to be excellent in research but also highly aware of the business environment, and market regulations such as those affecting intellectual property rights. As a consequence, there has been growing recognition within universities of the need to raise awareness of such transferable skills to complement core research skills.

In particular, the report underlines that industry values PhD holders with strong communication, negotiation and management skills, in addition to a capacity for complex problem solving, and experience of working in international environments.

EUA’s work also demonstrates differences between the expectations of SMEs and those of large R&D based companies.  SMEs tended to place more importance on soft skills, while for larger companies the value in hiring a doctoral candidate usually lies in the first instance in their deep knowledge of a relevant subject area.

The DOC-CAREERS project also outlines some of the preconditions for setting up successful collaborative doctoral programmes.

Amongst the recommendations, the report encourages universities to establish sound institutional tracking of the professional paths of their doctorate graduates, to inform curricula and career opportunities for doctorate candidates and holders. It also highlights that the committed support of governments to such programmes will be essential in developing university-industry collaboration.