The Researchers' Newsletter – Nov 2024
The Industry PhD – time for more creativity?
Those of us who are responsible for HDR candidate numbers are always looking for another way to attract strong candidates, and industry relevant PhDs are a great option.
Feedback, queries, suggestions for topics most welcome; please email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Industry PhD – time for more creativity?
Those of us who are responsible for HDR candidate numbers are always looking for another way to attract strong candidates, and industry relevant PhDs are a great option. Governments of all persuasions have encouraged Industry PhDs through a variety of means, however there is an under used variation of the Industry PhD that has been very successful.
What is the Industry PhD?
The industry engaged PhD is not a ‘lesser’ research doctoral degree but rather it is a PhD with the requirement that the thesis results in a significant original contribution to knowledge by resolving an applied research agenda. These degrees generally address important problems relevant to the community, industry, the professions and public policy. The industry engaged PhD is more common elsewhere (obvious examples being Israel and Germany). They are a key plank of better industry-research collaboration and innovation.
The most common Industry PhD is for candidates to be ‘paired’ or hosted by a workplace for a period of time, to either work on an industry identified problem or to seek applications for a novel thesis proposal. The innovative Industry PhD draws on candidates from within industry, who most likely do not have a consistent research track record but have a major industry problem that needs solving.
Demand driver - industry professionals seeking to solve pressing problems
This innovative Industry PhD is usually aimed at mature domestic part-time professionals. Candidates are typically in full time employment, relatively mature (typically 40s or early 50s) and importantly are ‘data-rich’. They come to the PhD with a business critical research question or questions to be addressed and frequently have either access to data or have opportunities that provide ‘whole of industry’ data. Such candidates are best enrolled in a PhD that provides training in research methodology and methods, the identification of a well-motivated research question and guidance on the journey
Some examples: an executive in a major airline who examined, using leading edge quantitative techniques, route profitability; the CEO of a major philanthropic trust who developed a model of innovation within philanthropy (now quoted by major international scholars); a better understanding of safety procedures on offshore oil rigs; the effects of certain policy settings on corporate taxation revenue.
The unique nature of the innovative Industry PhD
There are some characteristics that are important:
- attracts mature age students with a modest understanding of research,
- generally have identified business critical issues and have access to data,
- work best as cohort based, with group learning and to reduce "isolation" of candidates,
- support is needed to train supervisors to understand the important differences between industry engaged PhD and regular scholarly PhD's,
- need to protect the intellectual property of these candidates.
Why?
From our direct experience this innovative version for industry engaged PhDs has a range of characteristics that make it particularly valuable to institutions interested in strong interaction with the Australian community:
- gives an intimate connection between ‘host’ organisations and the university;
- provides a structural connection between the university and those who are already senior and within the profession, industry, policy makers, and community;
- PhD alumni bring both prestige and networking opportunities to the university;
- provides connectedness between the broader community and the university community in ways that are otherwise hard to achieve;
- Finally, they boost PhD numbers in an untapped market!