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PhDs worldwide are having a shake up — why now?
Jenna Ahart is a science journalist based in Washington DC.
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Industrial PhD programmes are increasingly being utilized in fields such as public engineering.Credit: Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty
Yifan Wang didn’t realize that his thesis would be the first of its kind when he started his PhD, although he knew it was likely to be more applied than most. By the beginning of his project in electrical engineering and telecommunications at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, Wang had already established a connection with an industry partner to gather insights from network traffic patterns — such as how users stream videos.
But after Wang began his research, Australia rolled out its National Industry PhD Programme, in which students undertake research projects co-designed by universities and companies in return for a funding boost from the government and industry partners. The goal, according to the programme’s website, is to “create a flexible pipeline of researchers who can transition between academia and industry and have multiple career pathways open to them after completing their PhD”.
Wang joined the programme’s inaugural class in 2023 and spent the remaining three years of his degree not only with an eye towards practical applications, but also with a community of peers spread across Australia. And in May, he became the first student in the programme to submit his thesis.
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“At the beginning of my PhD, I was a bit hesitant about whether I would want to do an engineering industry job or a research job,” Wang says. “But now, I’ve found my interest. I’m really determined to find a research position that solves real industry problems.”
As of June, the Australian programme has funded 448 awards and has received more than 1,000 applications during seven funding rounds. And it’s just one of many innovative PhD models. Governments in many other countries have launched programmes supporting industry-oriented PhDs.
“There’s certainly a lot of [experimental programmes] occurring around the world,” says Anthony Boccanfuso, chief executive of the University–Industry Demonstration Partnership, a non-profit organization in Columbia, South Carolina. The partnership leads the Industry-Integrated PhD (I-PhD) programme in the United States, which was launched in July. Although Boccanfuso says that conversations about re-evaluating the PhD model have existed for the past 15–20 years, there’s now a “sense of urgency because of this need for talent” in high-demand fields.