Collaborative doctoral education

University-industry partnerships for enhancing knowledge exchange
University-industry partnerships for enhancing knowledge exchange
Stakeholders: 
Large Company
Research Organisation
SME
University
Objective of approach: 
  • Doctoral graduates are better prepared for the employment outside academia
  • The company ensures state of the art research
  • The university ensures industrial relevance of research

In a collaborative doctoral education, a doctoral candidate is supervised not only by a university, but also from the industry. Collaborative doctoral education is of growing importance in Europe given the increased focus on innovation through R&D in order to advance towards a more "knowledgebased" economy and the reality that a majority of doctorate graduates are destined for careers outside academia in both research and non research positions.

USP: 

Develop skills inside and outside academia that respond to public and private sector needs, while obtaining a doctoral degree.

Resources: 
  • Doctoral candidate
  • Supervising professor at university
  • Supervising industrial company
  • Literature and internet access for research
  • Resources for experiments
Success factors: 
  • Doctoral candidate with sufficient expertise and soft skills
  • Mutual understanding between the academic and industrial partner
  • Clear and transparent collaboration agreement
Barriers: 
  • Excessive focus on non-academic activities
  • Limited freedom for the development of innovative ideas
  • Conflict of public rights (IP)
Contact information: 

KU Leuven - Noise and Vibration Research Group, Celestijnenlaan 300B, 3001 Leuven, Belgium

IPEK - Institute of product engineering, Kaiserstrasse 10, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany

Workflow: 
Published