The collaboration between universities and businesses in the industrial Ph.D. programme in Denmark is successful and more popular than ever. The numbers of applicants for new research positions has increased considerably, as the Ph.D. scholars are keen to do research and learn about business management at the same time. Indeed, all the stakeholders praise the programme for generating unique knowledge.

By Ditte Dahl, head of section, the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation

Since 2005, there has been an almost explosive growth in the interest in establishing new industrial Ph.D. positions in Denmark. 2007 saw an impressive 51-percent growth in the number of project applications from Ph.D. scholars, who divide their time throughout the three-year project period between an enterprise and a university.

And fortunately, this trend appears to be continuing, not least because there are now far more participating companies outside the greater Copenhagen area – accounting for almost every third industrial Ph.D. project. This also makes it likely that the government’s goal of 150 new industrial Ph.D. positions a year by 2010 will be accomplished; a sum of 300 million DKK has been allocated for this purpose over a three-year period.

It is the unique combination of research and business that characterises the Danish industrial Ph.D. programme. The company hires the Ph.D. scholar and receives a wage subsidy from the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation. The scholar spends about half of his or her working time in the company and the other half at the university. Both places provide a supervisor, but it is also possible to attach external supervisors, for example if the scholar is going abroad to study, or if the company does not have the necessary supervisor capacity.

Anne Louise Bang is an industrial Ph.D. scholar with the textile manufacturer Gabriel A/S and is also associated with Designskolen Kolding. She includes students from the design school – featured here are Ulla, Astrid and Sara – in her work with tactile and sensuous qualities. Photo: Anne Louise Bang

A Good Instrument for Innovation and Knowledge Dissemination
This combination offers the students a unique opportunity for in-depth academic immersion in a project that they have defined in collaboration with the university and the given company as well as for developing the project commercially in the company to make it interesting for the customers and, eventually, marketable.

The companies gain crucial access to knowledge from the university environment which they probably would not otherwise have been able to obtain, or which would have required significantly more resources to acquire. And finally, the projects give the universities a pipeline and a network in the private sector, which helps ensure that the research is applicable in the individual companies.

There are numerous examples of industrial Ph.D. scholars finding jobs in the company they worked with. This may be in small enterprises that gain access to a research resource that would otherwise be out of reach. It may be a larger enterprise, where several industrial Ph.D.s either work in various departments or make up a research department. Or it may be several small enterprises that join forces and share a Ph.D. scholar.

As a new possibility, government companies and institutions may now also establish an industrial Ph.D. The goal is that industrial Ph.D. projects in the public sector should offer a real possibility for improvements in the institution or organisation where the Ph.D. scholar is employed. This may take the form of increased administrative efficiency, establishing knowledge to enhance the institution’s competencies, systematic knowledge dissemination, or heightening the quality of specific products or services.

As an industrial Ph.D. scholar, Anne Louise Bang carries out experiments with end-users. The picture shows a test-person’s suggestion for a potential future office chair for her own use. Photo: Anne Louise Bang

More Applicants and More Approved Projects 
The applications are assessed by the Industrial Ph.D. Programme Committee under the Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation. The committee has been expanded from 17 to 25 members to handle the many new applicants who come from an ever widening field.

In 2007, almost 110 industrial Ph.D. projects were approved compared with around 85 in both 2006 and 2005. That is an increase of approximately 27 percent. 2007 also saw a record number of applications – 174 in 2007 compared with 130 in 2006 and 115 in 2005; an increase of more than 51 percent in a matter of two years.

The Danish government and the Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation Helge Sander have allocated considerably more funds to the programme through the Globalisation Fund. In 2006 the funding was 50 million DKK, in 2007 it was 80 million DKK. This increase continues until 2010, when 110 million DKK will be allocated to the industrial Ph.D. programme.

Greater Disciplinary and Geographic Diversity
The ambition of appealing to a more diverse field of applicants – including more applicants from the geographic periphery – appears to be within reach. Previously, the industrial Ph.D. programme was completely dominated by the fields of engineering and natural science, but the share of applications from the social sciences and the humanities grew from less than 17 percent in 2005 to more than 21 percent in 2007; an increase of approximately 25 percent.

The programme, which traditionally has been firmly rooted in the greater Copenhagen area, is now being actively embraced by the rest of the country. In 2005 a little more than 21 percent of the new industrial Ph.D. scholars’ companies were located outside the greater Copenhagen area. Today, that number has increased to a little over 31 percent.

The Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation is currently seeking to increase the geographic and disciplinary diversity of the programme further; another objective is to encourage more small and medium-sized enterprises to use the programme. 

Additional information about the industrial Ph.D. programme is available from the research coordinator at the Danish Centre for Design Research, Hans Emborg Bünemann, telephone +45 3268 6204, e-mail: heb@dcdr.dk.  Additional numbers and facts as well as application forms are available at www.erhvervsphd.dk (in Danish only).   The Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation promotes research and innovation of a high international standard in order to benefit the economic, cultural and social development of the Danish society. Among other tasks, the Agency, which is under the Danish Ministry for Science, Technology and Innovation, is also the secretariat for the Industrial Ph.D. Programme Committee.

 

 

Mind Design #9, 2008