The Danish Centre for Design Research aims to promote the use of the industrial Ph.D. programme. An industrial Ph.D. project is a business-oriented Ph.D. project carried out in a partnership between a private enterprise, a Ph.D. student and the Danish Centre for Design Research.
Programme structure
As an industrial Ph.D. student, you receive research training, partly through the work you do on your research project, and partly by taking Ph.D. courses included in the programme.
For example, you will be taking part in a business course for Ph.D. students, which involves writing a business report that puts your project into a commercial perspective.
Your research project is concluded with a Ph.D. dissertation, which you hand in at the end of the three-year programme and defend at a public Ph.D. seminar.
The Danish Centre for Design Research offers Ph.D. courses on an ongoing basis.
Terms of employment
You become an employee of the company for three years, and another employee of the company is appointed as your advisor. Your salary is subject to negotiation with your employer but must be at least equivalent to the salary for Ph.D. students as agreed in the collective agreement. You divide your work hours between the company and a school of design or architecture. At the school, you have an academic advisor and become part of the research environment of the school and of the Danish Centre for Design Research.
Research schools
As an industrial Ph.D. student in design, you enrol along with the traditional Ph.D. students in one of the following research schools:
- The Danish Doctoral Schools of Architecture & Design
- The Danish Research School of Cultural Heritage
- The Danish Research School of Culture, Literature and Art
Bridge building
As an industrial Ph.D. student, you are a bridge-builder between the enterprise and the research environment, and you receive a highly versatile research degree that embraces both theory and practice. Through the research project, the enterprise has receives directly applicable research results as well as access to a valuable network involving universities and other businesses.
To learn more about the programme, please contact the research coordinator at the Danish Centre for Design Research.
Read about two industrial Ph.D. students in our webzine Mind Design:
