The US National Science Foundation has kicked off a pilot programme that will embed doctoral students inside companies, part of a global push to make PhD training more industry-relevant. The Industry-Integrated PhD (I-PhD) Scholars Program will support more than 250 students with four years of funding, with at least one year of dissertation research conducted at a company's site.
Under the scheme, students receive one year of funding from their university and three from the NSF. Industry partners must host at least a year of research and contribute at least $100,000 per student; in the final three years, students get tuition support and an annual stipend of $37,000. The NSF is spending $47 million over five years, and more than 30 universities — including Columbia, NYU and Northwestern — have signed letters of intent, alongside industry partners such as Procter & Gamble, BP and Rolls-Royce.
'It's a chance for companies to invest directly into how our doctoral researchers are trained,' said Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, noting that most US STEM PhD recipients do not stay in academia. The University–Industry Demonstration Partnership will lead the programme, which requires students to complete all traditional PhD requirements, including a dissertation.
Researchers are split. Supporters say industry placements benefit both students and employers and that such partnerships are underused at most research universities. Critics worry the money should instead shore up basic science. 'Industry PhDs are already available and graduates are flocking to industry jobs — NSF money should be spent to support basic science that industry won't support,' wrote chemistry Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertozzi — a pointed concern given the NSF's reported plans to claw back funds from core science programmes.
There are also practical questions: the average US science or engineering PhD takes 5.6 years, leading some to call the four-year guarantee 'a little unrealistic'. Still, the NSF says it remains committed to curiosity-driven research and its standards of merit review.
