Towards Better University – Industry Collaboration: Focus on Doctoral Careers

1. Towards Better University – Industry Collaboration: Focus on Doctoral Careers Alexandra Bitusikova Vice-Rector at Matej Bel University, Slovakia Former EUA-CDE Senior Adviser The Hague, 25 January 2018

2. Menu • Context for collaborative doctoral education/ training/ research • EU policies and developments • How to develop a successful, responsible and long-term university-industry/ business/ public sector/ NGO partnership? • Pracitices, recommednations and advice

3. Context for collaborative doctoral education/ training/ research in Europe • The era of and focus on the knowledge-based society/ economyhas intensified the dynamics of the relationship between universities as „knowledge producers“, and the society as a user of knowledge. • Universities are seen as key players in achieving the EU objectives to strengthen the economic competitiveness of Europe, based on knowledge and skills these institutions generate. • Universities are main suppliers of highly trained researchers capable of anticipating and meeting the demandsof all competitive sectors (such as ICT, energy, biotechnology, life sciences, medicine, etc).

4. Context for collaborative doctoral training/ research in Europe (2) • The EU policies recognise universities as institutions capable of fosteringcreativity and a stronger “entrepreneurial culture and skills” amongst university graduates to innovate and create their own jobs (enterprises). • Majority of doctoral graduates are employed outside academia after they finish their studies: do they have the right skills? • Many companies complain about too narrow (too deep?) knowledge and skills of doctoral graduates and the lack of their „other“ skills that are crucial for working in a company.

5. What does business/ industry want? • Access to cutting-edge research • Access to a highly qualified work force • Expectations regarding skills of doctoral graduates: excellence, thinking out-of-box - creativity, teamworking, problem-solving, making decision, flexibility, adaptability, ability to plan and prioritise, communication skills inside and outside, ability to obtain and process information, time and risk management (time – an important category – different in academia and in industry)

6. What do the universities want? • Exposure to wider research environments and understanding both academic and non-academic organisations • Improving the quality of doctoral education and institutional reputation • Enhancing employability perspectives of doctorate holders and their social status • Responding to the growing industrial demand for access to generated new knowledge • Attracting more diversified funding from external organisations for research • Stimulating university-industry dialogue

7. What do doctoral candidates want? • Gaining insight into non-academic sectors • Address“real life” research problems • Enhancingemployability opportunities, especially outside academia • Opportunityto build up a network of contacts outside academia • Ready-made (“jump in work”) projects (DOC CAREER I projectfindings, http://www.eua.be/activities-services/projects/past-projects/research-and-innovation/doc-careers.aspx

8. EU policies and developments on collaborative training and research • EU policiesemphasisetheimportance of collaborativeresearch and training in numerousdocuments: e.g. Lisbon objectives, Modernisation Agenda for universities, InnovationUnion: A Europe 2020 Initiative, Principles for Innovative Doctoral Training, A New Skills Agenda forEurope, EU SmartSpecialisationStrategy – RIS3; ) and actions(establishment of EuropeanInstitute of Technology and Innovation – EIT and theEuropeanInnovationCouncil – EIC pilot) • Collaborativeresearch and training has beensupported/ funded by EU programmeHorizon 2020 (€80 billionin 2014-2020); MSCA-European Industrial Doctorates • As a consequence, collaborativedoctoraltraining/ researchhas beenofanincreasingimportance on anyuniversity agenda.

9. European University Association initiatives • EUA (the largest association of European universities – more than 800 members; www.eua.be) • In order to recognise and develop universities’ abilities in creatingand promoting partnerships with other partners outside academia, EUA carried out two projects focused on collaborative doctoral programmes: DOC-CAREERS I and II • Responsible Partnering Initiative and Guidelines (with EIRMA, EARTO, ProTon) cover core areas crucial to university/industry collaboration concerning common interests, training and skills, consortia-building, intellectual property rights and patents and most importantly - building lasting relationships in collaborative research and training.

10. How to develop a good partnership between universities and business/ industry? • Building a goodpartnershipis a long-termprocessbased on mutualknowledge, understanding and trust (usuallybottom-upbuilt: from a project to a programmeapproach and eventually to aninstitutionalcollaboration) • Waysofcollaborationthatcanlead to a goodpartnership: • Short-terminternships/ placementsforstudents • Secondmentsforacademics in companies and viceversa – help to establishcloserrelations, build trust and partnership • Jointresearchlaboratories • Joint training programmes- the main objective is to educate people who can be potential employees and who have a skill profile most suitable for the company -result of an earlier successful partnership witha long term vision • Collaborativedoctoralprogrammes

11. Characteristics of collaborative doctoral edcuation/ training • Collaborative doctoral education/ training - doctoral research carried out with interaction between a university, a company and a doctoral candidate. A distinctive feature is that industry (or other stakeholder) experts take part in the supervisory committee/ team, officially or informally. Industry can play several roles, but being in the supervisory committee/ team is what effectively reflects the specific nature of the collaborative doctoral project.

12. Important components of collaborative doctoral education/ training • 7 main components identified in DOC-CAREERS projects: • strategic level of engagement in the parent organisations, • role of each partner (university and industry/ business/ state sector/ NGO), • selection of the doctoral research topic, • additional admission requirements, • formal agreement (including Intellectual Property rights), • legal status of the doctoral candidate. • In addition, all stakeholders stressed that even if a collaborative programme is well-organisedin formal terms, success also depends upon the quality of the personal component, the ability to solve problems, work in teams andto achieve excellent performance, and to establish good levels of mutual trust between the stakeholders.

13. Added values and benefits for all • Quality of collaborativeresearch: itmeetsacademic standards with anaddedstrategic value for industry • It increases insightand awarenessof both academic and non-academic environments • It broadensemployability and careerperspectives for PhD holders • Itreinforces university-industry cooperationthoughjoint supervision, mutual access to academic and business networks, and leads tounderstandingtheother „language“, etc. • „Candidateswho spent most of their time at Lafarge research centre can be hired before they have obtained their PhD degree. It fits very well because the candidate is involved in company projects. When they earn their PhD degree their wages are reconsidered and levelled to other researchers. Employment opportunities for doctoral candidates who did their PhD exclusively at the university are much lower“(P.A., Lafarge).

14. Concerns • Excessive focus on non-academic activities • Limiting freedom for the development of break-through/ creative ideas • Conflict on publication rights and intellectual property rights • Supervision: communication issues, quality, approach, availability • Sustainability (problem mainly with SMEs)

15. Examples of European and national schemes • European and national funding schemes for collaborative doctoral training: • European Industrial Doctorate, Initial Training Networks and European Joint Doctorates funded by the MSCA Actions of H2020 • CIFRE (French scheme – about 1300 fellowships a year) • Danish Industrial PhD (co-funded by the government) • CASE Programme (UK) • Spanish Torres Quevedo Grants • Flanders (part of Belgium) supports a number of collaborative programmes through several schemes

16. Institutional level:Key messages and recommendations from DOC-CAREER projects: • 1. Identify researchpriorities and knowledge/technological needs and challenges which need R&D input and exchangeviews on knowledge/technological challenges with industry • 2)Plan medium-long term researchcollaborationstrategythatincludesindustry • 3)Develop high quality research proposals • 4)Know the costof research (full-cost model- e.g. UK TRACK) • 5)Raise awarenessoftherespective research environments in which to collaborate in your field • 6) Raise awarenessoftransferableskilltraining and careerperspectivesofdoctoralgraduates • 7) Trackcareersofdoctoralcandidates and usethemas role models

17. Key messages and reccommendations from DOC-CAREER projects (2) • 8) Organise/Participate in fora for soft ways of interactionbetween doctoral students, researchers and industry experts with good research content (conferences, fairs, etc.) • 9)Organise small-size highlyspecialised workshops/meetings pooling experts fromdifferent research fieldsand sectors • 10) Develop the right support and expertise (IPR issues, contractual issues, HR, legal, etc.) • 11)Formalise doctoral collaborations in solid and fair agreements combining structure and flexibility • 12)Consider physical proximity as an asset to develop mutual trust (promote face-to face dialogue) • 13)Commit to excellencein doctoral education, research and management (Lidia Borrell-Damian, DOC-CAREER coordinator)

18. Thank you for your attention www.eua.be/cde alexandra.bitusikova@umb.sk