Students matter: the role of doctoral students in university–industry collaborations

Santos, Patrícia; Veloso, Luísa; Urze, Paula

doi:10.1080/07294360.2020.1814702

Cited by 14 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Vice versa, industrial doctoral programs reinforce university-industry partnerships via doctoral students and doctoral graduates, who work across academia and industry. A case study in Portugal has shown that doctoral students can enhance university-industry collaboration through their research that can positively influence knowledge transfer and knowledge sharing [14]. Another case study in Finland has found that collaborative programs in doctoral education train both industrial actors and academics through boundary-spanning activities.…”

Section: Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Triple Helix Model of Doctoral Education: A Case Study of an Industrial Doctorate

Hong-qing

2022

Sustainability

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The knowledge economy requires a revolution in doctoral education. This article generalizes a triple helix model of doctoral education based on the existing literature. Further, it conducts a case study of a Center for Doctoral Training sponsored by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council in the United Kingdom. This research adopts document and observation studies as instruments to examine the roles of university, industry, and government, and their interactions, in doctoral education. Through document and observation analyses, it finds that universities provide disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and professional training to doctoral students; industry offers research and training opportunities, research grants, and placements; and governments stimulate the cooperation between universities and industry through support policies and grants. Universities, industry, and governments benefit from these interactions, and these benefits reinforce their interactions. In the meantime, university autonomy is compromised by the involvement of industry and governments in doctoral education, although the rigor of the doctorates is not compromised because universities dominate the assessment. The curriculum, supervision, matching of research projects from industry with the research interests of doctoral students, and research outcomes, which are in the boundary spaces of the triple helix model of doctoral education, should be further developed for the development of industrial doctorates.

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Section: Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Triple Helix Model of Doctoral Education: A Case Study of an Industrial Doctorate

Hong-qing

2022

Sustainability

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“…However, it is still a debate whether postdoctoral workstations benefit or deteriorate firms’ value-enhancing activities, relative to the other U-I collaboration patterns. The positive view argues that joint postdoctoral workstations act as nodes linking firms and universities, generating inclusive knowledge and therefore contributing to a firm’s competitive advantage (e.g., Salimi et al, 2016 ; Santos et al, 2020 ). For instance, while not specifically focused on postdoctoral workstations, Thune (2009) states: ‘for the firm, PhDs and post-doctorates represent a channel to absorb tacit knowledge.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

University-industry collaboration: The impact of postdoctoral workstations on labor investment efficiency

Liu

Huang

2022

Front. Psychol.

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This paper investigates whether managers use knowledge transferred from university-industry collaboration when making investment decisions on labor. To establish causality, we use a difference-in-difference method based on the staggered establishment of postdoctoral workstations in Chinese firms. We find that postdoctoral workstations enable managers to improve labor investment efficiency and thus help mitigate over- and under-investment problems in labor, and the higher the operational quality of the workstation, the more significant the increase in investment efficiency. This finding is robust to utilizing the event study approach, placebo test, propensity score matching, instrumental variable, and entropy balancing. Brain gain and knowledge transfer effects between universities and industries are two plausible mechanisms. Furthermore, the main effect is more pronounced for firms located closer to prestigious universities, firms are non-state-owned enterprises, human-capital-intensive, have political connections, and without national fellows’ lead. Our findings suggest that brain gain in firms does not merely increase or reduce labor investments Per se, but rather inspires managers to maintain optimal labor levels through knowledge transfer processes.

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“…Analysis of the doctoral programs based on a survey data to all directors of doctoral programs in Portugal, in 2016-2017, showed that 130 programs (53.3% of the sample) involve some type of collaboration with companies. A substantial part of collaboration between universities and companies in doctoral programmes was connected to the students' research projects: 52.3% of the students carried out part or all of their research projects with a company and 40% worked on projects defined by the companies (P. Santos et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Academic Culture in Doctoral Education: Are Companies Making a Difference in the Experiences and Practices of Doctoral Students in Portugal?

Santos

Patrício

2020

IJDS

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Aim/Purpose: This article examines the experience and practice of doctoral students by focusing on different dimensions of the PhD socialization process. It addresses the question of whether university collaborations with businesses influence the experience and practice of PhD students. Background: The study explores the academic culture in the PhD process through the analysis of the experiences and practices of doctoral students in two groups – those without business collaborations (academic trajectories) and those with business collaborations (hybrid trajectories). Academic trajectories are seen as traditional academic disciplinary based doctoral education, while hybrid trajectories cross boundaries collaborating with companies in the production of new knowledge. Methodology: The article uses a qualitative methodology based on extensive interviews and analysis of the curriculum vitae of fourteen Portuguese PhD students in three scientific domains (engineering and technology sciences, exact sciences, and social sciences). The doctoral program profiles were defined according to a survey applied to the directors of all doctoral programs in Portugal. Contribution: The study contributes to the reflection on the effects of collaboration with companies, in particular on the trajectories and experiences of doctoral students. It contributes to the understanding of the challenges associated with business collaborations. Findings: Some differences were found between academic and hybrid trajectories of doctoral students. Traditional products such as scientific articles are the main objective of the PhD student, but scientific productivity is influenced by trajectory and ultimately by career prospects. The business culture influences the trajectories of doctoral students with regard to outputs such as publishing that may act as a barrier to academic culture. PhD students with academic trajectories seem to value international experiences and mobility. Minor differences were found in the choice of topic and type of research activity, revealing that these dimensions are indicative of the scientific domain. Both hybrid and academic students indicate that perceptions of basic and applied research are changing with borders increasingly blurred. Recommendations for Practitioners: It is important for universities, department chairs, and PhD coordinators to be concerned with the organisation, structure, and success of doctoral programs. Therefore, it is useful to consider the experiences and trajectories of PhD students involved with the business sector and to monitor the relevance and results of such exchange. Key points of contact include identifying academic and business interests, cultures, and practices. A student-centred focus in university-business collaboration also can improve students’ well-being in this process. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers should consider the processes of interaction and negotiation between academic and business sectors and actors. It is important to understand and analyse the trajectories and experiences of PhD students in doctoral programs and in university-company collaborations, since they are the central actors. Impact on Society: This analysis is relevant to societies where policy incentives encourage doctoral programs to collaborate with companies. The PhD is an important period of socialization and identity formation for researchers, and in this sense the experiences of students in the context of collaboration with companies should be analyzed, including its implications for the professional identity of researchers and, consequently, for the future of science inside and outside universities. Future Research: More empirical studies need to explore these processes and relationships, including different national contexts and different scientific fields. Other aspects of the academic and business trajectory should be studied, such as the decision to pursue a PhD or the focus on perceptions about the future career. Another point that deserves to be studied is whether a broader set of experiences increases the recognition and appreciation of the doctoral degree by employers inside and outside the academy.

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Students matter: the role of doctoral students in university–industry collaborations

Cited by 14 publications

References 26 publications

A Triple Helix Model of Doctoral Education: A Case Study of an Industrial Doctorate

A Triple Helix Model of Doctoral Education: A Case Study of an Industrial Doctorate

University-industry collaboration: The impact of postdoctoral workstations on labor investment efficiency

Academic Culture in Doctoral Education: Are Companies Making a Difference in the Experiences and Practices of Doctoral Students in Portugal?

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