6. Industrial PhD projects in the public sector
Public institutions may also apply for approval of an Industrial PhD project in coorporation with a university. The public institution functions as a private company in the Industrial PhD project. Several public institutions can also collaborate on a joint Industrial PhD project.
If funding has been allocated for this specific purpose, public institutions may apply for subsidies for Industrial PhD projects at indicated application rounds, to be announced beforehand at www.erhvervsphd.dk. If any funding remains from the first application round where available, the remainder can be applied for at subsequent application rounds. If granted subsidy, a project receives the same amount of subsidy as private sector projects.
If no special funding has been allocated, public institutions must defray all expenses for the education, including expenses related to enrolment and supervision at the university.
The purpose of Industrial PhD projects in the public sector is:
- to support the public sector’s focus on possible improvements through targeted, practical, research based projects,
- to train scientists with knowledge about the relevance of research and development in the public sector,
- to build knowledge-sharing networks between public institutions and research institutions.
The Industrial PhD Programme in the public sector targets:
- public institutions and organisations financially and professionally capable of supporting a three-year research and training project,
- holders of a master’s degree with the necessary qualifications to complete a PhD project, cf. section 4,
- universities as supervisors, cf. section 4 and 5.
A project where a public research institution employs the candidate and accordingly functions as the host company must not fall within the institution’s established research activity fields. As an example and particularly relevant to the health sector, including hospitals, the programme can include research on organisation, working procedures etc. However, projects in the fields of general medical and health science cannot obtain subsidy, since these fields are covered by the health care sector’s regular PhD programmes.
