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Industrial Doctorate


 

COMPANY-BASED DOCTORATES AND EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL DOCTORATE DESIGNATION

UAM encourages doctoral candidates to pursue company-based doctoral programs, in which they conduct all or part of their research in collaboration with a public or private company or a public institution.

These programs provide researchers with the skills needed to develop R+D projects and promote R+D+i activities in business environments, while improving interactions between the academic and business worlds, thus strengthening the social impact of doctoral studies.

Research Plans are based on projects that are relevant to the host company or organization and have the potential to generate knowledge leading to innovation. Projects are generally divided into:

a) Business research projects: These projects are oriented towards planned research or critical studies aimed at acquiring knowledge that is useful for developing new products, processes or services, or that substantially enhances existing products, processes or services. These projects involve creating components for complex systems and may include the construction of prototypes within a lab environment or with simulated interfaces based on existing systems. Pilot lines may also be developed when so required for business or industrial research, particularly for the purposes of validating generic technology.

b) Experimental development projects: These projects are oriented towards acquiring, combining, shaping and using already existing scientific, technological, business or other knowledge and methods in order to create new or improved products, processes or services. These may also include conceptual definition, planning and documentation activities in relation to new products, processes or services, among others. Experimental development may comprise creating prototypes, doing demonstrations, preparing pilot projects, conducting trials and assessing new or improved products, processes or services in real-life conditions, the ultimate goal being to introduce new technical improvements to products, processes or services that are not yet well established. Experimental development does not include customary or regular changes to products, production lines, manufacturing processes, existing services and other ongoing operations, even if such changes might bring improvements.

A framework collaboration agreement is signed if student projects are carried out collaboratively by the University and a company or public institution. This agreement establishes the obligations of the University and the obligations of the company or public institution, as well as the candidate selection process.

In addition to the Supervisor designated by the program’s Academic Committee, doctoral students are assigned a Supervisor by the host company or public organization, who may also act as Thesis Supervisor, in accordance with the specific requirements of the doctoral program.

Industrial Doctorate Designation

The following requirements must be met in order to apply for the distinction of "Industrial Ph.D." in the doctoral degree:

a) There must be a commercial or employment contract between the doctoral candidate and a public or private sector company or a government agency, other than the University. The term of the contract must be at least one year, which must cover the period during which the thesis is being written.

b) The doctoral candidate must have participated in an industrial research or experimental project for the company or government agency where his/her services are rendered. The industrial research or experimental project in which the doctoral candidate participates must be directly related to his or her thesis. This direct relationship must be accredited in a report that must be approved by the academic committee in charge of the doctoral programme. The report must demonstrate that the project has generated both enough business interest and sufficient knowledge to be considered innovative research. Aside from the dissertation advisor designated by the academic committee in charge of the doctoral programme, there must be someone designated by the company or government agency, who may be the dissertation director pursuant to the rules governing the doctoral programme. The details of the person from the company or government agency who is responsible for the doctoral candidate must be notified to the academic committee of the doctorate programme and included in the report. The report on the industrial research project must be approved by the academic committee in charge of the doctoral programme.

To apply for the "Industrial Ph.D.” distinction, the doctoral candidate must submit an application to the School of Doctoral studies (form available in  download area) at the same time as the dissertation is submitted, along with a copy of the doctoral candidate's employment or commercial contract and a favourable report from the academic committee of the doctoral programme (report on the industrial research project approved by the coordinator on behalf of the academic committee of the doctoral programme).

If the project is carried out by the University in collaboration with the company or government agency where the doctoral candidate is working, a framework collaboration agreement will be signed by the parties. This agreement will state the obligations of the University and those of the company or government agency, as well as the procedure for selecting doctoral students.