Transforming PhD experiences: The value of industry-academia collaboration

The need for change in career guidance for PhDs has become a popular topic in recent months. The problem is that PhD candidates are most-often trained to be academic researchers and even encouraged to take postdoc positions, but most will go on to build careers in industry.

The lessons we learn early, we learn well. When we begin our careers in the faster-paced results-driven environment of the private sector, we are often slow to shift from the thinking and working habits we learned in academic research. Too often, this results in PhDs who struggle in their first jobs and industry managers who are frustrated with their newly hired PhDs. The most common example is when a PhD scientist in their first industry job continues the academic approach of extensive data collection and analysis, being careful not to present results until they are certain. To an industry manager this looks like someone who wants to play in the lab and can’t make a timely decision to move a program forward.

PhDs who graduate from research groups that collaborate with industry have a distinct advantage in finding an industry job and adapting quickly to the new environment. My work with TurningScience to help PhD scientists transition effectively into industry careers has led me to connect with several academic researchers who have built very successful research groups through industry collaboration. These academics provide better career preparation for their PhD graduates and postdocs, and they also build research groups that far surpass the expectations most of them had when they began their careers.

Hugo Thienpont, a professor of engineering and director of the Brussels Photonics (B-PHOT) research facility at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) in Belgium is one such academic. I spoke with him in 2023 for my upcoming book, Shaping the World: The Vital Role of the Scientist in Industry, due out in mid-2024 from SPIE Press.

B-PHOT engages in a broad spectrum of photonics research and provides modeling, design, development, and even production upscaling services for a wide range of companies in what Thienpont describes as a one-stop-shop approach. Thienpont described to me how his attention to the private sector began with the creation of a graduate program in photonics at VUB in 1993 to address a local workforce need for graduate-level expertise. Next, he began building private sector partnerships that have provided significant growth for his group through funding received from these industry partners, resulting in the impressive B-PHOT organization he directs today.

But these lucrative partnerships didn’t begin with companies that wanted to commercialize Thienpont’s research. “I started out thinking we could develop some great ideas and then find a company that would be interested in turning it into a product,” he says. “But I learned the hard way that technology push doesn’t work.”

While companies often found his optical-fabrication techniques interesting, they were busy with their own product ideas. But Thienpont eventually realized that what companies did need was help getting their own technologies to market. “I realized that helping them with [their] problems, rather than pushing our technology on them, was the opportunity I’d been looking for.” Today, this approach of beginning with the problems that companies have and then looking for the right technical solution is called flipped tech transfer.

Solving problems with other people’s technology wasn’t exactly the partnership Thienpont was originally looking for. But he found that, in time, companies did become interested in the new ideas he and his team had to offer. “I discovered that if you solve their problems and help them to reach their goals, they become more interested in the other work that you are doing. After a while they come and visit your labs and you get to show them what you’re working on. Little by little, you can establish a longer-term collaboration.”

And while this approach did lead to companies wanting to commercialize Thienpont’s discoveries, he realized that simply handing over a prototype is of limited value if it cannot be scaled for manufacturing. A novel device handcrafted by a PhD scientist may require significant development before it can be assembled by a technician following work instructions.

This prompted the B-PHOT team to develop their own production upscaling capabilities. “We’ve found the best approach is to support industry all the way up to the highest level where they will accept your help, and that is usually pilot production. That is why this one-stop shop idea that we’ve been building for years is so valuable for our industry collaborators.”

The approach has, in fact, been so successful that in 2013 B-PHOT moved into their own off-campus facility, which is now home to a multidisciplinary team of 70 scientists, engineers, and technology experts from 20 countries.

Despite success stories like B-PHOT, some researchers believe industry collaboration will compromise fundamental research. Thienpont has found just the opposite. “I am also investing heavily in fundamental research. Any time we perform well on a company contract and solve their problems quickly, I reinvest the remaining money in fundamental research.” His group’s work with industry provides a “financial feedback loop,” ensuring that they remain on the cutting edge.

Politicians and decision-makers in Belgium have taken an interest in B-PHOT, because they see a research group working with industry to help the economy and create jobs. “The result is that they [too] want to help us with financing to buy new equipment.” He says government-funded equipment will of course be used for working with industry but will also be used for fundamental research.

B-PHOT also does an excellent job preparing their graduates for industry careers. For example, students are encouraged to spend several months working closely with a company on a project related to their thesis topic. As Thienpont notes, “They learn that industry thinks in a very different way than their promoter or academic advisor, and whether they pursue a university career or an industry career, that experience will always be valuable.”

Many PhD advisors imagine that allowing students to have a side project with industry will compromise their research progress. But while it may indeed delay the completion of the student’s project a bit, the net result is significant growth potential for the group.

What’s more, the industry exposure that graduates from the B-PHOT program receive makes them very competitive when they begin their industry careers. A job candidate who understands the industry environment and what is expected of them will be a much stronger networker and job candidate. I’ve spoken to thousands of PhD candidates in the last 10 years, and most would love to have an opportunity to participate in an industry project. It would have been a tremendous advantage in my career.

The benefits of new research funding avenues, guidance on commercially viable research directions, and valuable industry exposure for students make industry collaboration a clear win for researchers, graduate students, and universities. This explains why I’ve seen a recent surge in researchers curious about industry collaboration.

Thienpont offers a new frame of mind for those wishing to follow his example: “If you want to work with industry, the focus needs to be on industry. You have to think, ‘If I were in industry, why might I need these academic researchers?’”

As he and the B-PHOT team have demonstrated, the reward for shifting your focus is tremendous.

David Giltner teaches scientists about the private sector so they can become employees, entrepreneurs, or academic collaborators. Learn more at TurningScience.com

Thienpont’s story will appear in Giltner’s Shaping the World: The Vital Role of the Scientist in Industry, from SPIE Press. Learn more at shapingtheworld.tech