The UIDP Industry-Integrated PhD Scholars Program

Award ID: 2624416

Our nations R&D enterprise depends on a well-prepared and adaptable workforce. Doctoral students are key to long-term economic resilience and innovation because they possess the scientific foundation to conduct cutting-edge research, create new methods and technologies, and drive interdisciplinary discovery. Creating a strong domestic pipeline of PhD researchers trained in discovery, innovation and translational research, and who are well-versed in industry contexts and interdisciplinary problem solving will secure Americas long-term competitiveness and national security. In todays rapidly evolving emerging technology landscape, there is a need for forward-thinking approaches to creating opportunities for, and supporting, this dynamic next generation of scientists. The Industry-Integrated PhD (I-PhD) Scholars Program, developed over several years and led by UIDP, will pilot and scale a new model, one that integrates academic research with industry engagement, bringing together universities, industry, government, philanthropic, and nonprofit partners to modernize doctoral education and strengthen the U.S. research workforce. It integrates rigorous, dissertation-based research conducted in an industry setting into doctoral training. Students remain enrolled at their home universities, receive joint mentorship from academic and industry researchers, and produce publishable research that contributes to fundamental knowledge, while also benefiting from industry expertise, facilities and equipment often leading to impact beyond papers and conference proceedings. The project will establish and evaluate a four-year doctoral education pilot program through coordinated co-investment by NSF with companies and universities. Participating students will receive joint mentorship from academic and industry researchers and spend at least one year (in aggregate) conducting dissertation-integrated research at an industry site. They will also complete a micro-credential program designed to build competencies for working in industry and cross-sector research environments. The project will include cohort-based activities, annual convenings, and partner agreements governing research scope and expectations. Independent evaluation will assess program implementation, student outcomes, partnership quality, scalability, and sustainability, including measures such as dissertation progress, time-to-degree, research outputs, skill development, and initial career placement. The pilot will generate evidence on how extended, dissertation-integrated industry engagement affects student outcomes, including dissertation completion, time-to-degree, and initial career placement as well as student perceptions of research environments and career pathways. It will also help enhance understanding of how the joint partnership conditions enable or constrain implementation. The results could inform other NSF models of graduate education support such as the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) and Non-Academic Research Internships for Graduate Students (INTERN) Program. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Program Director: Sharon Bird