The schemes for industrial and public sector Ph.D. have previously been discussed. It is agreed that PSI needs a separate routine for how these inquiries are received and processed. More about the background for this can be read here (Norwegian).
Industrial Ph.D. (established in 2008) and public sector Ph.D. (established in 2014) are financing schemes under the auspices of the Norwegian Research Council. On their website, the purpose of the schemes is described:
The purpose of the industrial scheme is to contribute to
- increased research effort and long-term competence building in Norwegian business
- increased researcher recruitment in business
- increased interaction between academia and business
The purpose of the public sector scheme is to contribute to
- increased research effort and long-term competence building in the public sector
- increased researcher recruitment in the public sector
- increased interaction between the public sector and academia
Source: NFR
Challenges
The research council’s procedure for awarding funds does not involve any form of quality assurance for projects, companies or candidates. Funds are allocated continuously, according to fulfilled criteria and funds that are available on a "first come, first served" basis.
Industrial and public sector Ph.D. schemes involves a new group of applicants where experience with Ph.D. projects will vary considerably. The candidates themselves are not employed in a research environment, which is usually a criterion for admission to the PhD program. This also means that the department has a far greater responsibility for ensuring the quality of the project in question and the candidate's background and suitability. The projects must also be assessed based on the institute's own resources (residential duty, supervision and assistance with budget), as well as whether the department finds the project suitable to join.
PSI therefore wants to introduce an internal deadline, so that projects and educational background etc. can be assessed before the institute signs the research councils formal document "confirmation of collaboration on Ph.D. project".
Internal routine at PSI
In order to assess industrial and public sector projects, an internal deadline is set every autumn and spring. This deadline must consider deadlines for admission to the Ph.D. program (1 September autumn and 1 February spring), but also NFR`s application processing.
The internal deadlines are therefore set to 15 November in autumn and 15 May in spring.
Within the deadline, the institute must have received all the necessary documentation needed to make an overall assessment of the project, applicant, and budget. This is submitted via a separate online form (an english version will be available soon).
Further steps:
The assessments are made on the basis of submitted documentation by a separate assessment committee.
PSI considers 2 candidates per semester to be an appropriate limit for candidates applying via industrial or public sector PhDs, both because of internal resources and a desire for better follow-up of each individual candidate.
Several applicants will be assessed against each other.
It may also be relevant to have an interview round, partiality assessments and evaluation of the company/enterprise involved in the project.
In addition to the ordinary admission criteria for admission to Ph.D. program, the applications will be assessed according to the following criteria:
- Resources in the departments (supervision/office space)
- Project quality
- Confirmation/commitment from company
- Grades/CV
- Partiality
Order of proceedings:
PSI decides whether the institute wants to sign the agreement document to NFR.
In the event of a positive outcome, the candidate can apply to the Norwegian Research Council for funding.
The final step for candidates is to apply for admission to the Ph.D. the program within the given deadlines.