Positions for University-Company joint PhD – Executive PhD
The PhD School of Politecnico di Milano promotes the opportunity to activate paths of joint PhD with companies and external entities ( Executive PhD).
Beneficiaries
Employees of companies or external entities who can train, develop and complete a research, holding their job and salary. They can obtain the PhD title at the end of their research path.
Newly-graduated candidates recruited by companies or external entities with a contract of apprenticeship in high-training, who have been got in the company gradually while they will carry on their PhD paths. In this case, the duration of the contract of high-training agrees with that one of the cycle of study. The new employees do not have to be beyond 30 years old.
Duration
4 years. The actual duration can be arranged between the company and the PhD board of Professors involved. It will depend on the kind of commitment established by the convention.
Training
The PhD path foresees from one side a part of training through courses offered by the PhD programme and the PhD School and from the other side a part of research that can be carried out in the company, in the PhD department or in either organisations. The training path is arranged by both the company and the board of Professors of the involved PhD programme. A part of the training (in particular that one mentioned “core training”) requires the compulsory attendance of the lessons (minimum 20 credits corresponding to about 100 hours of traditional lecture [taught class] and 500 hours of total study to prepare the final exam).
Research
The research issue and the related path for carrying out it are arranged by both the company and by the board of Professors of the PhD programme involved. The path is followed by two supervisors, one belonging to the university , the other one belonging to the company. If the joint PhD path requires the commitment of Department’s resources and/or investments for the development of the research, that will be regulated through a normal research contract between the company and the group responsible for the PhD candidate’s activity.
Advantages
The PhD executive candidate has to set the PhD path taking into account the company’s vision and the related trends. That seems to give guarantees related to the resear- ch-oriented training product linked to the growth of the executive PhD, as well as, according to the conditions of collaboration, to interaction and integration between the university research of the group in which the PhD candidate is involved, and the development and innovation of the company or external entities for which the PhD candi- date works. From the employee’s point of view, the above-mentioned employee has the opportunity to exploit a training and growth opportunity, preserving his/her job and salary, with the relating loyalty by the company. From the company’s point of view, the company, through the high-training contract, has the opportunity to recruit, train to research, and loyalize high-quality company’s staff.
Procedure
The company interested in promoting the enrolment of its employee has to contact the Coordinator of the PhD Programme involved, with the aim of checking if the trai- ning and research offer of the PhD Programme can represent a training opportunity, fitting together with the objectives of the potential PhD candidate, of the company or external entity and of the PhD programme involved.
The candidates have to be evaluated by the Board of Professors for admission.
The admitted Executive- PhD candidates have to enroll “without scholarship” and can start on one of the two main dates: November 1st, or May 1st.
Before the beginning of the PhD courses, the PhD Programmes/Departments and the companies involved should arrange the schedule of the joint project, which specifies the research areas, the modalities and the schedule of the training and research path. For our PhD programme is foreseen a contribution to the Department which will follow the research activity as a cover of the costs.
It makes sense that the PhD candidate, to obtain the PhD title at the end of the PhD path, will have to keep to the training obligations foreseen by the above-mentioned path.