By Carrie Cox
At the heart of the often complex relationship between academia and industry in Australia is an incontrovertible sweet spot: the PhD.
Just as a doctorate requires the production of original and significant research, Australian industry is thirsty for cutting-edge innovation that doesn’t come off a shelf.
It’s no surprise, then, that the Australian Government is finally dedicating meaningful funds and resources to industry PhD programs – the sorts of programs that have seen countries like France and Denmark race ahead in the field of research commercialisation.
About 10,000 PhDs are completed in Australia each year and while not all of them are answering the world’s burning questions or curing the incurable, the fact is a great many of them are. It’s far too easy to underestimate just how many big ideas we’re actually sitting on at any one time.
Image: Dr Agi Gedeon.
“Historically as a nation, we’re very good at research but not so good at turning it into practical applications,” says Dr Agi Gedeon, HDR Partnerships Manager at The University of Western Australia.
“But the Government is now clearly committed to driving a stronger nexus between research, innovation, the economy and the commercialisation of good ideas.
“And because PhDs generate novel research, there are some wonderful opportunities for either commercialising that research or testing it in industry settings, as well as actually having universities and industry co-design research projects from the get-go.”
While there are myriad types of industry PhD internships and collaborative iPhD programs now available through Australian universities, common to all is the win-win imperative.
“For research students, engaging with industry-based R&D internship during their studies is a great opportunity not only for their future employability but also for the future application of their research, while for industry there is an injection of fresh ideas and innovation and no risk to their intellectual property,” Dr Gedeon explains.
Reaching for the stars
UWA PhD student Matilda Boyce, who is investigating the early evolution of the Earth through the formation of ancient magmatic rocks, took up an internship opportunity last year that took her to the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas. She said the experience provided a uniquely fresh perspective on her study.
“Before this internship, I had only ever studied terrestrial geology, but over the program I learnt a lot about planetary science and lunar geology,” Ms Boyce says.
“I also learnt a lot from the other students I worked with on the program, who specialised in remote sensing, GIS modelling, lunar geology and impact cratering, which are not areas I was familiar with.
“The research was incredibly interesting and is a field I would love to continue working in in the future. My experience shows that an internship doesn’t have to align perfectly with your own research work – it can open your eyes and expose you to experiences you wouldn’t have had otherwise.”
‘PhD internships have played a critical role in our company’
WA scientist and innovator Dr Michael Challenor has taken on almost 100 PhD students as interns since launching his med-tech start-up VitalTrace in 2018. An Honorary Research Fellow at UWA, he completed an internship at the completion of his own PhD in 2016 and is a firm believer in the mutual benefits possible for both researchers and industry.
“For PhD students, an industry internship puts you well ahead of the pack when it comes to securing employment after your research is complete,” Dr Challenor says.
“It means you’re already a known quantity to an organisation and it’s significant that my own start-up has ended up employing about a third of the PhD students we’ve interned.
“For industry, you’re gaining these young, curious minds who are excited to be trying something new, to get a foot in the door and get a taste of life beyond study. And the paperwork is largely taken care of – just a straight-forward contract, no payroll, just an invoice at the end. There’s no IP risk for companies and from a tax perspective it really makes sense.
“But most importantly, I can attest that my experience is that PhD internships have played a critical role in the evolution and growth of our company, which now has 45 staff and has raised more than $24 million in grants and investment.”
From industry to PhD
The Federal Government’s National Industry PhD Program opened for applications in March 2023 in two key streams: Industry Linked PhDs (in which outstanding PhD candidates undertake research projects co-designed by university and industry) and Industry Researcher PhDs (in which employed industry professionals are supported by their employers to undertake PhD projects in partnership with a university).
One of the first recipients of the latter funding stream was senior mechatronic engineer Sam Withers, who is completing a PhD through UWA while remaining employed at the Australian Institute of Robotic Orthopaedics (trading as ArthroLase).
In collaboration with Associate Professor Nathan Pavlos from the UWA School of Biomedical Sciences, Mr Withers is working on a PhD project that tightly knits with his day-job focus to re-engineer the way knee replacements are performed using laser technology.
“We’re developing a new approach to bone preparation for knee replacement procedures,” Mr Withers explains. “There’s a lot of demand for this innovation to come down the pipeline and become part of clinical practice. It promises far greater precision and opens up new implant designs.
“Doing a PhD while also working can be demanding at times, but there are a lot of beneficial overlaps and it’s already opened up opportunities for me that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
“Also, having a cohesive body of scientific research will help shore up regulatory submissions and develop confidence among clinicians. Often in the commercial sector, there’s a drive to get to market as quickly as possible, but a strong scientific background helps you avoid those ‘gotcha’ moments in the regulatory approvals process.”