Industrial Researcher

Om Industrial Researcher

Innovation Fund Denmark's Industrial Researcher Programme aims to bridge the gap between companies and universities. The programme provides support to private companies and public institutions to hire a PhD student or post.doc graduate to carry out business-oriented research projects in collaboration with a university.

In the Industrial researcher programme, the candidate is employed in a private company and at the same time enrolled in a public research institution. The candidate is working on the research project in both organisations. This gives the company new knowledge, the university strengthens its ties with the business community and the graduate gets a PhD or post.doc degree.

The Business Research Program supports projects within one of the following themes:

• Green research, technology development and innovation
• Life science, health and welfare technology
• Strategic and challenge-driven research and innovation in new technologies
• Free funds for e.g. social science and humanities research

The Industrial PhD programme

This fund finances the PhD student's salary with up to 17,000 DKK per month for 3 years (maximum 50% of the actual salary expense). In addition, the company will receive 100,000 DKK, to be used for the PhD student to participate in project-relevant conferences and ECTS-eligible courses at home and abroad. The 100,000 DKK covers travel expenses, accommodation, etc.

Who can apply for the Industrial PhD programme?

The Industrial PhD programme is a collaboration between a company, university and the PhD student.

The company must live up to the following requirements:

• Have a physical department located in Denmark, where the PhD student is employed.
• Have available finances and facilities for the entire PhD project.
• The company is financially independent of the university.
• The company associates a supervisor and co-supervisor with the project.
• The company is part of the private sector.

The following requirements apply to the university:

• It is a higher education institution officially approved to handle PhD education.
• Must associate a supervisor with the project. This supervisor must:
  • Be a recognized researcher in the project's subject area.
  • Work on a daily basis with research in the project's subject area.
  • Be employed by the university and affiliate with the PhD school.

The following requirements apply to the business PhD candidate:

• Has completed a project-relevant master's program
• Thesis or graduation project is completed with a grade of 10 or higher.

The Industrial Postdoctoral Programme

Innovation Fund Denmark contributes up to 22,000 DKK per month to the Industrial Postdoctoral candidate's salary (max. 50% of the actual salary cost) for a project period of 1-3 years. In addition, the company has 2,500 DKK available per month to cover the postdoctoral candidate's expenses for travel in connection with project-relevant conferences at home and abroad.

Who can apply for the Industrial Postdoc program?

The industrial postdoc. Program is a collaboration between company, university and the postdoc. candidate.

The following application requirements apply to the company:

• Have a physical department located in Denmark, where the postdoctoral student is employed.
• Have available are finances and facilities for the entire postdoctoral project
• The company is financially independent of the university
• The company must attach a mentor to the project. The mentor must have general experience with the project topic and have in-depth industry knowledge.
• The company is part of the private sector.

The following application requirements apply to the university:

• Must document a significant research effort in the project area
• Associate a research mentor who is a recognized researcher in the project's subject area and works daily in a relevant research environment.
• Must be part of the public sector

The following requirements apply to the Industrial Postdoctoral candidate:

• Has obtained a PhD degree within 5 years from the time of application.
• Can document research academic weight within the project area, eg publications, patents or the like.

Assessment criteria

Applications for both programs are assessed on their relevance and contribution to the three themes mentioned above. In addition, the fund looks for applications that meet the following assessment criteria:

• The quality of the idea: The project must be at PhD / postdoctoral level and can be completed within the project period. In terms of research, the foundation is looking for:
  • Research-related news value
  • Quality of the description of state-of-the-art in the field
  • Relevance and level of the theoretical basis
  • Quality of hypotheses / research questions
  • Relevance and concretization of selected methods and data basis
• Impact: The project must have a real business significance on the company's business basis and earnings. It is not enough that the project promotes and brands the company.
• Quality in execution: The application must state that the parties are competent and relevant to the project. In particular, the fund emphasizes:
• Feasibility and organization of the project
• The student is rooted in both business and university
• The quality of the project parties' qualifications