Collaboration between your business and a PhD student from Natural Sciences can resolve a specific issue and provide valuable new knowledge to your business.

Would you like to find out whether an academic employee can make a difference to your business? Then collaboration with a PhD student could be an option.

Collaboration on a PhD project

A PhD programme can last for 3 to 5 years, depending on whether PhD students start before or after completing their Master's degree. If students start before their Master's degree, they will complete their Master's degree at the same time as the first years of their PhD programme. This means that they can tone their Master’s to suit their PhD project.

You can either work with a PhD student employed at the university, or you can employ a student in your company, either as an industrial PhD or as a company PhD.

PhD students employed at the company

If you employ your student as an industrial PhD, an application for support for the project will be submitted to the industrial PhD scheme under Innovation Fund Denmark, and the student will have salaried employment at your company throughout the entire industrial PhD project. Support is also available for attending courses and conferences, as well as for periods of study abroad.

If you employ your student as a company PhD, the student will be employed at your company and financed entirely by your company, without grants from Innovation Fund Denmark.

In all cases, the PhD student will be enrolled at the Graduate School of Natural Sciences and will have to meet relevant requirements regarding course participation, dissemination, study periods abroad (mobility), etc.

PhD projects can be based on an issue in your company, but they must be approved by the university. For an industrial PhD and a company PhD, the student must have a supervisor from both the university and from your company.

Read more about PhD models and financing - IN DANISH ONLY (pdf)