Conference: UIDP Joint Funded PhD Program Workshop

This award to the University Industry Demonstration Program (UIDP) is supported by the Directorate of STEM Education (EDU) and the Directorate for Technology, Innovations and Partnerships (TIP) of the U.S. National Science Foundation. Through this project, UIDP will convene a series of events to evaluate the merits and features of a pilot program to establish jointly-funded Ph.D. fellowships. Building a world-class research and development (R&D) workforce is one of the nation’s most pressing challenges. According to the 2023 NSF Survey of Earned Doctorates, only 34% of recent doctoral graduates in science and engineering fields are employed in academia, down from 54% in 2003. In contrast, the proportion of doctorate recipients with job commitments in industry or business in the United States has more than doubled since 2003, and now comprises nearly half of all employment commitments for doctorate recipients in 2023. While jointly-funded programs exist abroad, there is no long-term U.S.-based program, and few U.S. institutions offer Ph.D. students an opportunity to explore a career in industry through significant experiential learning in a company setting.

A series of one-day listening sessions followed by a two-day workshop will engage academic, corporate, government, and nonprofit stakeholders to analyze gaps and barriers to partnership, identify nontraditional, high-impact partnership approaches, and consider the creation of a U.S.-based pilot doctoral fellowship program where students are funded jointly by the federal (or state) government and industry. A range of topics will be addressed including: student selection, program life cycle, matchmaking, funding, and compliance. Meetings will focus on various topical areas including: materials, nanoscience and nanoengineering, biomedical, life sciences, agricultural, engineering, and data science. The goal is to develop the framework for a nationwide program and gain stakeholder engagement in a pilot program that will enhance U.S. capacity and competitiveness in STEM workforce development through model forms of university-industry-government collaboration.

This award is cofunded by the NSF Research Traineeship program and NSF's Directorate for Technology, Partnerships and Innovation. This project aligns with the NSF TIP Directorate as it seeks to support all individuals and increase their interest in, and their access to, career pathways in emerging technology fields. The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new, potentially transformative models for STEM graduate education training.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Award Number: 2501504
Principal Investigator: Anthony Boccanfuso
Funds Obligated: $99,867
State: SC