For Corporate Partners
Find Tomorrow's Research Leaders – Today
The P3 Program is a novel model for building alignments and relationships between university research and the industrial sector. It is a student-centered graduate training program meant to attract the best, highly motivated students. Operationally, the program is based on shared commitments from sponsoring companies, Lehigh faculty members, and the University itself, in the support and development of participating students.
Broad technological challenges faced by the company become the context of graduate training and the source of research questions to be explored in the Fellow’s dissertation. As with any doctoral program that attracts highly talented students and provides financial support, faculty mentors are motivated to align their research with student interests, providing a conducive environment for downstream partnership.
The P3 Program is an experimental model for graduate research and training, with evaluation and validation supported by the National Science Foundation Innovation in Graduate Education program. Lehigh is serving as a model for other institutions in preparing a doctoral workforce ready and able to contribute to modern U.S. industry while nurturing productive relationships between corporate needs and innovative university research.
P3 Corporate/National Lab Partners:
Corning Inc.; Michelin, Inc.; Brookhaven National Laboratory; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; GTI Energy; NASA; Air Force Research Laboratory
Benefits to partnering firms include:
Advanced graduate-level R&D and training of scholars on topics of strategic significance to the company
Development of knowledge related to new methods, devices, products, and expertise relevant to the company’s technologies
Access to R&D-ready potential employees with skills in areas of strategic interest
Summer Graduate Intern ready to undertake in-depth, high-level evaluation of a technical issue of broad interest to the company
6-12 month Graduate Resident (similar to a medical residence in hospitals) effectively functioning as a company scientist-in-training
Active partnership with expert faculty on the topic of the Fellow’s dissertation topic, plus access to researchers driving progress in related topics at Lehigh and partner national labs
From a P3 program Corporate Partner:
"We’re excited to help catalyze the P3 program," says Gary Calabrese ’79, senior vice president of global research at Corning, which is sponsoring one of the pilot fellowships. "We conduct use-inspired research every day, gaining knowledge that allows us to invent new products. Bringing Ph.D. students into the process will allow them to be more mindful of the relevance of their work and its impact.” From Blazing new trails in graduate education."
To inquire about becoming a project corporate partner, email inphd@lehigh.edu.