The main components of the P3 model for Graduate Education include:

• Residency at a partner company or National research laboratory as part of the Ph.D. training

• Participation in a pre-program internship on-site with an industry partner to identify a real-life research program – and solve it

• Co-advising of the graduate student by two advisors – one from the university and one from the company to provide guidance from both academic and industry perspectives during the research training.

• Training in essential professional skills such as project management, communication, leadership, and team-building.

The P3 Program represents a unique and active partnership with companies that deliver cutting-edge STEM applications across industry sectors. It serves as a launchpad for advanced students who are focused on creating an immediate impact in their fields and a way for the industry to tap into a pipeline of emerging technical leaders focused on challenges that matter to a company’s interests.

Named after Louis Pasteur—a researcher driven to solve urgent challenges in the here and now—the P3 Program provides four years of financial support for qualified prospective doctoral candidates. With its focus on use-inspired research, the P3 program trains students to address real-world research challenges in less time than conventional programs by creating beneficial partnerships with companies and national labs. 

For more information from our Principal Investigators, see their videos on the About P3 page.

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."

From Lehigh P3 alumni:
"Important lessons learned from P3: Collaborating with others, focus on commercialization of research, time management, intellectual property issues in industrial research and development."     

— Dr. Sean McAnany, Lehigh Ph.D. ’21, now at Coherent Company

"Skills developed during my Ph.D.: Learning how to become an expert, presenting my research to audiences both inside and outside my field, answering technical questions from both academic and industrial viewpoints, soft skills like teamwork, communication, adaptability and flexibility."        

—Dr. Nichole Moyle, Lehigh Ph.D. ’21, now a Product Specialist at Millipore-Sigma Company