Lehigh Hosts National Workshop on Rethinking PhD Training in Washington, D.C.

There was a strong agreement among attendees at the three-day event that the traditional PhD model must evolve.

From Aug. 4–6, 2025, Lehigh brought together leaders from academia, industry and government in Washington, D.C., for the National Workshop on the Formation of Industry-University Partnerships for Doctoral Training. The three-day event focused on a timely question: How can doctoral education adapt to prepare students for today’s rapidly evolving economy?

Rethinking the PhD Model

Doctoral graduates bring unmatched research expertise to the workforce, but many lack the practical experience and industry exposure needed to thrive in fast-paced fields like technology, health and energy. At the workshop, participants tackled this challenge head-on, discussing barriers such as long research timelines, complex intellectual property agreements, and limited collaboration across sectors.

The workshop included small group discussions focusing on finding solutions to one of the three specific challenges. Above, Arturo Pizano, program manager, Siemens Research and Innovation Ecosystems, leads the discussion with industry perspective on the financial model for supporting doctoral training.

Despite these obstacles, there was strong agreement that the traditional PhD model must evolve.

“PhD education must evolve to meet the realities of today’s research and innovation landscape,” Provost Nathan Urban said. “Our students need rigorous training in scholarship, but also opportunities to collaborate across disciplines, engage with industry and government, and translate their expertise into real-world impact. By rethinking how we prepare the next generation of researchers, we can ensure that doctoral education remains both relevant and transformative.”

Himanshu Jain, Lehigh's T.L. Diamond Distinguished Chair in Engineering and Applied Science and professor of materials science and engineering, agreed after attending the workshop.

“There were ample differences of perspectives, which were discussed constructively, and the desire to find solutions prevailed,” Jain said. “The success of the workshop stemmed from the fact that the participants were leaders who were directly engaged in doctoral training every day - they are stakeholders from private corporations, academia, national labs, funding agencies, professional societies, nonprofits like National Academies and Council of Graduate Schools, and international experts from countries that have successfully formed industry-university partnerships, thus covering the grounds comprehensively. We are grateful for their support for taking action to make the cultural change for preparing PhDs for the careers they will most likely pursue.”

Mojdeh Bahar, managing director of IEEE, the world's largest technical society, sets the stage for the challenge of establishing industry-university partnership agreements by identifying the key issues needing solutions.

Solutions and Action Steps

The workshop produced actionable recommendations, including:

• Creating national contract templates to simplify partnerships.

• Shortening research phases of PhDs to align with industry timelines.

• Building consortia models to include startups and non-traditional businesses in collaborations.

• Allowing industry experts to serve on dissertation committees.

• Embedding career development and transferable skills directly into doctoral programs.

Financial investment was also a key point of discussion. Participants stressed that responsibility must be shared among universities, industry, government and students, with each contributing based on clear returns and benefits.

René Haak, head of the science and technology section at the German Embassy in Washington, D.C., and professor at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, explains how doctoral students in his country develop the mindset of industry and application-focused research organizations such as Fraunhofer Institutes.

Learning from Global Models

International approaches offered inspiration. Germany’s Fraunhofer Institutes and Belgium’s PhD-to-industry programs were cited as successful examples of how coordinated ecosystems can prepare graduates for impactful careers beyond academia.

A Call for Collective Action

The event concluded with a call for collective, systemic reform. Participants emphasized that transforming doctoral training requires collaboration across institutions, sectors, and national platforms, with students at the center of every decision.

Lehigh will continue to work with partners to refine and share these recommendations, helping shape the future of doctoral education across the United States.

For more on Lehigh’s leadership in higher education innovation, visit https://sites.google.com/lehigh.edu/pasteur-partners-phd-program/national-workshop-2025.

By Jessica Jackson, assisted by AI

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