More than 2,000 people are being educated today as part of the ‘Implementation Doctorates’ programme. The presence of scientists in companies enables the creation of technologies that increase the efficiency and competitiveness of companies operating in Poland.

The programme is a successful attempt to create an academic career path based on conducting scientific research aimed at applying its results in a specific business entity.

The AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow presented a report by researchers of the Łukasiewicz Research Network as part of a conference summarising 5 years of Implementation PhDs.

In the publication ‘The Personnel of the Future – 5 years of Implementation PhDs’, the authors present data showing how universities and entrepreneurs have successfully implemented the new formula for training scientists over the five years of the programme’s operation.

Krzysztof Sokołowski and Kinga Sobiech from Łukasiewicz – “ORGMASZ” – analysed statistical data related to implementation doctorates carried out in editions I-V.

Although most projects are realised in large cities such as Warsaw, Krakow, Wrocław and Katowice, smaller towns are also represented. Implementation doctorates are realised in almost half of the districts and district cities in Poland. In addition, 61.6% of the projects are implemented outside the cities where the universities where the implementation doctorate is created are located. All this data shows that the Implementation PhD programme represents a major opportunity for knowledge transfer to centres away from large cities.

As the authors of the report emphasise, in the last five years, the primary objective of the Implementation PhDs, which was to build up research staff on the business side, has been achieved. As many as 69.6% of implementation doctorates are carried out in the private sector, including the largest corporations operating in Poland. The remaining 30.4% of implementation doctorates are implemented in the public sector.

Adrian Andrzejewski