Industrial graduate schools

Background and objectives

Strengthening research capacity in areas important to both universities and the business sector requires a continuous supply of researchers. Industrial doctoral students help to enhance competence for the companies, which strenghtens the competitiveness of the business sector.

To achieve this, both the universities and the business sector need to engage in creating a relevant, high-quality third cycle programme. The research must meet the companies’ needs, but the universities guarantee that the objectives of the third cycle programme can be attained.

Project design

The programme provides funding to establish and operate an industrial graduate school in close collaboration with industry. Each Industrial graduate school must include a minimum of six students and may comprise the equivalent of up to 15 doctoral degrees (two licentiate degrees are considered equivalent to one doctoral degree).

As a general principle, the students should be employed by the participating companies. The study workload should be planned to cover no more than 80 percent of full-time working hours, with the remaining time dedicated to duties within the company.

An existing Industrial graduate school may apply for additional funding in a second application round, referred to as Industrial graduate schools+.

Terms and conditions

Applicants: Universities within the Knowledge Foundation’s target group. The programme can be carried out in collaboration between research and educational environments at several institutions. Read more about the institutions we support.

Co-funding requirements: The total co-funding from industry partners must correspond to at least the amount requested from the Knowledge Foundation. Criteria for co-financing business actors.

Maximum funding amount: SEK 33 million (SEK 2.2 million per doctoral degree, SEK 1.1 million per licentiate degree).

Project duration: 6 years, but the study period for an individual doctoral student is a maximum of 5 years.

The programme’s contribution to strong research and educational environments

Industrial graduate schools must have a common scientific focus and contribute to develop and strengthen the third cycle programme and profiling the environment. The programme must also foster long-term relationships with the business sector.