Seeking industrial partners

CDTs are collaborative efforts between industry and academia, with the ultimate aim of training individual experts who can service future industrial and research needs. At this stage in the development of our CDT proposal its important that all potential collaborators in industry have an opportunity to shape the direction of our proposed training centre. As such we’ve created a questionnaire to gauge interest and capture ideas; this is available here.

At the end of the day however for a CDT proposal to be successfully funded, and for the training programme to come to fruition, tangible contributions from industrial partners are a necessity. Whilst financial contributions are an important part, we recognise that different partner organisations have differing abilities to make such commitments, and that other forms of contribution to the CDT are also immensly valuable. Based on our knowledge from previous CDT calls, the following types of contributions could be considered:

• Other in-kind contributions
  These could include for example:

  • Committing time/knowledge/expertise in supervising/mentoring/training.
  • Providing access to equipment/samples/data.
  • Providing a venue/facilitation/activities/speakers for cohort building activities (for example, annual writing retreat, conference or workshops).
  • Hosting summer schools.
    
    

• Other cash contributions
  These could include for example:

  • Financial support to attend conferences.
  • Contribution to small items of equipment.
  • Covering costs of fieldwork.
  • Financial support for international exchanges and training.
    
    

• Cash and/or in-kind to host work placements
  We expect that most of our CDT students will undertake an industrial placement during the course of their training. Organisations could support this through:

  • Financial support for travel and subsistence, during the internship.
  • In-kind commitment to include (but not limited to) supervision, appropriate lab and/or office space, materials and consumables, access to equipment/facilities.
    
    

• Cash contribution to studentships
  Based on previous rounds, each CDT is expected to recruit at least 50 students over the lifetime of the 9-year award (minimum of 10 students per year, over five cohorts). UKRI will fund the studentship costs equivalent to 40 students maximum. The CDT must secure industry funding to support 20-40% of the studentship costs including stipend and fee costs equivalent to 10 students. Studentship costs break down into:

  • Tuition fees (for UK students, typically between £3k and £6k – UKRI provide minimum of £4,596 pa)
  • Stipend (UKRI rates are minimum £16,062 pa, based on 22/23 costs)
  • Research costs to support the student’s individual project

  Historically, if an industrial partner commits to contributing funds to cover the cost of one studentship, we would divide this contribution between two students to provide co-sponsorships (each receiving 50% from the industrial partner and 50% from UKRI).

If our CDT proposal sounds interesting and any of these forms of contribution sound like something that you or your organisation might be interested in providing, or you have another idea, then please contact us and let us know!