Industry PhD
A Doctoral Pathway for Full-Time Employees
with a reinvention of workforce upskilling
Upskill your workforce while accelerating innovation with Northeastern’s Industry PhD, a unique doctoral education pathway that offers a powerful alternative to traditional corporate tuition reimbursement programs. We’ve reinvented employee education to deliver significant value to both employees and organizations by integrating research training, faculty guidance, and IP protection into a comprehensive partnership.
Leadership Pipeline
Invest in and retain top talent through doctoral education. Strengthen your research culture and strategic capacity and build the leaders of tomorrow.
Research Innovation
Research conducted at your site addressing your critical business challenges with rigorous academic methodology while protecting IP.
Faculty Partnership
Direct collaboration with world-class Northeastern faculty brings cutting-edge research methods and academic insights to your organization’s innovation challenges.
Why Partners and their Employers Choose Industry PhD
- Recruit, support, and retain emerging talent
- Partner with entrepreneurial research university
- Deeper engagement in evolving research fields
- Protect new IP while upskilling your staff
- Research leadership mentors and co-publishes with students
- New research directions and product development
- Earn PhD while retaining current job
- Develop deep expertise solving industry problems
- Cutting-edge skills for career advancement
- Dual mentorship from university and company
- World-class academic training and guidance
- Research directly applicable to daily work
Read about our Successes
Innovate New Products
Full-time biotech career developing customized immunotherapies for cancer patients through precision medicine becomes dissertation research.
Impact
Company product development and doctoral research advanced simultaneously with faculty advising.
Build Research Capacity
Data analyst elevated to research scientist through PhD, conducting population health research that directly informs clinical guidelines while expanding organizational research capabilities.
Impact
Employee advanced from analyst to principal investigator level, securing grant funding and leading studies that inform organizational clinical practice.
Grow Internal Leadership
Toxicology professional advanced from data analyst to PhD-level scientist while maintaining full-time employment, deepening drug safety expertise that directly benefits organizational research capacity.
Impact
Organization retained senior toxicology talent while gaining faculty-guided doctoral research on critical drug safety challenges for immune-modulating therapies.Frequently Asked Questions
Employees should hold a Master’s degree in a field related to their proposed area of study and work at a company doing work within that field. We look for individuals with a strong academic record, demonstrated research aptitude, and support from organizational leadership. Ideal candidates have several years of professional experience and a clear career development pathway requiring doctoral expertise.
The process begins by identifying a program of interest and matching with a Northeastern faculty advisor. Together with both advisors, you’ll define a research plan that forms the basis of the dissertation. Next, you complete the program agreement between Northeastern and your organization, followed by the formal application. Research is conducted primarily at your workplace, with the employee completing all program requirements before defending the dissertation.
Your employee works with two advisors: a Northeastern faculty member who provides academic guidance, research methodology expertise, and dissertation oversight, and a senior researcher from your organization who ensures business alignment, provides industry mentorship, and serves as a formal member of the dissertation committee. Both advisors collaborate throughout the program through regular joint meetings and progress reviews.
The program typically requires 15-20 hours per week for coursework and research over 3-5 years. Employees remain full-time with your organization throughout, with flexible scheduling to balance work and academic requirements. Organizations provide time allocation for academic activities, and employees maintain their regular work responsibilities while progressing through the doctoral program.
IP terms are negotiated in the partnership agreement before research begins. We structure arrangements to protect your competitive advantages while enabling academic contribution. Dissertations can include confidential appendices, and publication rights are balanced between academic and business needs. The framework is established upfront with your legal and research teams to ensure clarity throughout the program.
Organizations typically cover tuition and fees while employees continue receiving full salary and benefits. Your organization also provides time allocation for academic activities, access to necessary facilities and equipment, and support for conference attendance and research dissemination.
Ready to Engage?
Connect with our team to discuss how this doctoral partnership can advance both your employee development goals and research initiatives.