A new opportunity to leverage Australian scientific expertise in industry has been opened, with funding supporting the placement of PhD research students with industry partners.
In addition to injecting fresh scientific and problem-solving energy into participating industry workplaces, the program will help PhD students gain valuable industry experience, aligning with Australia’s strategic focus on improved industry–research collaboration.
Combined funding from FLEET and other sources can provide up to $25,000 in subsidies, making the program free for industry.
Commencing in June 2023, APR.Intern and FLEET will place eight of the centre’s PhD students.
The Australian Postgraduate Research Internship (APR.Intern) program and the ARC Centre for Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies (FLEET) has agreed to a minimum $160,000, year-long partnership, in collaboration with the Commonwealth Government Department of Industry, Science and Resources ‘Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship’ (WiSE) grant.
FLEET Director, Professor Michael Fuhrer, believes that the collaboration will greatly benefit both PhD students and industry partners.
“This new partnership between APR.Intern and the FLEET Centre of Excellence will provide exciting new industry training and research opportunities for FLEET PhD students,” said Professor Fuhrer.
To foster engagement with industry partners hosting a PhD research internship, FLEET has agreed to provide a $7,500 subsidy to industry partners that take on a FLEET PhD researcher.
In addition to FLEET’s funding, industry partners can also incorporate other subsidies delivered by APR.Intern.
APR.Intern’s collaboration with the Defence Science Institute (DSI) will conditionally fund $10,000 per project to SME partners tackling research related to the Defence sector.
Furthermore, aligned with APR.Intern’s commitment to creating gender diversity in STEM industry careers, the Commonwealth Government Women in STEM & Entrepreneurship (WISE) grants program will provide $7,500 to industry partners that engage a female PhD student from a STEM discipline.
When utilised together, the $7,500 funded by FLEET can be combined with the DSI and WiSE subsidies, which would be equal to $25,000 in subsidies, making the APR.Intern program free for industry.
Ultimately, the collaboration between APR.Intern and FLEET will create a greater incentive for industry to engage with PhD students and put the research skills PhD students have gained to use on industry problems, helping to train the next generation of highly skilled engineers and scientists.
About the ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies (FLEET)
FLEET is developing electronic devices that operate at ultra-low energy, enabling revolutionary new technologies to drive future electronics and computing, while meeting society’s demand for reduced energy consumption.
FLEET is a collaboration of more than 100 researchers at seven Australian universities and 18 Australian and international science organisations. FLEET is linking a highly interdisciplinary team of high-profile Australian and international researchers in atomic physics, condensed matter physics, materials science, electronics, nanofabrication and atomically thin materials.
See more at FLEET.org.au
About APR.Intern
Australia’s only all sector—all discipline not-for-profit postgraduate internship program, APR.Intern is transforming Australian businesses through university research collaborations. The program provides a platform for industry to further develop and innovate through short-term 3-5 month tightly focused research projects and gives postgraduate students the opportunity to apply highly analytical research expertise to the project while gaining invaluable experience in an industry setting.
