Businesses are being encouraged to tap into Australia's PhD talent to help fill skills gaps or tackle research and development challenges.
At an Australian Industry Group webinar last week, employers gained insight into a new partnership between our Centre for Education and Training (CET) and APR.Intern which places postgraduate research students into businesses needing specialist skills.
“Across Australia, there are many quality and innovative pockets of work-integrated learning, where formal education and training is combined with real workplace experience,” the CET’s Brett Hall said.
“However, when we compare ourselves globally, the links between our education and training system and industry are often underdeveloped.
“As a nation, there's an opportunity to explore how we can better connect this talent to solve some of the key challenges businesses across the country face.
“The talent that exists within Australia's PhD students is immense."
“APR.Intern provides a seamless solution from a business perspective,” Mr Hall said.
Businesses are paired with highly qualified students for short-term (three-to-six-month) internships on specific, well-structured projects — across all sectors.
APR.Intern National Program Manager Glen Sheldon said: “A lot of PhD programs are embedded in an industry partner and run the full length of the PhD.
“They have their place, but many small-to medium companies have specific problems that are time-critical and need solving now.
“They need someone to come in immediately.”
APR.Intern has a nationwide team of business development managers working with businesses to develop projects.
“We put out expressions of interest to universities Australia-wide to find a student with the required skill set,” Mr Sheldon said.
“Those skill sets are broad and vast. We're getting a lot of projects that involve AI and machine learning, as companies grapple with how they're going to bring those new technologies into their businesses.”
Students who apply are presented to the industry partner, the best fit is chosen, and a detailed project plan is developed.
A formal agreement is established between the university and industry partner. The student isn't part of the agreement: it’s not an employment contract.
The IP remains with the industry partner.
“We manage every aspect of the internship,” Mr Sheldon said.
“It’s designed to be as seamless as possible for the industry partner. They just want to get their project done without having to worry about HR issues.
“As the internship progresses, we have touchpoints. We check in with the student and industry partner in the first week to ensure everything’s running smoothly and the student's getting paid their stipend.
“There are mid-term presentations from the student to check their milestones and an end-of-internship report, also completed by the intern.”
APR.Intern works with all types of companies: large corporates, government entities and SMEs.
Presently, its two biggest companies are Telstra and CSL and it’s placed more than 30 interns with Aurecon Engineering.
Recent government internships involved the ABC, Productivity Commission and Reserve Bank.
“Often the most interesting projects concern SMEs and startups, primarily because the projects the students are working on are usually critical to the development of innovation and the competitive advantage within those small companies,” Mr Sheldon said.
“Their input is central to the company’s survival.”
Forty per cent of industry partners go on to employ the students they've had as interns.
“These students have real skills that can be applied across industry, including exceptional problem-solving skills,” Mr Sheldon said.
“You set them a task, and they will do it in an extraordinarily methodical way. It’s a wonderful trait.
“I've employed a few as business development managers. There's nothing better than giving someone a challenge and knowing you can leave them to get on with it.”
The CET is also a fan.
“We used the program last year for our Learning That Works report,” Mr Hall said.
“All the data analysis that underpinned that research was undertaken by a PhD student from La Trobe University who was embedded with our team for three months through an internship with APR.Intern.
“It was a wholly positive experience. From the perspective of a host business, it was a seamless process, thanks to the support provided by APR.Intern.”
Fellow webinar panellist Milica Ng was an intern at the start of her career and has gone on to host several interns at Australia's largest biotech, CSL.
She said APR.Intern was “the glue” that initially connected her with CSL.
“I was finishing my PhD at the biochemistry department at Melbourne University — in the same building as CSL, where I did my internship,” Dr Ng said.
“We were literally across an atrium in the same building, and it had not occurred to me that I could help CSL and support them in solving their business problems and what they were trying to do with drug development.
“Vice versa, it had not occurred to CSL to take advantage of the talent of the PhD students they were surrounded by.
“Ultimately, CSL had a specific problem to solve. APR.Intern connected us, and we managed to get the right academic supervisor, as well.
“This is another plus for the program: you don't just have access to the student, you also have access to the deep expertise of their academic supervisor.”
“PhD students have so much to bring to a company,” Dr Ng said.
“All of them are systems thinkers; they can think beyond the immediate problem you might have and might be able to contribute to much larger goals and objectives you might have not initially thought about.
“That was the case when I did my internship. I was able to look holistically at everything CSL was doing at the time with the research and development of drugs.
“Towards the end of my internship, at the presentation and celebration of everything that was done, I was also able to suggest further projects that would be super beneficial to what they were doing.
“This led to CSL creating a position for me, and I went on to build data and AI capabilities by employing other interns.
“These days, the capability built initially through APR internships is now what CSL relies on for its innovation productivity.”
“A lot of PhD students are digital natives with the skill sets and understanding of the modern landscape that some businesses might lack,” Dr Ng said.
They can also solve capacity issues if you don’t have the immediate funding to employ someone.
“You’ll find the PhD students very quickly pay for themselves, especially in this day of data and AI,” Dr Ng said.
The administration relief is another benefit.
“It might seem like a small part, but it makes a huge difference for organisations like CSL,” Dr Ng said.
The costs borne by the business cover the stipend the student receives for the duration of their internship and APR.Intern’s facilitation service.
“Businesses looking for an extra pair of hands for photocopying and other menial tasks will be wasting their time hiring a PhD student,” fellow panellist David Martin, Australian Industry Group’s Director - Emerging Industries and Innovation, said.
“PhD internships are not a nice-to-have; they’re a critical part of a longer-term capability strategy.
“If you’re clear about developing something that is truly cutting-edge and the rigour and discipline that someone from this background can provide insight to, you won’t look back.”
Dr Ng agrees: “You must have a clear understanding of what you're trying to solve.”
“Members and industry at large are facing challenging times as a consequence of what's happening in the Middle East, and people might be a little reluctant to invest in these types of programs now,” Mr Martin said.
“I believe you need to think differently.
“Businesses that position themselves to have new and innovative products ready for when the economy bounces back fare better than those that don’t.
“Now is the time you need to be thinking about what comes next, and partnering with an organisation like APR.Intern is a great way of positioning yourself for the future.”
Find out more about our partnership and how to host an intern here.
Join our Centre for Education and Training Network to keep up to date with our work and our webinar series.
Wendy Larter is Communications Manager at Australian Industry Group.
A former journalist for newspapers and magazines including The Courier-Mail in Brisbane and Metro, the News of the World, The Times and Elle in the UK, she is passionate about giving businesses a voice.
