The authors have coordinated Marie Curie (MSCA) Innovation Training Networks to deliver structured training to 24 engineering PhD students under the EU’s Horizon-2020 programme and the preceding FP7-PEOPLE programme. This presentation will review the nature and quality of the training, and the subsequent outcomes from two representative 4-year doctoral training projects that have been funded by these European programmes. We describe the collaborative engagements between academia and industry, as well as the structured, multisectoral and transnational aspects of the training within the overall context of the scientific objectives of the two networks. Given that the successor to these funding programmes has recently been replaced by the Horizon Europe programme for Doctoral Networks, it is timely to consider the impact of two such training projects, and to reflect on the likely changes that might arise during the new Horizon Europe programme.

The FP7 project, HEADS, which concluded in 2018, involved 3 world leading manufacturers of equestrian, cycling and motorcycle helmets and 3 European universities based in Ireland, Belgium, Italy and Sweden. The overall objective of this project was to train 12 PhD candidates in head impact biomechanics, head protection, helmet certification & testing, and accident reconstruction & simulation, within the broad disciplines of mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, manufacturing, and materials science & engineering. The H2020 project, SIMPPER_MedDev, recruited 12 PhD candidates to 5 universities and 3 industry partners based in Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland and Denmark. A further 5 non-beneficiary partner organisations were also involved through providing industry secondment periods and training materials for the doctoral candidates. The research focus of these PhD students was on surface integrity aspects of micro/nano-scale manufacturing processes (additive, subtractive and moulding/forming) associated with designing and manufacturing six representative polymer medical devices.

As part of their structured PhD training, students received formal training in a blend of academic and technical modules appropriate to the theme of the network (e.g., Medical Device Design; Polymer Micro/Nano Moulding & Forming; Additive Manufacturing of Functional Surfaces; Laser Material Processing & Subtractive Manufacturing; Digital Manufacturing for Medical Devices, Surface Analysis & Characterisation), in addition to taking courses on intellectual skills and personal & professional development (e.g., Technical Communications & Public Speaking; Scientific Writing; Project Management; Ethics; Gender Diversity). Despite each university having different requirements in respect of taught ECTS credits, all students were required to take these common, core modules as a minimum, in addition to their major individual research project. All PhD researchers in both networks were employed for the duration of their studies in various host organisations and all spent placement periods of 3-6 months in at least one other organisation in a different country, thus exposing all to working both in academia and industry. The narrow focus on both networks ensured that all PhD project topics were complementary, yet purposely not interconnected, thus avoiding critical interdependencies between students’ individual thesis projects. We will elaborate on specific outputs from both projects in this presentation.

Keywords: PhD training, structured PhD, innovative training network (ITN).