The IDTC is all about partnership with industry and business.
The IDTC has two Foundation Partners: The CSIRO and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Foundation Partners contribute to the training, resources, and general funding of the IDTC program as well as guiding the evolution of the IDTC through service on the advisory board.
Opportunities are available to partner with the IDTC as Industry Partners and being a member of the advisory board. Industry Partners provide the research project to be undertaken (in consultation with the Academic Supervisor and the industrial supervisor) to the student who will, with your funding, undertake your research project. The student can be an existing employee or a student who has applied to the IDTC program.
If you are interested in partnership with the IDTC, please contact the IDTC Directorate, or your ATN University of choice, to register your interest and further discuss opportunities for partnership. Click on the brochure picture on the right to download the brochure.
All evolving industries have complicated problems amenable to mathematical analysis whose solution will lead to improved efficiency and profitability. Such problems cannot be solved by a few days input by a consultant and can vary widely from a scheduling or supply chain problem with complicated constraints to the physical modelling of a new plant process or the statistical analysis of huge data sets or time series.
By bringing the problem to the IDTC as a research topic for PhD study, the company taps into the technical expertise available in the Mathematics and Statistics Departments of the ATN through the academic supervisor(s) chosen from the ATN network of mathematic departments for the best match to the project. In addition, each project will have a company supervisor familiar with the progress of the research and mindful of the project objectives.
The degree will take (up to) four years to complete.
• For non-employee-students - the industry financial contribution is $30,000 per annum in respect of stipend (student living expenses) plus $10,000 per annum in respect of maintenance costs of the program including student travel and accommodation, and the development and delivery of specialised coursework.
• For employee-students - the industry financial contribution is presently limited to the $10,000 in respect of maintenance.
Note that tuition fees are not applicable to Australian PhD students.
These contribution levels apply to industry and business partnering with the IDTC for the 2012 intake, and may increase for partners joining in subsequent intake years.
The company will own all intellectual property generated by the research. Commercial in confidence projects can be suitable research topics in this scheme.
By nominating an existing employee as the PhD student the company will ultimately have a person with a detailed knowledge of a problem area of immediate relevance to the business. Such employees will bring back to the company greater abilities in more general problem-solving aided by a suite of additional technical skills not necessarily present in the traditional PhD graduate.
It is expected that the employee will spend two thirds of their research time physically located in the company site. Such employees (e.g. engineering and science graduates) may not have a comprehensive mathematical training from their undergraduate degree and the IDTC supervisor will identify, on an individual basis, any appropriate undergraduate catch-up courses in addition to their postgraduate coursework.
The sole financial cost to the company of such PhD candidates will be the annual maintenance fee for four years - presently $10,000 pa.
All students in the program will attend an induction program, participate in the Maths in Industry Study Group Workshop in February each year (where they will be exposed to a variety of industry-generated problems) and a Student Conference in midyear (where they will deliver a research seminar on their research topic). At these networking events the students will take advanced technical coursework lectures delivered by world experts and receive training in managerial skills such as report writing, seminar delivery. Other technical coursework will be delivered over the AMSI Access Grid.
Company representatives are welcome to observe the Student Conference deliveries of the cohort and may wish to take the opportunity ultimately to recruit from these highly trained graduates.
The IDTC is all about partnership. Each IDTC student will have a supervision team suited to the Research Project. Academic Supervisors may be chosen from both the ATN University of enrolment and the other ATN Universities.
Usually the supervision team would include a supervisor from the Industry Partner. Where the existing scale and expertise of the Industry Partner does not permit this, the IDTC will provide frequent reports/consultation on the progress of the Research Project and the student to the Industry Partner.
A list of potential Academic Supervisors from across the ATN Universities is available by clicking here.