Industrial doctorates for regional development: the case of Le Marche Region

Over the past decade, there has been a steady increase in the number of industrial PhD programmes (IPPs) at the global level, especially in advanced countries. Several regional and national governments have invested considerable resources to set up and support IPPs which have been presented as strategic policy tools for promoting the employability of doctorate holders outside academia, for supporting innovation, and for building bridges between universities, industry, and society at large. Nevertheless, empirical evidence about the impacts of IPPs has so far been either limited or inconsistent. This longitudinal study presents the industrial PhD programme Eureka which was enacted between 2012 and 2020 by the regional government of an Italian region (Le Marche). The analysis considers 499 industrial PhD scholarships that were co-financed by the regional government, along with the four regional universities and more than 200 firms that have headquarters in the region. The paper provides a retrospective long-term overview of the impact of Eureka on PhD holders’ employment and reveals the characteristics of the firms that participated in the IPP. Policy implications and recommendations are derived from this.