Across the U.S., STEM PhD programs are facing a pivotal challenge: how to prepare doctoral students for impactful careers in industry, national labs, healthcare, and other sectors beyond academia. While most graduates take these non-academic paths, traditional training still emphasizes academic research and offers limited exposure to the complex, real-world problems tackled in industry settings.

To close this gap, and following recommendations from previous workshops in 2020-2021, Lehigh researchers, led by Himanshu Jain, PI, piloted a new model of PhD education—the Pasteur Partnership PhD (P3).  There was overwhelming interest from students but only a small fraction could be enrolled due to challenges in forming required industry-university partnerships. 

Academic leaders, industry partners, government agencies, and international experts are invited to collaboratively address the challenges and provide solutions for forming industry-university partnerships for doctoral education in the United States.

Workshop highlights include:

  • Expert insights from leaders in STEM graduate education, research, and workforce development

  • International perspectives from institutions with established industry-integrated PhD programs

  • Working sessions focused on actionable strategies for building and sustaining partnerships

Together, we’ll explore what it takes to embed real-world relevance into doctoral education—and ensure the next generation of PhD talent is prepared to drive innovation across sectors.

👉 Learn more about the workshop.

👉 You can find the outcomes of the workshop here.

📅 August 4–6, 2025
📍 National Academies Building, 2101 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC

This Workshop is organized by Lehigh University’s Pasteur Partners Ph.D. (P3) program. It is a part of National Science Foundation’s Innovation in Graduate Education project: Partnership with Researchers in Industry for Doctoral Education (PRIDE).

The IGE Hub is pleased to announce that three IGE projects were featured in a session at the AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston.

The session, titled “Preparing Future Scientists and Engineers to Solve Complex Global Challenges,” was held on February 14 from 4:00-5:00 p.m. ET. This session presented three novel approaches to preparing graduate students to solve pressing global challenges in science and engineering. Backed by data from program evaluations, presentations focused on tested and highly replicable strategies that can be used by faculty, university leadership, staff that support graduate student professional development, and scientific society leaders. By the end of the session, participants were able to identify specific skills associated with creative and interdisciplinary problem-solving in a global context; understand effective strategies for integrating opportunities to acquire these skills into curricula and professional development opportunities for graduate students; and develop strategies for making the case for new training models that transcend disciplinary boundaries and expand students’ international networks.

We are proud to see IGE grantees engaging others in their research!

About the Panelists

Rachel Brennan, Penn State University
IGE project: Stakeholder-Driven Sustainable Development Experiences for Enhancing STEM Graduate Education

Fraser Fleming, Drexel University
IGE project: Creative Interdisciplinary Research in Graduate Education (CIRGE)

Martha Ellen Thompson, MIT
IGE project: Enhancing Graduate Education in Systems Thinking and Multi-Stakeholder Design through a Co-Creation Toolkit

Moderator: Levon Esters, Dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost for Graduate Education at Penn State University

AAAS Group Photo

Are you looking to enhance the sustainability of your research projects and programs in graduate education? Join us for a webinar focused on implementing effective strategies for long-term success. This session will provide practical guidance on securing leadership buy-in and developing robust strategies to ensure the continued impact of your initiatives.

 

 

Who can benefit: This event is ideal for STEM program managers, project leads, organizational leaders, and anyone involved in developing and sustaining programs or initiatives on graduate education.

The 2025 Joint March Meeting and April Meeting will now be called the APS Global Physics Summit.
This event is the largest physics research conference in the world, uniting 14,000 members of the scientific community across all disciplines of physics.

 

  • Learn from your research areas of interest
  • Explore cross-disciplinary educational sessions and collaborative events
  • Unite to advance physics and create a bright future

 

Upcoming Dates
Early registration start: September 9, 2024 at 12:00 AM
Abstract submission deadline: October 25, 2024 at 5:00 PM
Early registration end: January 31, 2025 at 11:59 PM

Register now

 

This joint meeting reflects the inclusivity and adjacency of many physics disciplines. Both in-person and virtual presentation and registration options will be available. Cross-disciplinary sessions and networking events will take place in all three venues and an outdoor plaza connects each. Registration will grant everyone access to all venues.

 

 

The 2025 ECEDHA Annual Conference will take place late March 20 – 24, 2025 at the Hilton Norfolk The Main.

 

The ECEDHA Annual Conference and ECExpo brings together the largest concentration of Electrical and Computer Engineering academia and industry throughout the United States and Canada.

 

This premier annual gathering will feature:

  • An intensive conference program of Keynotes, Plenary Panels, and breakout sessions
  • Specialized programming for ECE Lab Professionals and Students
  • ECExpo technology exhibition
  • Full-day Workshops
  • Ample opportunity for networking

 

Learn more here

 

Janis Bush, PI, University of Texas at San Antonio

 

With support from NSF, the Council of Graduate Schools hosted a meeting of IGE Principal Investigators in Alexandria, VA on February 29 and March 1, 2024.
Our distinguished guest and keynote speaker, Keivan Stassun, Stevenson Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University kicked-off the meeting by sharing insights with the community. See presentations below.

 

Meeting attendees 
    • heard from seasoned PIs who are currently scaling their projects
    • engaged with other IGE project representatives in small breakout groups
    • had an opportunity to display their project posters in the in-person and virtual poster hall sessions
    • shared strategies to advance, disseminate, diversify, and evaluate their projects.
Enhancing Diversity by Changing Institutional Culture and Scaffolding Student Success

Remarks by

Bridget Walsh, PI, Professor of Human Development and Family Science, University of Nevada, Reno. 
Markus Kemmelmeier, co-PI, Vice Provost for Graduate Education, Dean of the Graduate School, University of Nevada, Reno.  
Loren Pietsch, project contact, Director of Postdoctoral Affairs, Graduate Recruitment and Diversity Initiatives, University of Nevada, Reno. 
Eric Vance, PI, University of Colorado Boulder

 

Diana Nicholas, CoPI, Drexel University

 

Himanshu Jain, PI, Lehigh University
Rose Marie Ward, PI, University of Cincinnati (previously Miami University)