New Experiential PhD Offers Industry Science a Best-Case Scenario for Workforce Investment

Tufts University School of Medicine’s new PhD Program in Biomedical Therapeutics was developed with a targeted audience in mind: highly accomplished, master’s degree-holding candidates currently employed by biomedical research companies across New England. For full-time researchers and their employers, finding the time and resources necessary to invest in professional development—let alone a terminal degree—is a challenge. Enter the experiential PhD.

Typically, a PhD candidate forgoes full-time employment to commit to a multi-year-long journey through coursework, examinations, independent study, and thesis work, not to mention all the other typical facets of life as a graduate student, like cohort events and mentorship meetings. For many currently employed researchers, that sort of time commitment just isn’t possible. But with an experiential PhD, TUSM, through its Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, partners directly with the student’s employer to balance work, life, and a rewarding academic program that gets them to the finish line of scientific leadership with a terminal degree in their field.

“Students will be able to conduct Tufts-supervised academic research primarily at their industry sites while benefiting from the Tufts scientific community, all while retaining their employment,” notes Dr. Michael T. Chin, dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at TUSM.

By personalizing the curriculum and partnering with employers to reduce work hours in favor of Tufts-led study and research, candidates can expect to complete the program within a range of three to four years.

For those wondering how a high-quality PhD program can be completed in a standard timeframe while working full time, Dean Chin says admissions standards are meant to be rigorous and admit candidates with the highest likelihood of success. “We expect that the program will continue to grow as more industry sponsors recognize the value of this program in fostering the career development of their most valued employees. We expect students of the highest caliber and likewise know graduates of this program will become scientific leaders in industry.”

Dr. Michele Jacob, director of the new program, expects to welcome two students per year into the first experiential PhD cohort, but plans to grow that number as industry partnerships increase. Most of all, Dr. Jacob looks forward to the impact the program will have on bench-to-bedside medicine.

“This new PhD program is a great opportunity for Tufts academic experts and early-career biopharmaceutical scientists to learn and conduct new research together with the shared goal of improving patients’ health,” says Dr. Jacob. “We’re interested in fast-tracking top-tier minds and top-tier research with a new partnership model that just makes sense.”

For more information on Tufts’ new experiential PhD in biomedical therapeutics, visit the program’s web page.