University Research Collaboration

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗵𝗗. 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝘁? For too long, we have treated the PhD as a single, standard academic pathway. That may have suited an earlier era. It will not be enough for the future. If India is serious about becoming a leading knowledge economy, we need to rethink the PhD itself. We need to ask a basic question. Should every doctoral student be trained in exactly the same way, for exactly the same outcome? I do not think so. The Conventional PhD will certainly continue, and it remains important. We will always need scholars who go deep into a subject and expand the frontiers of knowledge. But that cannot be the only model. We need 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗵𝗗 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀, aligned with the needs of a changing world. At 𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗦 𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗶, we have already begun moving in this direction. 𝗣𝗵𝗗 𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗔𝗖𝗧 An industry mentored doctoral track for scholars who want to work on real world problems in close partnership with industry. 𝗣𝗵𝗗 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼 𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲𝘀 Joint supervision across institutions, including Indian and international universities, giving scholars wider exposure and stronger academic networks. 𝗣𝗵𝗗 𝗗𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗘 A startup oriented doctoral track designed for those who want to translate research into deep tech ventures and move ideas from the lab to the market. 𝗣𝗵𝗗 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀 The future of innovation will not come from rigid disciplinary silos. It will come from the intersections of fields. Electrical Engineering and Chemistry. Computer Science and Biology. Materials and Medicine. Many of the most important breakthroughs of the future will happen in these spaces. At BITS Pilani, this is already happening under SIRE through CDRF projects, which support research across traditional departmental boundaries and encourage scholars to work at the intersection of disciplines. 𝗣𝗵𝗗 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 Doctoral research aligned with India’s most pressing needs in areas such as energy, water, healthcare, semiconductors, sustainability, mobility, defence and AI. At the same time, we must confront an uncomfortable truth. 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗣𝗵𝗗 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲. If we want serious talent to enter research, stipends must increase significantly. The overall research ecosystem must become stronger. Career pathways must become clearer and more diverse. A PhD can no longer be seen only as a route to becoming a professor. It must also prepare people to become industry researchers, deep tech entrepreneurs, leaders in strategic sectors, and creators of new knowledge with societal relevance. India needs more PhDs. But more importantly, India needs better designed PhD pathways. It is time for a reset. #PhD #Research

Europe produces world-class science. But science only changes the world when it leaves the lab. Chalmers University of Technology, together with KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Technical University of Munich and ETH Zürich, has just been ranked among the top European universities for spin-out terms. One reason #Sweden stands out: the professor’s privilege = researchers/teachers own the rights to their discoveries. This creates real incentives for scientists to become founders and build companies around deep science. But this is not about rankings. It’s about impact. When breakthrough research turns into companies or industry partnerships, that’s when we see real change in health, climate, and even security. For Europe to compete globally, more universities must create founder-friendly conditions and strong partnerships with venture capital. Because the future will not be built by science on the shelf, but by science in the world. What do you think Europe needs most: more funding, better policies, or stronger founder incentives?

CFD is Love - The Living ❤️ Project One of the most exciting projects on this subject is the "Living Heart Project," which unites leading cardiovascular researchers, educators, medical device developers, regulatory agencies, and practicing cardiologists on a shared mission to develop and validate highly accurate personalized digital human heart models. These models will establish a unified foundation for cardiovascular in silico medicine and serve as a joint technology base for education and training, medical device design, testing, clinical diagnosis, and regulatory science —creating a practical path for rapidly translating current and future cutting-edge innovations directly into improved patient care. 📝 Open access review paper here: https://lnkd.in/dVYqaDs 🌎 From Kelly Senecal (Simulation done in CONVERGE) #cfd #simulation #engineering

I stopped obsessing over publishing… and that’s when my research career took off. (Here’s what I discovered) Four years ago, I believed publishing was the only path to academic success. My inbox? Empty. My collaborations? Stagnant. My impact? Limited to footnotes in other people’s papers. Then, I did something radical: I shared my work outside journals. A blog post about the LCA work I did for a partner. A LinkedIn post breaking down techno-economic assessment and process design methods. A webinar sharing my research outputs. Crickets. For weeks. Until a founder DM’ed: "Liked the recording of your webinar. Can you do something like this for us to verify our TEA?" A week later, an academic mentor slid into my DMs: "Saw your recent work on carbon capture. Can we co-write a research bid?" I wasn't sure what to do. This wasn’t “real” academic work. I’d been pre-conditioned to share my work only in scholarly journals and conferences. But suddenly, my research was solving problems, not merely gathering dust. So I leaned in. I built a simple system:  1. Every paper made available as PDF with posts on problem, method, outputs  2. Conference slides became PDFs shared with key takeaways  3. Complex science converted into trade magazines and blog posts The response? A FTSE 250 energy company invited me to perform a market study for their new direct air capture business strategy. Learned societies invited me as a keynote speaker for their events. And yes, citations keep coming, but now tied to real-world impact. Here’s what academia won’t tell you: Visibility isn’t vanity. It’s the bridge between your work and the problems it can solve. You don’t need 100 papers to make a difference. You need the right people to see your work. Now? I teach researchers to build this bridge. Because your career shouldn’t hinge on how many journals you’ve cracked. It should hinge on how many minds you’ve changed. Start there. Let the papers follow. P.S. What is the most significant challenge that pre ents you getting your research seen by others? #science #scientist #research #publishing #phd #postdoctoral #professor #academia #highereducation

More than half of academics come from the 20% richest families, whereas only 5% come from the poorest 20%. But how about their academic productivity? A new study finds that, whereas there are "no differences in the average number of publications, academics from poorer backgrounds are both more likely to not publish and to have outstanding publication records." "These findings suggest that academics from lower socio-economic backgrounds are more likely to pursue research agendas off the beaten path, which may result in scientific breakthroughs but also in a higher failure rate" The study also examines peer recognition, finding that even though "academics from poorer backgrounds introduce more novel scientific concepts, [they] are less likely to receive recognition, as measured by citations, Nobel Prize nominations, and awards." Two other findings: 🔹"socio-economic composition of academics has remained remarkably stable over seven decades," 🔹"representation from lower socio-economic backgrounds is higher in disciplines with a stronger emphasis on quantitative relative to verbal skills." "While around 60% of academics in the humanities come from the top quintile of the parental income distribution, around 40% of academics in mathematics and economics come from the top quintile." Read the full study here: Climbing the Ivory Tower: How Socio-Economic Background Shapes Academia https://lnkd.in/eeJsryQw by Ran Abramitzky, Lena Greska, Santiago Pérez, Joseph Price, Carlo Schwarz, and Fabian Waldinger The study looks at US academics. Would be very interesting to know whether the situation in other parts of the world is (much) different.

I witnessed an announcement from the University of Birmingham Dubai to launch the first AI PhD programme. This programme is designed to nurture specialised talent in fields such as smart city development, advanced healthcare, sustainability, and future mobility – cornerstones of Dubai's digital transformation. I also reviewed Dubai’s State of AI report, published by Digital Dubai in collaboration with Dubai Future Foundation. The report outlines the crucial role of AI in reshaping government services in Dubai and highlights the progress of AI adoption across various government entities.

Has there ever been a more important role for universities in society today? And yet they seem to have to defend their very existence - and certainly their public funding - now more than ever. The World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report 2026 highlights the top global risks identified through a survey of a range of leaders and experts (including me!). Unsurprisingly, geoeconomic confrontation emerges as the top risk for the year, followed by interstate conflict, extreme weather, societal polarization and misinformation and disinformation. I would contend that universities, at their best, are ideally place to mitigate these risks: They transcend international borders and geopolitics to foster collaboration, dialogue and intercultural understanding. They nurture critical thinking and evidence-based analysis to counter divisive misinformation and disinformation. They promote healthy dialogue to support their students to "disagree well" and find common ground. For those that remain truly open to talent, they are among the most powerful tools for social mobility and countering inequality we have. They harness their collective research power to find solutions to the world's biggest challenges, such as climate change and biodiversity loss. They act as society's conscience and society's critic, and will help us navigate a highly uncertain AI future. "Collaborative approaches and the spirit of dialogue remain essential,” said Børge Brende, President and CEO, World Economic Forum ahead of the annual meeting at #Davos. Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director, World Economic Forum said: “The challenges highlighted in the report underscore both the scale of the potential perils we face and our shared responsibility to shape what comes next.” At Times Higher Education, we know that universities are rising to the challenge. https://lnkd.in/eW2hsgM Download the risks report here: #WEF #WEF26 #Risks26

Europe is sitting on a €9 Trillion opportunity. And the blueprint to unlock it is already being built in Heilbronn. 🇪🇺💡  The newly released Redstone University Startup Index 2026 dropped some staggering data this morning. If European higher education institutions optimized their budgets to produce spin-offs as efficiently as top-tier global benchmarks, over the next decade Europe could gain: 📈 +€5 Trillion in additional GDP 💼 +13 Million new jobs 🚀 +445,000 additional startups  But the report highlights a critical bottleneck: too many European institutions treat entrepreneurship as an afterthought rather than a core mission. We have a massive commercialization gap. So, how do we bridge it? You stop trying to tweak an old engine and instead build a new, "Entrepreneurship-Native" ecosystem from the ground up. Look no further than what the Dieter Schwarz Stiftung is orchestrating in Heilbronn. We aren’t just funding education; we are pioneering the exact infrastructure the Redstone report demands. Take a look at how the pieces connect: 1️⃣ The Academic Engine (Bildungscampus in Heilbronn): By bringing heavyweights like the Technische Universität München (TUM)—which ranks #5 in the Redstone Index for ultra-large universities—directly to Heilbronn, we’ve embedded top-tier entrepreneurial research right into the region's DNA. 2️⃣ The Launchpad (Campus Founders): With the recent launch of GRAVITY, a massive 7,000 m² co-innovation and startup hub, they’ve created the perfect physical melting pot where students transform into "Entrepreneurship-Native" founders. 3️⃣ The Future Tech Magnet (IPAI): By establishing the Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence (IPAI), Heilbronn is anchoring these new ventures to the most critical economic driver of our generation: Applied AI.   The Redstone Index proves that academic venture-creation isn't just a "nice-to-have" metric—it is a macroeconomic imperative for Europe's global competitiveness. Heilbronn's playbook shows that when you deliberately align philanthropy, world-class academia, state-of-the-art infrastructure, and deep tech, the flywheel spins fast. We don't need to look to Silicon Valley for the future of ecosystem building. The blueprint is right here. What are your thoughts on the report’s findings? How can more regions adopt the Heilbronn model? Let’s discuss in the comments. 👇 #Entrepreneurship #VentureCapital #Innovation #StartupIndex2026 #DeepTech #AI #Heilbronn #EcosystemBuilding #DieterSchwarzStiftung #IPAI #TUM

“The future does not belong to students who compete with AI — but to those who think beyond it.” This, for me, is a very real dialogue that universities should be having right now. I’ve been rather vocal lately, highlighting that too much of the global discussion around AI in education still revolves around fear, detection, restriction, and replacement. The deeper issue is not whether students use AI. It is whether education systems are still preparing students to think critically, ethically, creatively, and independently in a world where information is now instantly available? AI can generate answers. But it still cannot replace intellectual judgment, contextual understanding, ethical reasoning, curiosity, human empathy, or the ability to recognise which questions actually matter. The graduates who will thrive in the coming decade will not be those who simply ‘use AI tools well’. They will be those who can challenge assumptions, navigate ambiguity, interpret (and work with) complexity, connect disciplines, communicate meaningfully, and most importantly, can think beyond the machine itself. This is the moment higher education becomes more human than ever before. Now, we need to make that happen! #HigherEducation #ArtificialIntelligence #AIinEducation #DigitalLiteracy #CriticalThinking #FutureOfWork #TheThirdDegree 

What if one of healthcare’s most persistent problems was solved not in a lab… but in a high school classroom? A few years ago, a 17-year-old student quietly challenged something the medical world has struggled with for decades: how to detect wound infections early - without expensive technology. In 2021, Iowa high school student Dasia Taylor asked a simple but powerful question: What if the solution already exists in nature? Her answer was extraordinary. She developed surgical stitches coated with beetroot extract - a natural pH indicator. The idea is beautifully simple and deeply human. When a wound is healthy, the stitches stay bright red. But when infection begins and pH levels rise, they shift to dark purple. No machines. No complex systems. Just a visible signal that could help save lives. What makes this even more powerful is not just the innovation - but the intention behind it. She designed it for hospitals where resources are limited. Where advanced monitoring tools are not available. Where early detection can make the difference between recovery and crisis. Accessibility. Simplicity. Impact. That’s healthcare innovation at its purest form. Her work was recognized as a Top 40 finalist in the Regeneron Science Talent Search, she received the Seaborg Award, and has already filed for a patent. But beyond the awards, there is a deeper message here. Sometimes the future of healthcare does not come from more complexity. It comes from seeing differently. From asking better questions. From challenging assumptions. From refusing to accept that “this is just how it’s done.” As someone working in global healthcare and consumer health, I find stories like this incredibly grounding. They remind us: Innovation is not defined by age, title, or infrastructure. It is defined by curiosity applied to real human problems. And sometimes, the most powerful breakthroughs are also the simplest. ⸻ What if the next big shift in healthcare is already being imagined - not in boardrooms, but in classrooms we are not yet watching closely enough? I would love to hear your thoughts. #healthcare #innovation #medtech #health #futureofhealthcare #AI #healthtech #leadership #digitalhealth #accessibility #inspiration