Hello all! I graduated with an MS from the USA and I am really interested in pursuing a PhD in Germany or The Netherlands. I would really like to do something with Industrial application. I am not familiar with the PhD system in Europe so I have a bunch of questions I hope you guys can help me with! :)

1. For those who are doing or have done an Industrial PhD in Europe, how did you find your position? Was it an advertised vacancy on a jobboard like Stepstone of did you find it on the individual company websites?

2. If these are advertised on jobboards, which ones should I be looking at?

3. Were you a company employee or an external candidate when you applied?

4. Is it possible to get a company to fund your project proposal? My area is Geoscience, particularly groundwater, renewable energy storage, geothermal energy and subsurface storage. I guess they would want you to complete something they are interested in, but is it possible to apply with a project proposal to a company?

5. Any idea of companies that offer this sort of thing in the EU in my areas of interest?

6. Did you end up working at the company or did you go into academia?

7. Any other information would be wonderful.

Hi Guys! I hope everyone is busy and that's why there haven't been any replies to this thread. Haha!

I think it's because most people on here are in the UK so can't really comment, plus there's not many doing an industrial PhD.

Hi MoonGoddes,
In the UK, Industrial PhDs aren't a common feature. They're usually reserved for individuals already working in industries which have ties with universities. But in whole wide Europe, Industrial PhDs schemes are quite common through the European Union scheme called Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. These tenable in Europe and are open to people of all nationalities. They are normally advertised as "First Stage Researcher (R1)". Here is a link:

Hi TreeofLife and Engineer. Thanks for your replies.