学术界和行业之间存在固有的联系，很少能得到应有的认可。行业依靠学术界来教育，训练，准备和培养下一批聪明的年轻人才进入工作市场。作为回报，行业提供了挑战研究人员以及宝贵的资金，设施和工作场所经验的现实世界问题，并为他们进行调查以及科学家发展技能。学术界和工业都可以孤立地存在，但是当他们共同努力并互相支持时，两者都可以从协同关系中受益。

As part of the “Science Futures” project, Agilent interviewed five PhD students from five academic institutions across Europe to discover their views on how this relationship works and the impacts it has on their research and future career prospects. The students shared their perspectives on a range of topics, including the role that technology plays in their studies, the benefits of having opportunities to interact with industry and the value of mentorship.

在此列表中，我们总结了该项目的发现，并强调了行业和技术影响下一代科学家的三个领域。

技术是研究和创新的主要驱动力

所有五位博士学位学生都强调的主要主题之一是，重要的是访问最新技术的研究以及行业与学术界之间的合作如何支持这一点。学生认为足够的技术访问对于继续推动他们的研究前进至关重要。

“The continued availability of analytical equipment and the development of the underlying technology greatly accelerates our research capabilities and, perhaps more importantly, induces new questions for scientists to look at.” – Tijmen Bos

Several of the students discussed how technology had steered their research and enabled them to move their project ideas forward, often in different directions to their original plans. For some of the students, the development of new technologies by collaborators, themselves, or their own research group was critical for subsequent research. One student was able to develop their own technology by 3D printing, rather than rely on a commercially available instrument. The student highlighted how access to a 3D printer in their own lab enabled them to steer their PhD in a slightly different direction. As well as benefitting their own projects, many of the students pointed out the value that new technologies have had in spurring research ideas among other scientists.

When talking about technology, the importance of open-source software and data sharing was also highlighted by the students, especially when trying something new. Several of the students relied on free open-source software for data collection and processing throughout their projects, citing technology such as GIS, USGS, Scihub, R and Python code as being extremely useful in their research. In addition, some students relied on open-source online courses to boost their knowledge of new technologies or techniques.

“ 我认为[开源技术]已经升级了竞争环境，因为所有大学都可以访问各种开源软件，并且能够更好地将它们集成到项目中。我认为它已经在行业和学术界之间开设了另一种沟通，这对双方都有益。”- 乔伊斯·奥格雷迪

与预期云实验室的上升在接下来的几年中，学生可能可以使用更广泛的技术，包括以前可能被成本和位置禁止的最先进的工具。这可能会严重影响其研究目标的范围。

专业联系增强了想法共享，研究成果和培训

讨论的另一个关键主题是与行业合作对学生的研究目标和支持的积极影响。几个学生的项目得到了行业合作伙伴的支持，通过资助或仪器提供，使学生可以使用最新设备以及进行研究的手段。

“My project is co-sponsored by three leading chemical companies and aspects of my work are supported by an industry grant. The involvement of industry is essential for the project. The equipment and samples allowed me to start my research and through secondments at partner companies, I can interact with industry experts and implement my work directly on-site. I really value these interactions.” – Tijmen Bos

指导和与专家的互动对学生非常有用，帮助他们讨论他们的研究并提高对工具和技术的了解。一些学生强调了参加会议和活动的好处，他们能够分享自己的工作和面临的任何问题，并从该领域的专家那里获得反馈。

The value of having support from both academic and industry sources was described by one of the students, as getting “the best from both worlds”. Students seemed to appreciate the support and guidance they received from their primary supervisors and fellow students, and found technical support and training from industry partners especially helpful.

The positive experiences the students have encountered have instilled in them the value of such partnerships and the desire to maintain them in their future careers. The students recognized the importance of collaboration between industry and academia to maximize the potential of scientific research.

“我肯定会考虑将来与行业合作。除了测试原型技术并制定应用程序和获取策略的可能性外，我还喜欢与仪器开发人员进行的科学讨论，并从这项合作中学到了很多东西。”- Max Lennart Feuerstein

As well as being beneficial to students while completing their PhDs, collaborations and professional connections could prove helpful to their future career development. Particularly for competitive industry positions, professional contacts can increase the chance ofgetting a foot in the door。

Preparing for the future workplace

When speaking to the students about their future career aspirations, it became clear that upskilling was seen as crucial to meet not only the multidisciplinary needs of their current research projects, but also to be well prepared for future employment.

Having the opportunity to develop skills across a range of disciplines and technologies during their studies is seen by students as crucial to help them to be ready to embrace technological advances in their future careers.

“My current research topic is interdisciplinary. It includes the study of optics/photonics, chemistry, and biology…Therefore, I possess a number of unique skills and I believe the capability of coping with the different fields of science can lead to real life achievements.” – Rajannya Sen

Some of the students mentioned the challenges they had experienced moving from academia into industry and how this skills gap could affect future career choices.

“从我过去的经验来看，从我的硕士研究到动手经验，实践知识和了解行业过程的行业肯定有一个技能差距。我发现我理解了我在工作中所做的一些过程背后的理论，但是在实际情况下应用这些知识是非常不同的。” - 亚历山德拉·理查森（Alexandra Richardson）

Importantly, chances to interact with industry during academic studies were seen as useful ways to address the skills gap and better prepare for a career in industry. One student described how the introduction of a training program, similar to medical students’ inter-collated year, could help to bridge the gap and ensure students are ready for their first industry position.

缺乏动手的技术经验是一个受到越来越多的关注的问题，这可能会看到更多的大学和公司set up programs为学生提供充足的机会使用乐器和执行技术。

Throughout the“安捷伦科学期货”discussions, it was clear that industry and technology have significant impacts on the next generation of scientists, and that students recognize and value the contributions that academic–industry collaborations have on both their current research and future career prospects.