Industrial CASE Account - Imperial College 2019

This grant does not fund a specific research project. Instead, it supports a training partnership—the Industrial CASE Account at Imperial College London—which places PhD students directly into company settings to work on industrially relevant problems. The problem this addresses is a persistent gap between academic research and commercial application. Many promising discoveries in UK labs never reach products or processes because researchers lack exposure to real-world industrial constraints, and companies struggle to access cutting-edge academic expertise. This scheme forces that connection by embedding doctoral students in businesses, where they tackle problems defined by industry needs rather than purely academic curiosity. If successful, these partnerships produce a pipeline of scientists and engineers who understand both fundamental research and commercial pressures. The immediate impact is a cohort of graduates ready to move seamlessly into high-skill roles across UK manufacturing, engineering, and technology sectors. Over time, this strengthens the country’s ability to translate laboratory breakthroughs into marketable products—improving everything from medical devices to energy systems. The grant itself is a mechanism for building that skilled workforce, not a vehicle for a single discovery.