Our Centre was set up to address the digital media sector, recognised as being a major contributor to the UK economy. We are investing in digital film, postproduction, computer animation, graphics, simulation and computer games. We offer you high-quality student Research Engineers with a major funding package behind them. Our funds will cover 50 REs for 4 years each, £10 million of total investment. Your returns are the chance to train one or more REs in your research needs and the opportunity to engage in innovative research at no risk to your product line. The EngD programme lasts 4 years, 3 of which the RE is with you in your company, 1 year is spent in taught units. This taught program will be tailored to the individual needs of candidate and company and agreed in negotiation with all partners.

You will also have access to all our REs through our regular conferences that bring together all REs and supervisory teams. At a time of economic stringency it is an inexpensive, low commitment way of retaining and training graduates well beyond the level of new employees.

Company contribution
The Centre and the company both invest in one or more Research Engineers. The Centre invests a total of £200,000 in each of its 50 Research Engineers. Companies typically invest much less and mainly in kind. A typical company investment is just £8k per year and the provision of an industrial supervisor. The Company is expected to cover the RE's travel expenses but only up to £500 per year. The scheme is a highly-geared research training vehicle which takes graduates well beyond the usual entry level at low cost and risk to the company.

What is an Engineering Doctorate?
An EngD is an elite research degree for high-flyers. It must meet the academic standards of a PhD – the “doctorate” component – but it must also demonstrate its worth to industry – the “engineering” component. Research Engineers have a company research supervisor and a university research supervisor to ensure the two aspects are covered. It is joint research but with industrial direction. The supervisors must work closely to plan the progress of the RE, to ensure that high-quality papers are published regularly and to guide the RE towards a complete portfolio of work to be submitted for the degree. Meanwhile the RE is adding value to the company and raising their own ability well beyond anything a university alone can offer. They will emerge as very employable people. This is one of the easiest, cheapest ways of investing in four years of high-skills research training, directly geared to your company’s future.

Why haven’t I heard of the Engineering Doctorate?
The EngD has only existed for 15 years or so. It is a premium, highly-competitive qualification and consequently rare. It is a research degree coupled to funded programs in specific UK industry sectors. Only around 10 RE awards are made in each industry sector each year. The degree specifically meets the research needs of UK businesses and is not a PhD in disguise. Industry-driven research is the core of the qualification. The national sponsor is the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, which recently committed a further £250 million to the scheme, reflecting widespread industry acceptance of the approach. Our Centre is newly funded by EPSRC to address your industry sector.

A new Association of EngD has been formed to further promote the EngD brand.

Is it another placement scheme?
Some universities have a long and successful record of placing under-graduate students in companies for a year. Companies see this as an investment to attract well-prepared graduate employees. The company employs the student and so the cost to them is substantial. In contrast Research Engineers are higher-level trainees on a four-year programme. They already hold a degree, they go into the company largely at the Centre’s expense and they will be the sector’s leaders of the future. They will have equal input from university and industrial supervisors, a much closer relationship than with a placement year. Unlike university-based doctorates an EngD is largely applied, driven by the research needs of your company. The REs are students, not employees, so they are a much lower cost for the company than undergraduate placements. Yet they operate at a higher skills level and for longer.

So this is a cheap way to train graduates?
Yes and no. Yes it is much cheaper than employing and training a new graduate. No it is not about training standard graduates. Research Engineers are involved in the company’s leading-edge research. What they do must qualify them for an Engineering Doctorate. REs are expected to become the industry’s technology leaders within a few years, with every expectation of a significant management role. Fast-moving technology-led companies are the most likely to benefit.

The small cost of the scheme can usually be more than offset by tax credits or as a lump sum paid to you. All companies spending over £10,000 per annum on R&D (as defined for tax purposes) are entitled to a deduction when calculating their taxable profits of.

• 150% of qualifying expenditure for small and medium-sized companies, and
• 125% of qualifying expenditure for larger companies.

Notice that you can offset a lot more than you actually spend. We strongly advise you consult your accountant because we find many client companies use this to their advantage.

The small charges made by the Centre can be offset but so too can larger expenses. For example, if one of your employees registers as a research student with us while still being fully employed by you, their salary can be offset for four years. The financial benefit to you will comfortably exceed the hours they are required to invest in the student activity. This is an excellent way of retaining a valued employee during the programme while freeing up salary cost. Students do not come under employment legislation or cost you employee-overheads unless, as above, you choose to employ them: we never require you to, you can employ them part way through the programme to maximise the chance they stay with you, setting their salary against tax while they complete the degree.

DTI information on how the tax relief works

HM Revenue and Customs information

Contact cde@cs.bath.ac.uk