Regulations and Guidelines
The Industrial Postdoctoral Program Instruction at Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS)
Introduction
The Industrial Postdoctoral Program at TUMS was launched to train specialized and productive human resources in the field of health technology. This program is supported by the Ministry of Health. All Ph.D graduates from all universities in the country can participate in the projects.
The main goals of this program are to train health professionals in health technology production, enhancing professional abilities, improving the skills and practical experience of Ph.D graduates with a product quality improvement approach, conducting applied research in real production environments as well as making deep connections between university and Industry. The program is based on the provisions of the " Postdoctoral Program of Ministry of Health" and "Postdoctoral Program at Tehran University of Medical Sciences".
Article 1. Definition of the industrial postdoctoral program
The industrial postdoctoral program is a provisional program created to engage applicants in research and development (R&D) activities in a health-related industrial unit. This Program develops specialized technological skills of Ph.D graduates.
Article 2. Conditions for the applicants of industrial postdoctoral program
- Ph.D. degree, a clinical or Clinical Specialty thesis approved by the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (Not older than three years from the date of obtaining the degree).
- Having at least one ISI or PubMed (first-person or responsible) article or a patented invention Done in the country.
- Having No prohibition for research on record in the military-service system as this program does not lead to a certification, no educational exemptions would be granted to the applicant
- The maximum applicant age is 45 years.
- Not be a faculty member. However, faculty members may participate in this program if they receive an educational assignment without a grant (or by taking unpaid sabbatical).
- General qualifications and no legal prohibition
Article 3: Requirements of the industry company
The accepting industrial unit is authorized to accept an industrial postdoctoral applicant according to following conditions:
1. The knowledge-based company must be approved by Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Also a member of the faculty of TUMS should be as a company member.
2.It must be an industrial unit not affiliated to TUMS that has equipped at least one university laboratory in terms of materials, laboratory equipment and space.
Article 4. Conditions of the supervisor
1- An associate professor degree
2- Having full-time affiliation to TUMS with the order of the head of university
3. Managing Director or membership in the board of the knowledge-based company
4- Having authentic scientific publications, including at least 2 articles in journals indexed in ISI or PubMed in the past three years or at least having an international patent.
5. Having approved proposals for a medium- or long-term research program with clear and specific goals.
Note 1- Any supervisor who has a full-time geographic position, can lead two postdoctoral researchers at the same time.
Note 2- If professors working in educational departments or research centers wish to lead postdoctoral researchers in industry, they can have legal negotiations with a knowledge-based company, being granted the responsibilities if accepted.
Article 5. Necessary documents to evaluate the applicants' request:
In addition to the requirements of Article 2 of this instruction, the following information should be prepared and will be evaluated.
1- Letter of Request for industrial postdoctoral.
2- Resume consisting of complete individual specifications, qualifications, research lists, publications, activities and academic appointments.
3- Determining the amount of financial support requested
4- Any evidence related to applicant competency.
Article 6. Application, Approval and Registration Procedures of the Applicant
1- Submission of documents referred to in Articles 2 and 5 to the Health Technology Development & Industrial Relationship management / Vice-Chancellor for Research at TUMS.
2- Sending the applicant's approved documents to the relevant company.
3- Examination of documents by the supervisor
4- Announcement of results feedback to the applicant by the company, holding an interview if necessary.
5- Writing a general research proposal (without details) with the collaboration of the applicant and the supervisor
6- Submission of supervisor- approved thesis proposal to the Health Technology Development & Industrial Relationship management / Vice-Chancellor for Research at TUMS.
7- The making of a decision by the Vice chancellor of research, setting off the needed paperwork and informing the relevant professor and faculty.
Article 7. The Duration of the program
The industrial postdoctoral program is one year, only. It is renewable for another one year period according to the consent of the applicant, company and the approval of the Technology Committee.
The start of this program is counted from the date of the approval of the researcher and the Vice-Chancellor for Research. This program does not lead to a degree. At the end of the course, a certificate will be issued with the approval and signature of the supervisor and Vice-Chancellor for Research at TUMS.
Article 8. Covering postdoctoral program costs.
1- The supervisor is responsible for researcher expenses based on the agreement of the parties.
2- If the costs of program are covered by university contracts, the researcher's salary will be paid by other means.
3- In this program, each researcher is paid 80% of an assistant professor's financial rights. the companies can cover the costs or use other out of university resources sponsored researchers and technologists’ supplementary resources
Article 9. Certifications of The industrial postdoctoral program
At the end of program based upon the written request of the company, the certification will be issued with the two signatures of supervisor and the Vice-Chancellor for Research at TUMS.
Note: It is necessary to submit a final report approved by the supervisor and the technology committee at TUMS for certification.
Article 10. Obligations of the University, the company and the applicant
10-1The university's commitments
-Receiving the applicant request letter and verifying researcher competency and then sending the information to the relevant company.
-Evaluating the company’s need to recruit an industrial postdoctoral researcher and checking the qualifications of the supervisor.
-Issued the industrial postdoctoral certification based upon a written request from the company.
Note1: The university has no obligation to employ the researcher, this holds true also after the program.
Note2: The researcher can only make one other request for collaboration with a supervisor, after having finished the first period, going through the instruction from the beginning.
Note3: Each applicant can start the postdoctoral program with only one supervisor at a time. It is not possible to collaborate with another supervisor at the same time.
10-2 Commitment of the Industrial party
- Assessing the postdoctoral applicant's request and conducting interviews as needed
- Defining a research project and writing a proposal in collaboration with the applicant and the supervisor
- Providing the researcher's monthly salary based on the agreement.
- The principal supervisor is required to advise the postdoctoral researcher on research activities; the supervisor should also provide necessary facilities to the researcher.
- Announcing the end of the research process to the university for routine retaking of resources and presenting research results for publication and archiving.
Note 1: The company will have no obligation to hire a postdoctoral researcher after the end of the program.
Note 2: All the intellectual property rights of the postdoctoral project belong to the company. The TUMS affiliation should be considered in all papers and articles. The intellectual property rights will belong to the researcher if technical knowledge has been offered by a postdoctoral researcher to company.
Note 3: If the applicant is accepted on a part-time basis, the company will pay the monthly salary according to an agreement made between the researcher and the Industrial party.
10-3 The industrial postdoctoral researcher commitments
-The postdoctoral researcher must have full-time/ part-time job serving the industry based on prior agreement.
-The postdoctoral researcher has to observe the safety and intellectual property rights, related to research project (according to agreement).
-The postdoctoral researcher should submit a progress report every three months for Health Technology Development & Industrial Relationship management. The researcher will have a presentation for university and company.
These set of Instruction were Approved by the University Industry Council in 10 articles and 9 notes.