As well as helping train the next generation of scientists, the R&D PhD program gives students the skills and competencies they need to conduct independent experimental research on different food-related disciplines: material science, safety and quality, packaging, sustainability, and nutrition and health.

Available at Nestlé R&D locations across the world, the program has two pathways.

The student can follow an external PhD based on a research collaboration between Nestlé and an academic institution where they are hosted, with short placements at Nestlé. Through the second, internal pathway, the student remains affiliated with an academic institution, but is hired as a company employee, and is co-supervised by an external academic professor and a Nestlé scientist.