TMC Group
Ph.D. Talent · Academia to Industry · Global
Global Tech Ph.D.
helping the brightest minds
transition to Corporate.
A 1 year development programme for Oracle's Ph.D. graduate hires, built to bridge the gap between academic excellence and corporate confidence.
CLIENT
Oracle
LEADERSHIP ACCESS
SVP level
DURATION
1 year
SCOPE
US
1 year
Integrated development plan
SVP
Level access from day 1
6
Events per year
3
Core principles
THE CHALLENGE
Exceptional minds.
A different world to navigate.
TMC Group partners with Oracle to design and run the Global Tech Ph.D. Programme. They recruit Ph.D. graduates from some of the world's leading universities. These are exceptionally capable people who have years of experience with independent academic research, but the transition from academia to industry is a genuine shift in identity, not just environment. The norms around communication, decision-making, collaboration and leadership visibility are fundamentally different. Without a programme designed specifically for this cohort, talented Ph.D. hires can struggle to find their footing and take far longer to contribute at the level they are capable of.
What we recognised: Ph.D. hires need a development experience built around their specific strengths and challenges, not a generic graduate scheme with the label changed. They needed access to senior leaders, structured opportunities to build cross-functional relationships and a safe space to redefine what success looks like in industry.
PROGRAMME DESIGN
Built for this cohort.
Not adapted from something else.
The programme runs across a full year, integrating three in-person core events with three virtual meet-ups. Each element was designed to address a specific challenge Ph.D. hires face when moving into corporate environments: leadership visibility, collaborative decision-making, professional identity and sense of belonging.
Executive Leader Access
Participants engage directly with SVPs, EVPs and Senior Directors through intimate roundtables and virtual sessions, gaining visibility into Oracle's culture, strategy and expectations that most employees take years to access.
"Interacting directly with VPs and EVPs provided really valuable insights into company culture and allowed us to learn about activities beyond our own departments."
Leadership Design Sprint
A fast, high-stakes collaborative challenge designed to build influence, adaptability and structured decision-making. It directly confronts the contrast between academic independence and business-driven alignment.
"This really highlighted the challenges of working with people
who had different visions and motivations."
Team Simulations
Immersive simulations built to strengthen communication under pressure, cross-functional systems thinking and coordinated execution. Behaviour, not intelligence, determines performance here.
"This was a helpful framework for the future to use in my role."
Strategic Storytelling and Identity Building
A signature session that fosters trust, vulnerability and authentic connection. Participants reflect on their academic journeys and begin to redefine their professional identity in the context of industry. Consistently named a favourite..
"It helped us understand each other's backgrounds and
find common ground."
Cohort Community
Deliberately structured for psychological safety and depth, the cohort model builds peer connection and support across Oracle's global Ph.D. community. Virtual meet-ups keep the network active between core events.
"The cohort provided a sense of community and belonging, particularly for junior members like myself who lack a cohort at work."
WHAT IT ACHIEVED
What good looks like
for PH.D. talent.
The programme's feedback was clear on what worked. Executive access was rated the most impactful component across the board. The experiential learning sessions built the communication and collaborative skills that academic training does not develop. And the cohort structure gave participants something that many said they had not found elsewhere at Oracle: a sense of belonging.
Faster transition to corporate life: Participants consistently reported increased confidence, readiness and clarity about how to operate, enabling earlier contribution to team goals.
Unmatched leadership visibility: Direct access to SVPs and EVPs gave participants a connection to the strategy and direction that most employees take years to develop. Universally rated the most valued element of the programme.
A genuine sense of belonging: The cohort model built real trust and connection across the Ph.D. community. Participants described finding their people in a way that their day-to-day roles had not provided.
Stronger collaboration and communication: The experiential activities built cross-functional thinking, communication under pressure and the ability to navigate differing perspectives, all critical in complex engineering environments.
Clear business ROI: Reduced time to productivity, strong NSAT and NPS scores and stronger long-term engagement across the Ph.D. cohort. Plus a model that can scale locally or globally.
WHAT PARTICIPANTS SAID
In their own words
"Hearing from executives and leaders was the most impactful part of the programme. Their transparency and career stories gave me a realistic picture of what success looks like here."
"My goal was to meet other employees with Ph.Ds and understand where their experiences aligned or differed. This grew into a valuable cohort. The sense of togetherness and camaraderie was something I did not expect."
"I felt more connected and clearer on how to navigate the organisation."
THE TMC GROUP ROLE
Designed for this cohort.
Refined every year.
TMC Group designs, produces and runs the Global Tech Ph.D. Programme end to end, from the initial programme architecture and session design through to facilitator briefings, venue management and participant experience from sign-in to sign-off. Each year, TMC Group also produces a detailed feedback and recommendations report, identifying what landed, what can be sharpened and what the next iteration should look like. The programme improves because the people running it are paying close attention and are invested in getting it right.