A "PhD student" training at the industry

Controversial plan brings Ph.D. students to biotech for training

https://www.science.org/content/article/controversial-plan-brings-ph-d-students-biotech-training?utm_campaign=ScienceNow&utm_source=Social&utm_medium=Facebook

This is indeed an interesting experiment, and I would be curious to see how it will turn out. But as a non-traditional student and former industry employee, I would think isolation risk outweighs the benefit of being exposed to an industry environment.

Private companies are often a closed community with limited interaction with outside researchers. So, it is a privilege to be in an academic community as a graduate student because there are so many PhD holders and experts in various fields whom you can talk to without much worrying about confidentiality and trade secret.  Seminars, workshops, library resources, and all kinds of support for graduate students are also something that you hardly (or at least less often) have access to in the private sector. Last but not least, friendship with your fellow graduate students provides you with learning opportunities and motivation. Being a "PhD student" based in the industry is giving up all those benefits, to me. An internship or two, however, would be a wonderful way to take a look at how the world outside academia works.

Of course for those with established connections, it may not matter as much, as somebody else mentioned.  Indeed, this system may benefit industry researchers more who seeks a higher degree.  In that sense, it is meaningful to add an option to work and study at the same time while being in the industry, since sometimes graduate school straight out of undergraduate is not a choice for some students for various reasons.