Programmes Database

Higher Education Authority, Strategic Innovation Fund & Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions

Texts, Contexts & Cultures
Texts, Contexts, Cultures is an interdisciplinary PhD research programme in the Arts and Humanities. It is delivered in co-operation between research hubs at three of Ireland's leading universities: University College Cork, NUI, Galway and Trinity College Dublin.
Website: www.textscontextscultures.ie
Contact: www.textscontextscultures.ie/contacts.asp

Irish Social Science Platform
A core undertaking of ISSP is the creation of a national social sciences graduate platform capable of delivering graduate research education programmes. Graduate students will undertake taught courses, training workshops and summer schools, and have supervisory committees that span disciplines and partner institutions. The taught component will include modules on professional development, methodology and specialist areas.
Website: http://www.issplatform.ie/research.html
Contact: www.issplatform.ie/contact.html

The LERO Graduate School in Software Engineering
The Lero Graduate School in Software Engineering (LGSSE), the main education initiative of Lero - the Irish Software Engineering Research Centre, offers a four-year PhD program provided jointly by the four leading Irish Universities involved in Lero (Dublin City University, Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin and University of Limerick). The next LGSSE program cycle begins in September 2009. The first year includes taught modules in research theory and practice, as well as technical software engineering modules. Also during the first year, the candidate will prepare a research proposal that will be the basis for a three-year individual research project.
Website: http://www.lero.ie/lgsse
Contact: lgsse@lero.ie

Molecular Medicine Ireland, Clinician Scientist Fellowship Programme
Molecular Medicine Ireland (MMI) is a not for profit company being established by National University of Ireland Galway, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork and University College Dublin to achieve their common objectives in accelerating the translation of scientific research into better quality outcomes for patients. MMI will build on and replace the Dublin Molecular Medicine Centre. In a groundbreaking first initiative, Molecular Medicine Ireland is organising a national Clinician Scientist Fellowship Programme.
Website: http://www.dmmc.ie/MMI_Clinician_Scientist_Fellowship.htm
Contact: http://www.dmmc.ie/contact.htm

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Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences & Irish Research Council for Science Engineering and Technology (Graduate Research Education Programmes)

PhD programme in sustainable development
A four-year programme, commencing in the Academic year 2008/09, the programme will follow the UCD Structured PhD Framework, incorporating taught modules and a research internship, followed by a program of original research leading to the award of Doctoral (or Masters) degrees by research.
Website: http://www.ucd.ie/phdsust/
Contact: uii.admin@ucd.ie

Gender, Culture and History: International, National and Local Contexts 1922-70
Professor Gerardine Meaney (Professor of Cultural Theory, UCD School of English, Drama and Film) leads the graduate programme in Gender, Culture and History. Spanning history, literature and visual culture, this programme draws on collaboration with colleagues in University of Limerick and Queen's University Belfast. The programme will cover three major interlinking, interdisciplinary research strands, combining studies of history, literature and visual culture: Gender, Cultural Change and Artistic Practice in Ireland, 1922-70; Gender, Cultural Memory and Local Identities, 1922-70; Gender, National Policy and International Practice. A range of summer placements in national repositories such as the National Archives will be available at the end of year 1 to students progressing to PhDs. These will be specifically structured to give experience of the formation and management of the research materials with which they will work in subsequent years.
Website: na
Contact: gerardine.meaney@ucd.ie

International Centre for Graduate Education in Micro & Nano-Engineering
The ICGEE Doctoral programme has three distinct features based around the core components of a 21st century international PhD:

  • Specialist academic knowledge from global leaders
  • Transferable professional skills
  • world-class research experience
The ICGEE will offer a very wide spectrum of specialist academic courses and workshops from leading experts in Europe, the US and Asia. Reflecting the fact that in the future, the majority of engineering graduates may move into non-academic career paths in different innovation eco-systems, the ICGEE has introduced transferable professional skills modules on technology management, commercialisation and innovation for our doctoral students along with communications, ethics and cultural issues in business.
Website: http://www.icgee.ie/index.php
Contact: info@icgee.ie

Graduate Programme for the Quantitative Social Sciences
Graduate Programme for the Quantitative Social Sciences is a ground-breaking inter-institutional, inter-disciplinary approach to providing advanced, high-quality training for graduate education in the quantitative social sciences. With a focus on training students through structured courses and seminars to allow them to perform basic research in the quantitative social sciences under the supervision of the Chairs in the UCD Geary Institute and the TCD IIIS. The basic objective is to create in Ireland an internationally recognised centre of excellence in this area of such a scale as to be internationally competitive in the attraction and retention of the very best graduate students.
Website: http://www.ucd.ie/humansciences/graduate/quan_soc_sci_08.html
Contact: christina.griessler@ucd.ie

Bioinformatics and Computational Biomedicine
The aim of this PhD programme is to give students a strong interdisciplinary training, with both numerate (e.g. mathematics, statistics) and biological (e.g. experimental laboratory work) research experience, and joint supervision from different disciplines.
Website: http://bioinformatics.ucd.ie/PhD/
Contact: bioinfo@ucd.ie

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Health Research Board PhD Scholars programme

PhD scholars programme in Cancer Biology
This PhD programme will train future investigators in an intellectually exciting and supportive work environment to carry out independent, high quality research. The aim of the programme is to educate PhD scholars to the level where they have the research knowledge, understanding, critical analytical skills, and the confidence to apply robust experimental design and state-of-the-art technologies to the emerging questions in cancer biology.
Website: http://www.ucc.ie/en/cancerbiology/
Contact: phdcancerbiology@ucc.ie

PhD scholars programme in health services research
This structured PhD programme has an annual intake of postgraduate Scholars. Its establishment in 2007 was possible through funding from the Health Research Board. The programme is a joint initiative of senior academic staff from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Trinity College Dublin and University College Cork. They constitute a grouping called the Health Services Research Institute. The Programme theme is "Integrated healthcare: from research to policy and practice".
Website: http://www.rcsi.ie/hsri_phdscholarsprogramme
Contact: info@rcsi.ie

PhD scholars programme in immunology
The Institute of Immunology (NUI Maynooth), in partnership with the School of Biochemistry (Trinity College Dublin) and Division of Infection and Immunity (Queens University Belfast) has recently been awarded funding for a HRB PhD Scholars programme in Immunology. This Tri-Institutional programme contains 20 research groups encapsulating the best basic and clinical immunology in Ireland.

Whilst a key aspiration of the four-year programme is advancement of knowledge through research, it is also underpinned by structured training in generic and transferable skills. Year 1 will consist of taught modules specialising in advanced immunology and generic transferable skills and three rotation projects hosted by academic and industry laboratories. Years 2-4 will consist of a dedicated research project with continued mentoring in professional development.
Website: http://immunology.nuim.ie/phdprogramme.shtml
Contact: Paul.Moynagh@nuim.ie

PhD scholars programme in diagnostics and therapeutics for human disease
Last year the HRB awarded the RCSI two of the four HRB-funded PhD Scholars Programmes, to the value of €5M each. These structured PhD programmes have phased intakes of postgraduates over 4 years. The first of these programmes brings together the complementary skills of researchers from Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Beaumont Hospital and Dublin City University in the themed area of Diagnostics and Therapeutics for Human Disease.
Website: http://www.rcsi.ie/index.jsp?1nID=93&2nID=107&pID=197&nID=964
Contact: postgraduateschool@rcsi.ie

PhD in Molecular Medicine
The Ph.D in Molecular Medicine will take the form of a four-year Ph.D. programme. The concepts underlying molecular medicine will be introduced to the students in the first year through a combination of

  • taught modules,
  • self-and group-directed learning and project work,
  • a series of laboratory rotations
This programme is also designed to provide the candidate with essential analytical skills and an understanding of a wide range of relevant technologies. Candidates may choose modules according to their needs and experience. This will ensure that persons from specialised undergraduate and clinical degrees can broaden their knowledge base and will create an educational platform that provides the concepts necessary to complete successfully a Ph.D.
Website: http://oscar.gen.tcd.ie/molmed/phd/
Contact: molec.medic@tcd.ie

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An Teagasc Food Institutional Research Mechanism

Food Graduate Development Programme
UCD, UCC and Teagasc have developed the Food Graduate Development Programme; the aim of this programme is to provide skills training to postgraduate students and research staff funded under the Food Institution Research Measure (FIRM) in universities and research institutions in Ireland.

This is an inter-institutional approach linking all postgraduate students in the AgriFood Sector, independently of whether they are placed in one of the Universities or Research Institutions. Generic postgraduate training is available from base universities. This Training Programme has the remit of providing skills training specifically tailored for the needs of the post grad with a food or nutrition based qualification.
Website: http://www.foodpostgrad.ie/home.html
Contact: admin@foodpostgrad.ie


Other Programmes

Dublin School of Chemistry
With over forty team leaders, Dublin Chemistry offers young scientists the opportunity to conduct wide ranging high-level research in areas such as computational chemistry, nanochemistry, advanced materials, biological and medicinal chemistry and much, much more. Importantly, advanced graduate chemistry, instrument techniques and communication courses support this research.
Website: http://www.dublinchemistry.ie/
Contact: quinnsu@tcd.ie

Structured PhD programme in Politics and International Relations
The programme aims to raise to a world class standard the training and supervision available to PhD scholars of politics and international relations in Ireland, to support their access to international networks and training and thus make PhD graduates in international relations from DCU internationally competitive. This programme provides a structured PhD programme with a much higher degree of training, supports and funding that traditional 'apprentice' models which have relied largely on one to one interactions with a supervisor. Employers and funders want universities to provide PhD students with a wider range of transferable skills and with better professional development.
Website: http://www.dcu.ie/~cis/phd/
Contact: eoin.omalley@dcu.ie

UCD, Thematic PhD Programme in Public Policy
The UCD Thematic Doctoral Programme in Public Policy offers a unique interdisciplinary graduate learning and research environment. Drawing on the expertise of academics in a range of Schools within the UCD College of Human Sciences and College of Business and Law, the programme offers an unrivalled range of specialisms, providing doctoral training with flexibility and breadth of interest.
Website: http://www.ucd.ie/humansciences/graduateschool/prospectivegraduatestudents/
thematicphdprogrammes/phdinpublicpolicy/
Contact: christina.griessler@ucd.ie

UCD, PhD in Global Irish Institute
The PRTLI funded programme, "Transforming the Study of Ireland and its diaspora" consists of four core research strands:

  • Footprints of Ireland: heritage and landscape;
  • Irish Identities from the Seventeenth Century: cultural and linguistic expression;
  • State and Society: historical development and contemporary challenges;
  • The Irish experience of conflict resolution in a British-Irish, European and global context.
Website: http://www.ucd.ie/johnhume/thematicareas/index.html
Contact: brian.jackson@ucd.ie

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