Call opens for Irish Research Council Employment-Based Postgraduate Programme

The Irish Research Council announced today (15.01.19) that applications for the Employment-Based Postgraduate Programme (EBP) are open.

The EBP programme provides postgraduate researchers with an opportunity to complete a master’s or PhD while directly acquiring workplace experience and skills. The value of each research award is up to €96,000, depending on the duration of the postgraduate qualification.

Last year, an investment of €2.5 million in 31 early-career researchers across all disciplines was made under the EBP programme. Researchers who received funding in 2018 include:

• Ciara Buchanan, working with Remedy Biologics Ltd. and Dublin City University, who is researching patient-guided studies on the immune system for the development of colon cancer therapies;

• Sammy Ball, working with Dublin Airport Authority and University College Cork, who is addressing financial and safety issues related to wildlife collisions on the runways of Dublin International Airport;
• Fearghal Kerin, working with Leinster Rugby and University College Dublin, who aims to develop a better understanding of the hamstring injury epidemic in professional rugby; and
• Lána McCarthy, working with YoungBallymun and Trinity College Dublin, whose research focuses on how parental engagement can be maximised to enhance children’s language and literacy outcomes.

Participants on the EBP programme are primarily based with their employment partner, while also benefitting from research supervision in their host higher education institution.  When applying for funding under the EBP programme, researchers link up with potential employment partners and academic supervisors as part of the application process.

Commenting today, the Minister of State for Training, Skills, Innovation, Research and Development, John Halligan TD, said: “I am delighted to announce further investment in the Irish Research Council’s Employment-Based Postgraduate Programme today.

“This scheme is a fantastic opportunity for students to gain valuable experience with industry and employers while also carrying out their research. It is also a very valuable partnership for our enterprise and other employment sectors to have access to talented researchers and their expertise.”

Also commenting today, Peter Brown, Director of the Irish Research Council, said: “This programme provides early-career researchers with an opportunity to gain ‘real-world’ insights into the sectors on which they are carrying out research. EBP scholars typically go on to develop successful careers in industry and other sectors, applying the high-level knowledge and skills that they have acquired under the programme.

“The Council’s enterprise and employer programmes are a key strand of our work, recognising the need for early-career researchers to be ‘industry and employer-ready’, and particularly given the need for Ireland to be globally competitive in an era of increasing technological change and innovation.”

Applications for the 2019 EBP programme will only be accepted through the Irish Research Council’s online application system. The deadline for applications is 28^th February 2019. Potential applicants can find further information on how to apply at: https://research.ie/funding/ebp/