Employment-Based Postgraduate Programme

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Overview

The Irish Research Council’s Employment-Based Postgraduate Programme is a unique national initiative linking excellent researchers in all disciplines with workplace experience in an employment partner; ranging from multinational corporations to SMEs, public-sector agencies and, where justified, non-governmental organisations. The scheme provides awardees with the opportunity to pursue research in collaboration with a higher education institution while based in, and employed by, their employment partner.

Through this co-funded programme, postgraduate researchers develop new, advanced knowledge and skills in an industry or employer workplace setting. The programme trains early-career researchers for the diversity of employment opportunities in industry, the public sector and the non-government sectors. For employers, the scheme brings new talent directly into the organisation and provides a low-risk cost-effective route to research development and innovation in an area closely aligned with its strategic interests.

With consideration to national and global challenges, the involvement of those organisations, both large and small, who seek technological, social and sustainable solutions and opportunities for people and planet is welcomed.

Information for applicants

The award will support suitably qualified research master’s and doctoral candidates pursuing, or intending to pursue, full-time research in any discipline. The duration of these awards ranges from one to four years.

For the period of the award, the awardee will have dual status as an employee of the employment partner and a postgraduate student at their host institution. Most applicants will not be employees of the employment partner at the time of application, however existing employees are also eligible to apply.

Awards will comprise:

  • a contribution of €19,000  to the awardee’s employment costs;
  • a contribution to fees, including non-EU fees, up to a maximum of €5,750 per annum; and;
  • eligible direct research expenses of €3,250 per annum.

The logos below represent some enterprise partners that have expressed an interest in supporting researchers under this scheme. Their contact details can be found to the right of this page.

Enterprise partner logos

Information for employment partners

  • An employment partner can be a company, registered charity, social, cultural or not-for-profit civic organisation, state-owned enterprise or an eligible public body* that will co-fund the researcher for the duration of the award.
  • The employment partner is expected to commit a minimum of €9,500 per annum towards the cost of funding the researcher.
  • The employment partner should be based in the Republic of Ireland and have suitable facilities to host and mentor the researcher.
  • The employment partner must be willing to employ the researcher for the duration of the award.
  • If your organisation would like to feature on this page in order to attract researchers, please send your details to schemes@research.ie.

How to apply

Potential applicants should read the 2024 Call Document carefully to ascertain whether or not they are eligible to apply. Indicative versions of the applicant, academic supervisor and employment mentor forms are provided for information purposes only. All participants must create and submit their forms via the online system.

 

Key dates

DeadlineDate
Call open12:00 (Irish time) 5 October 2023
FAQ deadline16:00 (Irish time) 9 November 2023
Applicant deadline16:00 (Irish time) 16 November 2023
Academic supervisor and employment mentor deadline16:00 (Irish time) 23 November 2023
Research office endorsement deadline16:00 (Irish time) 30 November 2023
Call outcome End of April 2024
Award start date1 September 2024

If you do not find the answer to your query in the call documentation, you should contact the research office in your proposed institution which will provide information and clarification on the call. Research offices can send any queries they are unable to clarify to schemes@research.ie.

For reasons of transparency and fairness to all applicants, we will not enter into written or telephone correspondence with any individual about the assessment process or their eligibility to apply.

* A public body is a public service body with specific scientific or cultural infrastructure that is integral to the conduct and completion of the proposed research. If a public body or higher education institution is an eligible research-performing organisation, it is not an eligible employment partner under this scheme.

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