Enterprise Partnership Scheme (Postdoctoral)

Important Update:

 Research Ireland is working towards opening funding opportunities in 2025 which enable post-doctoral researchers to collaborate with enterprise, which we anticipate will open in Q1 2025 at the earliest. These will be developed in collaboration with the Research Ireland Industry RD&I Fellowship Programme and the Research Ireland Enterprise Partnership Scheme (Postdoctoral) teams.

Overview

The Irish Research Council’s Enterprise Partnership Scheme is a unique national initiative linking excellent researchers in all disciplines to enterprise; in the context of this call, enterprise partners can range from multinational corporations to SMEs, non-governmental organisations, and, where justified, public sector agencies. The scheme provides researchers with the opportunity to pursue research in collaboration with enterprise while based at an eligible higher education or research-performing institution.

Through this co-funded programme, researchers develop new, advanced knowledge and skills linked with industry and employer needs. The programme trains early-career researchers for the diversity of employment opportunities in industry, the public sector and the non-government sectors. For enterprise partners, the scheme provides a low-risk, flexible route to research talent 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 postdoctoral candidates intending to pursue full-time research in any discipline for two years and comprise:

• a salary of €46,714 in the first year of the award and 47,879 in the second year of the award*;
• employer’s PRSI contribution; and
• eligible direct research expenses of €5,000 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.

View the full list of potential enterprise partners here

Information for enterprise partners

• An enterprise 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 enterprise partner is expected to commit €18,959*** in the first year of the award and €19,390 in the second year of the award towards the cost of funding the researcher. The Irish Research Council contributes the remaining funds.
• The enterprise partner can be based nationally or internationally.
• Eligible NGOs can request a fee waiver in respect of their contribution for the first year of the award. Waiver approval is subject to the availability of funding, is at the sole discretion of the Irish Research Council and may be offered on a ranked or limited basis, with priority given to organisations with limited resources.
• 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 carefully read the 2025 Call Document (comin soon) to ascertain whether or not they are eligible to apply. Indicative versions of the applicant, academic mentor and enterprise mentor forms are provided for information purposes only. All participants must create and submit their forms via the online system.

Key dates

Please note that the timings provided here are indicative and may be subject to change. 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.