Trinity Receives Awards in Irish Research Council Employment-based Postgraduate Programme 2014
Posted on: 16 December 2014
Three Trinity postgraduate students have been successful in the 2014 Irish Research Council’s Employment-Based Postgraduate Awards scheme.
A total of €4.5 million was allocated by the Irish Research Council (IRC) under this scheme to enable some of Ireland’s top postgraduate researchers to work with leading companies around the country.
The IRC’s Employment-based Postgraduate scheme awards, which span all academic disciplines, will allow postgraduate researchers to conduct the majority of their research within businesses, not-for-profit companies, non-governmental organisations and the public sector. They will support 48 researchers in host companies over the next one to three years.
The three postgraduate students from Trinity who will benefit from the awards and their employment partners are:
- Seán Dooney, School of Engineering (Supervisor, Professor Frank Boland), Employment Partner: DTS;
- Conor Dowling, School of Business (Supervisor, Dr Mary-Lee Rhodes), Employment Partner: Future Analytics;
- Lucy Whiston, School of Medicine (Supervisor, Dr Catherine Darker), Employment Partner: Adelaide Hospital Society.
Speaking at the presentation event, Irish Research Council chairwoman Orla Feely explained that students will receive a scholarship valued at approximately €30,000 to pursue their research in a real-world environment.
Professor Vinny Cahill, Trinity’s Dean and Vice-President of Research said: “Trinity is dedicated to developing industry-academic partnerships as part of our overall Strategy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which aims to cement our reputation as a partner of choice for business and industry. The IRC programme supports this effort both by exposing our postgraduate researchers to the real-world business environment and demonstrating the benefits that world-class research-support can deliver to industry. We are delighted to have received these awards across multiple disciplines.”
The Minister of State for Skills, Research and Innovation, Damien English TD, commented: “It is absolutely critical to the success of the Irish economy that we apply research and innovation to our business challenges and provide the necessary supports to enable companies and academic institutions to work together for mutual benefit. The advantages are numerous, including job creation, increased exports, opening up of commercial opportunities, and the positioning of Ireland as a top-class research and innovation centre.”