Applying for an E3 PhD at Trinity College Dublin

1. Find a potential Academic Supervisor

As Ireland’s leading university for research there are amble opportunities for postgraduate research. The first step you must take is to explore your potential area of research within Trinity (the below links to webpages will help you with this). The next step is to make contact with academic staff in relevant fields and identify a potential supervisor. To assist you with both steps, the Trinity website is comprehensive and features all relevant information about our research activities, as well as full research profiles of our staff. Trinity Research: https://www.tcd.ie/research

Research in the E3 Schools:

• Computer Science & Statistics: https://www.scss.tcd.ie/research/

• Engineering: https://www.tcd.ie/Engineering/research/

• Natural Science: https://naturalscience.tcd.ie/research/

Guide to doing a PhD at Trinity: Research Student Handbook

2. Make contact with your potential Academic Supervisor

Contact your potential Academic Supervisor outlining your brief research proposal – remember that this is a competitive process so your email should demonstrate your interest in the research area and any relevant experience that you have to date. It is recommended that you identify a small number of staff with interests that relate to your own
If the academic staff member is willing to support your application for a PhD position, he/she will direct you to the School’s online application page. It is important to note that some Schools at Trinity have specific guidelines for applying for a PhD position, it is important to check the Schools webpage for any additional information.

Our faculties and schools webpage https://www.tcd.ie/structure/#ems  will provide you with quick links to the E3 schools and departments at Trinity College Dublin.   

3. Explore funding opportunities

Once you find a professor who is willing to supervise your research, they will be best placed to advise you of available funding.

• Contact scholarship awarding bodies in your home country for possible PhD funding options.
• Contact the Regional Officer relevant to your place of origin, or the Global Officer in the relevant school, or the E3 Student Recruitment Officers, for information on other opportunities. Staff details can be found here:  https://www.tcd.ie/global/people/ and here: https://www.tcd.ie/e3/about/e3-team/
• Research other possibilities, including the webpages below:

Global Relations Website: https://www.tcd.ie/study/postgraduate/scholarships-funding/index.php