Introduction to the Sustaining Excellence Scholarships

The College of Science, Engineering and Food Science (SEFS) at University College Cork is pleased to announce a new Employment-based PhD programme. This initiative offers up to 5 Sustaining Excellence Scholarships within the College of SEFS. The scholarships are available to PhD students registered in the Employment-based PhD programme in the College of SEFS and will fund tuition fees plus €5,000 per annum for associated research, for the duration of each PhD, with a maximum registration of 4 years (full-time) or 6 years (part-time).

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must have attained at least Second Class Honours, Grade I in an Honours level primary degree in a discipline relevant to the research project. All students on the Employment-based PhD programme will register in the College of SEFS and are subject to the same requirements as all other university PhD students, but will share their working time between the private enterprise and the university.

Research Project Details

The PhD research project can be within any research field, provided that the project's research quality and the direct or indirect short- or long-term research significance and impact can be argued convincingly. PhD candidates will undertake an equivalent student workload of 90 ECTS credits for each calendar year of full-time research, or proportional equivalent for part-time students.

Funding and Requirements

In the Employment-based PhD programme, the company must finance the student's salary, pay the PhD candidate's registration fee, and pay all expenses for the project, including equipment, materials, and data collection. If the project runs for more than four years, the company will finance the project and pay the PhD student's University registration fees throughout. The Sustaining Excellence Scholarships will fund the PhD candidate's registration fees plus €5,000 per annum for associated research costs. The employment partner must finance the PhD candidate's salary.

Application Process

Prior to applying for an Employment-based PhD, the PhD candidate must first arrange the following:

• The candidate must get agreement from the company to allow them to pursue a PhD and provide funding; if not successful in the scholarship application, the company agrees to fund the PhD.
• The candidate must identify a supervisor and co-supervisor at the company.
• The candidate must then identify a supervisor in the College of SEFS at UCC. Once the company approves funding and the supervisory team has been established and a project agreed, only then can a candidate apply for admission to the Employment-based PhD.

Selection Process

Applications for the Sustaining Excellence PhD Scholarships will be reviewed by a panel of 3-5 members of the College of SEFS Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) & Research Committee that will include the Chair of the GSC. The Chair of the GSC will chair the review panel and will select members of the College Graduate Studies and Research Committees as appropriate for the topic range of research projects submitted. Panel membership selection will be very sensitive to any potential conflict of interest between panel members and applicants.

Further Information

For general enquiries, please contact Prof. Justin V. McCarthy PhD, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, College of Science, Engineering & Food Science, University College Cork. For discipline-specific enquiries, please contact the relevant department or school within the College of SEFS.

Contact Details for Discipline-Specific Enquiries

• Dr. Fidelma Butler: Biological Earth and Environmental Sciences
• Dr. Kellie Dean: Biochemistry and Cell Biology
• Dr. Davide Tiana: Chemistry
• Dr. Dan Grigoras: Computer Science and Information Technology
• Dr. Gordon Lightbody: Engineering and Architecture
• Prof. Alan Kelly: Food and Nutritional Sciences
• Dr. Philipp Hoevel: Mathematical Sciences
• Dr. Jerry Reen: Microbiology
• Dr. Andy Ruth: Physics
• Dr. Fatima Gunning: Tyndall National Institute

University College Cork

University College Cork is a registered charity with the Charities Regulatory Authority.

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