Two State bodies that support scientific research have announced combined funding worth more than €32 million. Of this, €8.6 million will go to support research scholarships for PhD and MSc candidates.
The two schemes are run by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology.
SFI yesterday announced €24 million in awards over three years to 128 researchers in 11 third-level institutions under its Research Frontiers Programme. These support novel research in the biosciences, chemistry, earth sciences, mathematics, computing, physics and engineering.
The research council's funding comes under its Embark Initiative postgraduate research scholarship scheme. It has offered €8.6 million in support of 147 candidates doing masters and PhD degrees in science, engineering and technology.
Students pursuing scholarships must be beginning research for the first time at the start of the new academic year this October. The maximum award is for €19,500 per year, available over three years.
University College Dublin was the most successful institution in this SFI funding round with 34 approvals.
Other institutions receiving support included Trinity College (28 approvals), University College Cork (20), NUI Galway (11), NUI Maynooth (10), Dublin City University (9), Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland (6), and the University of Limerick (5).