The Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship

These awards will support suitably qualified research master’s and doctoral candidates pursuing, or intending to pursue, full-time research in any discipline. The duration of a Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship ranges from one to four years. This program will fund up to a maximum of €28,000 in any approved year and consist of the following:

1. a stipend of €19,000 per annum;
2. a contribution to fees, including non-European Union scholarship fees, paid to the HEI up to a maximum of €5,750 per annum.
3. eligible direct research expenses of €3,250 per annum to enable the scholar to carry out the research project.

The Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship

These awards will support suitably qualified postdoctoral candidates pursuing full-time research in any discipline. These awards can be either one or two years in duration and will consist of the following:

• a salary of €42,783 in the first year of the award and €43,371 in the second year of the award;
• employer’s PRSI contribution; and
• eligible direct research expenses of €5,000 per annum.

The purpose of a one-year fellowship is to prepare the applicant’s doctoral thesis for publication through a variety of high-quality published academic outputs e.g., monographs, peer-reviewed articles, and edited volumes. The purpose of a two-year fellowship is to develop either a new research project or a research project that demonstrates a significant development of the subject of the doctoral thesis through a variety of appropriate, feasible, and clear published outputs.

Host Institutions for the Government of Ireland Scholarships

Please find below, the list of host institutions and Research Performing Organizations where candidates can use the Irish Government Scholarships:

1. Atlantic Technological University
2. Coláiste Mhuire Marino
3. Dublin City University
4. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
5. Dublin Dental Hospital
6. Dundalk Institute of Technology
7. Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology
8. Mary Immaculate College
9. Maynooth University
10. Munster Technological University
11. National College of Art and Design
12. National College of Ireland
13. National University of Ireland, Galway
14. RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
15. Royal Irish Academy
16. Royal Irish Academy of Music
17. South East Technological University
18. Technological University Dublin
19. Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest
20. University College Cork
21. University College Dublin
22. University of Dublin, Trinity College
23. University of Limerick

In recognition of the contribution of publicly funded research performers to Ireland’s research base, the research-performing organizations (RPOs) which are eligible to apply to the Irish Research Council’s postdoctoral and principal investigator-led funding programs are:

1. Economic & Social Research Institute
2. Marine Institute
3. Teagasc
4. The Discovery Programme

• Applicants must have a first-class or upper second-class honors bachelor’s, or the equivalent, degree. If undergraduate examination results are not known at the time of application, the Council may make a provisional offer of a scholarship on the condition that the scholar’s bachelor’s, or the equivalent, degree result is a first-class or upper second-class honors. If a scholar does not have a first-class or upper second-class honors bachelor’s, or the equivalent, degree, they must possess a master’s degree. The Council’s determination of an applicant’s eligibility on these criteria is final;
• All degree results as entered in the application form and endorsed by the host institution must be the applicant’s overall results and verifiable as such on official transcripts. Regardless of whether they are relevant to the above requirements, conditional awardees will be required to submit official transcripts for each degree listed in the application confirming the overall result, date of graduation and awarding institution;
• for a research master’s degree, must not currently hold, or have previously held, an Irish Research Council scholarship;
• for a doctoral degree, must not currently hold, or have previously held, any Irish Research Council scholarship other than one which would have enabled them to obtain a research master’s degree.
• All applications require an academic supervisor willing to guide the proposed research project. The Irish Research Council is not in a position to assist applicants in finding an academic supervisor for their application. It is also possible to include a secondary or co-supervisor in the application.
• Applicants from any country may hold this scholarship, however, applicants will fall under one of two categories based on nationality and residency.
  • Category One: Applicants must meet BOTH of the following criteria:
    • be a national of a European Union member state (including the Republic of Ireland) OR Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, the United Kingdom or Ukraine AND
    • have been ordinarily resident in a European Union member state (including the Republic of Ireland) OR Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, the United Kingdom or Ukraine for a continuous period of three of the five years preceding 1 September 2024.
  • Category Two: All other applicants who do NOT meet one or both criteria in category one.

• All applicants must:
  • have been awarded their doctoral degree within the five-year period before 31 May 2024. For the purposes of this condition, the date of graduation will be taken into account; or
  • have been certified as having fulfilled within the five-year period before 31 May 2024 all the requirements for the award of a doctoral degree, including the submission of the hardbound corrected thesis, but have not yet graduated.
• An applicant’s period of eligibility may be extended as a result of any properly documented eligible career break, provided the grounds for the extension started before the call deadline. Eligible career breaks include maternity leave, paternity leave, adoptive leave, parental leave, extended sick leave, and carer’s leave.
• Only career breaks taken by the applicant as a statutory entitlement will be considered eligible. Career breaks explained by working outside of academia or by being unemployed for a period of time will not be considered valid reasons to extend the eligibility window.
• All applicants must have:
  • authored or co-authored at least one published peer-reviewed research publication; or
  • have demonstrable equivalent intellectual property output; or
  • provide a copy of the table of contents and one chapter from their doctoral thesis. Please note that submission of more than one chapter will render your application ineligible.
• Applicants must not currently hold or have previously held, any Irish Research Council postdoctoral fellowship.
• All applications require an academic mentor willing to guide the proposed research project, and two referees who know the applicant sufficiently well to provide a reference.
• Applicants must not have been employed as a Postdoctoral researcher for more than five years as at 31 May 2024.
• Applicants must not be permanent members of staff in either an Irish or international higher education institution or research-performing organization.
• Applicants from any country may hold a Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship.

• For the Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship (GOIPG) Applicants:
  • Applicant form
  • Supervisor form
• For the Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship (GOIPD) Applicants:
  • Applicant form (1-year fellowship)
  • Applicant form (2-year fellowship)
  • Mentor form

Guides to the online system

1. For the Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship (GOIPG) Applicants:
   • Applicant
   • Supervisor
   • Research Office
2. For the Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship (GOIPD) Applicants:
   • Applicant
   • Mentor
   • Research Office