Irish Research Council announce opening date for 2023 Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship and Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme

The Irish Research Council (IRC) has announced that the calls for the 2023 Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship and Postdoctoral Fellowship Programmes will open on 8 September 2022.

These programmes support suitably qualified research master’s, doctoral and postdoctoral candidates pursuing, or intending to pursue, full-time research in any discipline at eligible higher education institutions in Ireland. Scholarships can be held for between one and four years and fellowships for either one or two years.

Several government departments and agencies partner with the Irish Research Council to support the Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Programme and Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme as a mechanism to deliver on shared national objectives. The Irish Research Council’s strategic funding partners are as follows:

Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Programme 2023:

§    Environmental Protection Agency

§    Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

§    Department of Foreign Affairs

§    Met Éireann *Pending final confirmation

Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme 2023:

• Department of Rural and Community Development

In advance of the opening of the call, the IRC is signalling some important updates:

• Important dates for the 2023 call:

Applications:

All applications should be submitted via the online system by the deadline of exactly 16:00 (Irish time) on 20 October 2022.

In the first instance, potential applicants are advised to reflect on the relevant indicative forms in consultation with the 2023 Government of Ireland Call Document. Indicative forms for GOIPG are available here, and for GOIPD here.

Please note that changes are being made to the visual layout within the application system to enhance the user experience. Guides for the online system will be made available on the IRC website before the call opens.

The IRC also invite potential applicants to consider the general application feedback provided by our assessors in advance of submitting their applications, and which will be made available on the website shortly. While taking on board this feedback will not guarantee an award, it may be useful in guiding applicants away from the most common shortcomings which our assessors have identified in applications to these programmes.

Please note – reference forms have now been removed from the Government of Ireland Programmes. The IRC will only be collecting supervisor/mentor forms going forward.

Research office endorsement:

Research office endorsement of an application certifies that the applicant meets the relevant eligibility criteria. Where an applicant fails to meet the eligibility criteria in full, the research body should deem the application ineligible and it should not be endorsed.

It is the responsibility of the research body to confirm the overall results, date of graduation and awarding institution as presented in individual applications and to verify this information using official transcripts.

If transcripts cannot be presented to the research body, or do not verify the information exactly as detailed in the application, the research body should deem the application ineligible and it should not be endorsed.

Research bodies are required to carefully consult the relevant requirements within the relevant Call Documents to be fully satisfied as to eligibility in advance of endorsing an application. If examination results are not known at the time of application, the IRC may make a provisional award offer on the condition that the eligibility criteria will be met, and the research body will confirm same in due course. If the subsequent examination result does not meet the eligibility criteria, the research body should notify the IRC immediately and the conditional offer will be withdrawn.

The IRC will conduct periodic spot checks via the research body to confirm that awardees satisfy the eligibility criteria, and research bodies will be required to provide the requested verification documentation to the IRC in a timely manner.

Queries:

Applicants seeking further clarification are recommended to contact the research office in their respective host institution. If unable to provide clarity, the research office should send questions to postgrad@research.ie or postdoc@research.ie as relevant for answer through the frequently asked questions (FAQ) process. Updated FAQ documents will be published weekly on the Irish Research Council website.