RSS FeedsThe purpose of these Programmes is to improve the quality of PhD training in health research in Ireland by facilitating a broader education for young researchers, and enhancing co-operation between post-graduate students in different research groups. It will also encourage institutions to establish a critical mass of students in a themed area by funding four-year PhD training programmes.
Recent government reports have identified the need for a substantial increase in the number of researchers in Ireland by 2013 to support a national system of innovation. In addition, the Government’s Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation (2006-2013) highlights the need to build up a more structured and multidisciplinary fourth level education system, with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of the training of early stage researchers and significantly increasing the number of PhD students in Ireland.
In 2004, the HRB became the first Irish funding agency to pilot a new structured 4-year PhD training programme by launching the PhD Scholars Programmes (originally called PhD Training Sites). Transferable skills, including project and time management, communication/ presentation, research management and teamwork, are an integral part of the training. Following intense competition, two HRB PhD Scholars Programmes were established in Neuroscience, in Trinity College Dublin, and in Molecular Medicine, in St James’s Hospital. In 2007 another four Programmes were established in Ireland.
Currently there are six HRB-funded PhD Scholars Programmes underway with an overall investment of €30 million. 142 HRB PhD scholars will be enrolled and on their way to successfully completing their PhD training by 2013. Their research covers areas such as Cancer Biology, Molecular Medicine, Health Services Research, Neuroscience, Immunology and Diagnostics and Therapeutics for Human Disease.
Applications to host a programme are made by a steering committee, which includes between four and eight investigators, with one member of the steering committee identified as the Programme Director. Each programme supports four cohorts of four to eight postgraduate scholars working in related research areas for four years. The total maximum duration of the award is seven years. Host institutions must provide a structured training programme in the first year for each scholar cohort; including access for the scholars to specialist and generic skills training; as well as choice of laboratory rotations in different groups. The programme will preferably have sufficient academic breadth to give scholars flexibility in their scientific education.
It is predicted that a structured approach to training for PhD students as pioneered by the HRB in Ireland will:
- enhance students research and their career opportunities
- meet the needs of an employment market beyond academia
- encourage inter-institutional and international collaboration
- enable Irish Universities to attract candidates from around the Globe as well as retaining the best of Irish graduates
- contribute to the development of Ireland’s knowledge economy
A link to the List of awarded PhD Scholars Programmes can be found below
