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Applications are now open for the 2025 Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Programme. Pioneering proposals addressing new and emerging fields of research or those introducing creative, innovative approaches are welcomed.
Opportunity Details
Background
The Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Programme is an established national initiative, funded by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, and managed by the Council. A new national research agency, Taighde Éireann/Research Ireland, has been established by the government. The agency will amalgamate the work of the Irish Research Council and Science Foundation Ireland. The full operation of Taighde Éireann will be enabled over the coming period.
The Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Programme is unique in the Irish research landscape and complements other channels for funded postgraduate education in the Irish ecosystem. Among its features are:
Pioneering proposals addressing new and emerging fields of research or those introducing creative, innovative approaches are welcomed. Proposals of an interdisciplinary nature are also encouraged as it is recognised that advancing fundamental understanding is achieved by integrating information, techniques, tools and perspectives from two or more disciplines.
The Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Programme is highly competitive, with an average success rate of 18% over the past five years. Successful awardees under the programme are recognised as demonstrating world-class potential as future research leaders.
Strategic funding partners
A number of government departments and agencies partner with the Irish Research Council to support the Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Programme as a mechanism to deliver on shared national objectives. The Irish Research Council’s strategic funding partners for 2025 are:
The value of the scholarship will be up to a maximum of €31,000 per annum in any approved year and will consist of the following:
The Irish Research Council is not in a position to award funding for research activity under any of the following prohibited areas:
Eligible higher education institutions (HEIs) and research-performing organisations (RPOs)
The current policy of the Irish Research Council is that in order to be considered an eligible higher education institution for the purpose of applying to our funding programmes (at postgraduate, postdoctoral and principal investigator level) an institution must be:
These institutions are:
In recognition of the contribution of publicly funded research performers to Ireland’s research base, the research-performing organisations (RPOs) which are eligible to apply to the Irish Research Council’s postdoctoral and principal investigator-led funding programmes are:
Potential applicants should read the call documentation carefully to ascertain whether or not they are eligible to apply. Indicative versions of the applicant and supervisor forms are provided for information purposes only. All participants must create and submit their forms via the online system.
Key dates
| Call open | 29 August 2024 |
| FAQ deadline | 16:00 (Irish time) 03 October 2024 |
| Applicant deadline | 16:00 (Irish time) 10 October 2024 |
| Supervisor /Mentor deadline | 16:00 (Irish time) 17 October 2024 |
| Research office endorsement deadline | 16:00 (Irish time) 24 October 2024 |
| Call outcome | End of April 2025 |
| Award start date | 1 September 2025 |
Please note that the timings provided here are indicative and may be subject to change.
If you do not find the answer to your query in the call documentation, you should contact the research office in your proposed institution which will provide information and clarification on the call. Research offices can send any queries they are unable to clarify to [email protected].
Call documentation
Indicative forms
Guides to the online system
Frequently asked questions
Apply for Government of Ireland Postgraduate and Postdoctoral Scholarship Programme