Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Programme 2020

In 2018, we invested in a total of 1,193 postgraduate scholars, with over 5,000 individual scholarships for excellent research awarded to date.

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 eco-system. Among its features are:

• individual, prestigious awards for excellent research in the name of the applicant;
• an objective selection process using international, independent expert peer review;
• funding across all disciplines, from archaeology to zoology;
• with the exception of those funded by our strategic funding partners, awards for bottom-up, non-directed research.

The programme provides outstanding students with the opportunity to direct their own research at the early-career stage, working with a supervisor, in their chosen area of interest.

Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Eligibility.

All applicants:

• must have a first class or upper second-class honours bachelor’s, or the equivalent, degree2. If undergraduate examination results are not known at the time of application, the Council may make a provisional offer of a scholarship on condition that the scholar’s bachelor’s, or the equivalent, degree result is a first class or upper second-class honours. If a scholar does not have a first class or upper second-class honours 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;
• must not have had two previous unsuccessful applications to the programme, including strategic partner themes;
• in the case of applications for a research master’s, must not currently hold, or have previously held, a Council scholarship;
• in the case of applications for a doctoral degree, must not currently hold, or have previously held, any Council scholarship other than that which would have enabled them to obtain a research master’s degree.

Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Value.

• a stipend of €16,000 per annum
• a contribution to fees, including non-EU fees, up to a maximum of €5,750 per annum
• eligible direct research expenses of €2,250 per annum

Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Duration.

• Research master’s degree – 1 year
• Structured research master’s degree – 2 years
• Traditional doctoral degree – 3 years
• Structured doctoral degree – 4 years

Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Categories.

Applicants will fall under one of two categories based on nationality and residency.

• For category one, applicants must meet BOTH of the following criteria:
  • be a national of a European Union member state OR Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein or Switzerland AND
  • have been ordinarily resident3 in a European Union member state OR Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein or Switzerland for a continuous period of three of the five years preceding 1 October 2019.
• All other applicants will fall under category two.

Key dates

How to Apply for Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship.

Potential applicants should read the 2020 Terms and Conditions carefully to ascertain whether or not they are eligible to apply. Indicative versions of the applicant, supervisor and referee forms are provided for information purposes only. All participants must create and submit their forms via the online system.

APPLY HERE

For more information, visit the Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship.