Bio

Alison Mckinley PhD research builds on her career in the Third Sector, both in international development and domestic charity work in the UK and Ireland. Having started her career as a nurse, Alison has worked in frontline clinical care, programme management and organisational strategy and leadership, both for service providers and funding institutions. Following an MSc in Demography and Health with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, she moved into research and evaluation roles within the Third Sector and is particularly interested in how the drive to articulate and measure social change can ultimately dictate what is prioritised and funded, even over the lived experiences and priorities of affected communities.

Proposal

This research critically examines how philanthropic funding practices shape the organisational priorities, knowledge practices and accountability relationships of mission-driven organisations in the UK and Ireland. While philanthropy is increasingly significant in financing social change, its funding models often rely on managerialist logics, including performance measurement, risk management, technical reporting and donor-facing accountability. These practices tend to privilege narrow, ostensibly objective forms of knowledge, such as predefined indicators and measurable outcomes, while marginalising relational, experiential and community-based understandings of impact. Grounded in critical theory, the study investigates how managerialism is constructed and institutionalised within philanthropic funding, how recipient organisations experience and negotiate these requirements, and how such processes affect their accountability to the communities they serve. It also explores alternative epistemic approaches emerging from mission-driven organisations and progressive funders that may support more equitable, community-centred forms of social change. By bringing together debates on philanthropy, managerialism, critical nonprofit studies and epistemic justice, the research addresses a gap in existing scholarship on the effects of funding practices in the Third Sector. Ultimately, the study aims to generate empirically grounded insights into how philanthropic systems might be reimagined to better support transformative social change.

Bio:

A practising Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist specialising in play therapy, her research focuses on children’s rights, trauma-informed care (TIC), and psychosocial interventions. Her doctoral work explores developing narrative-based interventions to prepare children for medical procedures. Drawing on clinical practice and lived experience, she previously collaborated with Epilepsy Ireland to develop storybooks for children undergoing EEGs. She is passionate about advancing child-centred, rights-based, and evidence-informed healthcare.

Proposal:

For many children, routine medical procedures are frightening experiences that cause anxiety and a sense of powerlessness. When preparation is limited, distress is heightened, and children’s rights to be heard in their healthcare are often overlooked. This research addresses the inconsistent provision of psychosocial support by developing and evaluating a narrative-based intervention designed to help children cope with planned hospital procedures. Grounded in children’s rights, trauma-informed practice, and critical social science, the project recognises that healthcare experiences are shaped by communication, power relations, and medicalised structures. Using a socio-ecological lens, the research views children’s responses as emerging within relational and organisational contexts. The project follows a three-phase design: (1) synthesising evidence through a systematic review; (2) co-designing the narrative-based intervention with children, parents, and practitioners using creative, participatory methods; and (3) conducting a pre-implementation pilot to assess feasibility and acceptability. Ultimately, this research aims to reduce procedure-related distress, promote children’s agency, and position children as active implementation team members in creating more rights-based, compassionate paediatric care.

Bio

Grace is a PhD student in the School of the Human Environment. She holds a BA (Hons) Joint Honours in Classics and Economics, and was awarded the John Busteed Memorial Prize In Economics in her final year, along with holding an MA in Planning and Sustainable Development, both from UCC. She is currently undertaking transdisciplinary research focusing on the history of sustainable development. She is guided by her interest in a wide array of topics including climate change, complexity, unseen power dynamics, neoliberalism, the history of planning, the theory of planning and the philosophy of planning.

Proposal

Sustainability is not a topic new to planning theory, yet the struggle to achieve it is ever present. Many theories we engage with today such as transit-oriented development and compact growth were the standard practice in ancient times, yet rather than go back and see what else we can learn from the past to enhance our cities sustainably, history has been widely ignored. Furthermore, historic understanding into our motivations and reason also service towards our contemporary goals, yet historic reflection is absent within planning, when it could enhance resilience, adaptability, and environmental justice. This project examines the evolution of sustainable planning from the classical world to our current time, and aims to rigorously reassess our current approach to sustainable development and extract lessons from history on lost methods and practices to improve the frameworks for planning and sustainable development now and into the future. The central research question focuses on what sustainable principles and practices were lost, why they were lost, and what can and should be brought back. In doing so it will answer another question, as to what is motivating our communities and cities to either achieve, or fail to achieve, sustainable development.

Bio

Ili is a PhD student in the Department of Music. They hold an Integrated Master’s in Musicology specializing in Ethnomusicology & Cultural Anthropology from the
University of Athens, Greece. Their thesis explored the K-Pop music community of Athens across physical and digital spaces, receiving a distinction while their current project foregrounds disability and visual impairment in ethnographic methodology, bridging Ethnomusicology and Disability studies. Their research interests revolve around popular music, disability ethnography and digital anthropology.

Proposal

Disability-informed approaches remain significantly underrepresented within ethnographic and ethnomusicological research, where visual observation continues to be privileged as the primary means of producing knowledge. While contemporary Neo-Paganism has received growing scholarly attention across anthropology and religious studies, little has been said about how disability shapes ethnographic practice and ritual experience. Likewise, although sound frequently plays a central role in Neo-Pagan rituals, it has rarely been utilised as a means of understanding alternative ways of sensing that
challenge the visual bias embedded within dominant epistemologies. This project aims to investigate the role of sound in contemporary Neo-Pagan ritual
practices across Ireland and Europe through a disability-informed ethnographic approach. Examining festivals, seasonal celebrations, communal ceremonies, and
solitary acts of worship, the research will explore how ritual practice organises sensory experience, how disability is perceived and negotiated within Neo-Pagan communities, and how auditory and other embodied modes of perception contribute to ritual meaning. Drawing on the researcher's perspective as a visually impaired ethnographer, the project will critically examine the methodological implications of conducting fieldwork through disability, proposing more inclusive approaches to ethnographic knowledge production. This project is a contribution to bridging ethnomusicology, sensory anthropology, disability
studies, and scholarship on contemporary Neo-Paganism.

Bio

Eoghan Long is a post-primary teacher and a PhD student in the School of Education under the supervision of Dr Máire Ní Ríordáin and Dr Mark Prendergast. He is past Chair and Secretary of the Cork Branch of the Irish Mathematics Teachers' Association and sits on committees of the Irish Science and Applied Mathematics Teachers' Associations. He was seconded to the Department of Education for three years, leading the national CPD programme for the new Leaving Certificate Applied Mathematics specification, having previously helped design its curriculum. He is also an State Examinations Commission Advising Examiner.

Proposal

In Irish mathematics classrooms, structured recall activities, such as questioning and quizzing, are almost universally used to assess learning rather than enhance it. Grounded in schema theory, cognitive load theory and constructivism, this research investigates their potential when redeployed as deliberate teaching tools to activate prior knowledge, scaffold new learning, and deepen conceptual understanding. It first surveys Irish secondary teachers to interrogate the intent behind common activities like questioning and think-pair-share, examining whether they are used to assess understanding, manage behaviour, or activate prior knowledge. A classroom study then compares a retrieval-based intervention against traditional instruction, using pre- and post-tests to assess conceptual understanding and application in an ecologically valid setting, addressing the reliance on unrealistic laboratory-based control conditions in existing research. Qualitative focus groups with students and teachers will capture how this pedagogy is experienced in practice. Contributing new empirical evidence to a question that remains under-researched in Irish education, its findings have the potential to narrow the attainment gap between students from different socio-economic backgrounds, offering every school in Ireland a zero-cost, evidence-based strategy for improving mathematical understanding, teacher professional development, and educational equity more broadly.

Bio

James F. White hails from County Louth. His research explores the neurodiversity paradigm, with a particular focus on the experiences of carers of neurodivergent individuals with higher support needs. In addition to his undergraduate degree in Health Studies (B.Sc.), he also holds a H.Dip in Social Policy and is currently completing a M.Soc.Sc in Social Policy & Social Justice. He has published widely on neurodiversity, healthcare professions education, mental health, and social policy in peer-reviewed journals. His broader research interests include disability, mental health, social inequalities, and evidence-informed social policy.

Research Proposal

The neurodiversity paradigm has transformed understanding of conditions such as autism and ADHD by promoting acceptance, inclusion, and recognition of neurological differences as a natural part of human diversity. While this approach has challenged deficit-based models and advanced the rights of many neurodivergent people, questions remain about whether it fully reflects the experiences of individuals with higher support needs and those who care for them. This PhD research explores how parents, guardians, and primary carers of neurodivergent individuals with higher support needs understand and engage with the neurodiversity paradigm. The study will examine how they balance principles of acceptance with the realities of providing support, advocating for services, and navigating complex care needs. It will also explore whether carers feel their perspectives are represented within contemporary neurodiversity discourse. By bringing these often-underrepresented voices into academic discussion, the research aims to contribute to a more inclusive understanding of neurodiversity that acknowledges both the value of neurological diversity and the lived realities of significant support needs. The findings will have relevance for policy, professional practice, advocacy, and future research in disability and social inclusion.

Bio

Angelica Crosato is a PhD student in the Department of Italian, under the supervision of Dr Marco Amici and Professor Silvia Ross. She obtained her Bachelor's degree in Humanities (2022) and her Master's degree in Modern Philology (2024) from the University of Padua, graduating with top honours on both occasions. Her research focuses on contemporary Italian literature from an interdisciplinary perspective, with particular attention to the dialogue between the Humanities and the Sciences. This interdisciplinary approach was recognised with the award of the Locati Prize in 2025.

Research Proposal

How has Italian literature articulated a critical discourse on genetics through fiction?
This project offers the first systematic study of the intersection between genetics and Italian science fiction, analyzing a selected corpus of novels (Primo Levi, Gilda Musa, Vittorio Catani, Valerio Evangelisti, Niccolò Ammaniti, Nicoletta Vallorani, and Laura Pugno) within Italy’s distinct cultural context. The research covers the period from the 1970s, which marked a turning point in modern genetics with the discovery of recombinant DNA, to the 2010s. This research explores the role of Italian science fiction - an understudied academic field - in reshaping perceptions of the human body and identity, fostering new imaginaries that serve as laboratories for reflecting on bioethical issues. The research combines textual analysis of the selected corpus with a careful historical and scientific contextualization, in order to provide a rigorous interpretation of the texts. The analysis adopts an interdisciplinary approach, integrating tools drawn from Posthuman Studies (Haraway; Braidotti), Ecofeminism (Alaimo; Barad), and the Medical Humanities (Sontag; Rousseau) to explore, from multiple perspectives, how Italian science fiction engages with issues related to genetic engineering and mutation.

Bio

Anna Gotsch is a PhD student in the School of English and Digital Humanities, supervised by Dr Ken Rooney and Dr Miranda Corcoran. Anna holds a first-class honours BA in English Studies with a minor in German Studies from Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. In 2025, she graduated from the MA Texts and Contexts - Medieval to Renaissance at UCC with first-class honours and a dissertation on a comic adaptation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Alongside her studies, Anna works in Boole Library’s Special Collections & Archives and is involved in Student Engagement activities in the library.

Research Proposal

This PhD project examines different forms and aspects of medievalism in contemporary comic and graphic novel adaptations of medieval literature. Focusing on their approaches to materiality, mediality and transmission histories of medieval works, this dissertation evaluates how these adaptations (re-)create and stage ideas about medieval visual-textual contexts, manuscript culture and the desire to (re-)imagine medieval works in and through the comics medium. The comics medium responds to practices and qualities also relevant for medieval works captured in manuscripts, such as dual literacies, potential for engaged and immersive reception and a close relation of word and image. However, the function of the comics medium as mediator or translator not only of medieval content but also medieval medialities has often been sidelined. Additionally, comic-medium adaptations can yield critical insight into central aspects of medievalism, with concerns of temporality, authenticity and memory built into the structure and history of the comics medium itself. Diversifying and expanding existing approaches through discussing adaptations of medieval material as acts of curation, this research contributes to understanding comic adaptations as sites and spaces of complex cultural, temporal and even material interactions with medieval works and as active and productive participants in the varied afterlives of medieval literatures.

Bio

Eimer is a PhD Student in the Department of Sociology & Criminology. Through her BA and MA in Criminology, Eimer has developed strong research skills and experience regarding Ireland's carceral landscape, working with incarcerated individuals, their families, and prison education providers and stakeholders across Ireland, contributing to a number of published reports. 

Research Proposal

This PhD aims to contribute to critical discussions on the operation and expansion of Ireland’s prison system through a penal abolitionist lens, in addition to examining the intersectional and gendered experiences of women’s criminalisation in Ireland.

Bio

Shelley Etkin is a transdisciplinary researcher and educator as well as an artist, gardener and herbalist.  She has been a guest lecturer in the Humboldt University of Berlin and the University of the Arts Helsinki. Shelley holds an MA in Ecology & Contemporary Performance, BA in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Proposal

'Herbologies of Repair' is an ethnobotanical research through archival and socially-engaged methodologies centering medicinal plants in Palestine-Israel as liberatory allies towards socio-ecological repair. The research articulates pedagogies of land stewardship and peace-building initiatives through multispecies justice frameworks and queer feminist decolonial epistemologies of intersecting ancestral herbal knowledges and practices. Engaging locally-rooted decolonial, queer feminist, ecological, and anti-zionist lenses, I ask how cultural encounters and collisions mediated through plants take place in this context. Recognizing the structural violence embedded into life on this land given the conditions of war, occupation and apartheid regimes, the research re-imagines particular local and culturally significant plants as allies, teachers, ancestors, witnesses, mediators, and healers in liberation, repair, and peace-building. The work departs from a re-reading of my grandfather's archive of medicinal plants, situating the research in my perspective coming from a Jewish-Israeli family from the land of historic occupied Palestine, while also in dialogue with Palestinian-led community organising on the ground through immersive field work in several key sites of socio-ecologies of change. This research maps 'medicinal encounters' in solidarity with processes of repairing injustices and harms to peoples and environments through emancipatory and embodied pedagogies, environmental ethnographies, eco-theologies, indigenous, and climate justice scholarship.

Bio

Graham Gill-Emerson is a lecturer at Munster Technological University where he teaches on Counselling & Psychotherapy and Social Care programmes. He has over 20 years front facing experience in the fields of social inclusion, homelessness, addiction and mental health recovery, having worked in community and statutory services within these arenas. He holds a MSc in Psychotherapy, BA in Outdoor Education as well as various undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications in counselling and clinical supervision. Graham has published on the subjects of trauma contagion, trauma informed care, and addiction recovery. He is passionate about understanding and developing systems of care and service delivery. His current research will examine the andragogical underpinnings of counselling training in Ireland.

Proposal

There is much research evidence identifying the core aspects of effective therapy (Moloney, 2016) and qualities of effective therapists (Heinonen & Nissen-Lie, 2020; Bernes, 2005). There is however limited literature examining the training of therapists. McLeod (2019) highlights that unlike other clinical fields there has been little research focus on therapist development and as a result that it is not known whether current training practices of therapists are in any way optimal. Given the centrality of counselling training in representing the requirements of best practice therapy and ensuring that therapists are appropriately skilled up to deliver it, research into what is optimal and effective in this domain is central to the profession as a whole. Guiffrida (2005) notes how there has been much recent debate on the pedagogical methods by which counsellors are trained, many of which date back to the 1920’s. He points to learning theory of approaches not offering enough depth for the counsellor in training. This research will examine the history of counselling training and the rationales for its component parts. It will examine the andragogical underpinnings of core counselling training in Ireland offering a systematic review of current counselling training literature, a comparative analysis of Irish counselling training programmatic offerings, and a qualitative enquiry into how and why counselling programs are delivered in Ireland through interviewing both professional and regulatory governing bodies. As counselling and psychotherapy transitions from its traditional roots in self-regulation to statutory regulation through CORU, this study will yield a roadmap for achieving an evidence based andragogical process for effective counselling training.

Bio:

M. A. Anton holds a Masters in Museum Studies and a BA in Anthropology, both from University College Cork. They are passionate about accessibility as a whole and particularly in museums, and about raising awareness and care about neurodivergence and other invisible disabilities. Their hope in the continuation of their studies is to work toward making the museum sector more accessible allowing more people to share in the joy of museums.

Abstract:

Neurodivergent Accessibility to the museum space is a relatively new subject and is largely lacking from current academic literature regarding access to museums. In the museum sector, accessibility for neurodivergent people takes a back seat, and when it is present in a museum it is generally only aimed at, or caters to, autistic children specifically. The issue with this lies in two main considerations. The first issue is that neurodivergent is an umbrella term which covers various conditions and disorders, including autism spectrum disorder/conditions (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).  The second issue is that neurodivergence is not restricted to children, and by not making spaces that can accommodate neurodivergent adults, we are excluding them from visiting museums, which should be accessible to all. The aim of this PhD is to investigate the current offered neurodivergent accessibility of museums and to research what neurodivergent accessibility options are most effective and would be best to introduce in museums more widely. This PhD builds on the initial research carried out in the researcher’s Masters dissertation which compared the available accessibility options for neurodivergent visitors to museums in both Ireland and Britain.

Bio

Gabrielle Dufrene is originally from the American South. She attained her undergraduate degree at Loyola University Chicago before moving to Cork to pursue a MA in Creative Writing, for which she achieved a First Class Honours. She enjoys reading, writing, and blogging about literature. She is a current PhD student in the Department of English under the supervision of Dr. Alan Gibbs and Dr. Adam Hanna. 

Proposal

In her memoir, Are You Somebody, Nuala O’Faolain states that “contemporary Ireland floats on a sea of grief.” Women’s writing in the genres of fiction and life-writing, especially in recent years, has foregrounded issues of gendered trauma, pushing against the nation’s long-standing tradition of suffering in silence. My research investigates the representation of collective trauma in contemporary Irish women's literature. In the first section, Sex, Shame, and the Catholic Church, I examine Eimear McBride’s A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing, Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These, and Niamh Mulvey’s The Amendments, exploring how the Catholic Church has caused and perpetuated women’s suffering, considering sexual abuse, the Magdalene Laundries, and the psychological effects of enforced silence. In the second, The Troubles and its Legacies, I study Anna Burns’ Milkman, Jan Carson’s The Raptures, and Louise Kennedy’s Trespasses, examining the ways in which sectarian violence, political unrest, and the complex legacies of the Northern Irish conflict have shaped both personal and collective trauma. Finally, I explore trauma memoirs, including Doireann Ní Ghríofa’s A Ghost in the Throat, Emilie Pine’s Notes to Self, and Sinéad Gleeson’s Constellations, linking personal narratives of trauma to broader cultural and historical traumas. Further, I situate these texts within Irish history, highlighting key legal and cultural developments that may have influenced both their creation and reception. This analysis is informed by theoretical frameworks from trauma studies and feminist criticism, which provide tools for unpacking the representation of gendered violence, memory, and silenced narratives.

 Bio:

Eleanor Lynch is a PhD student in the Department of English under the supervision of Dr. Sarah Bezan and Dr. Tom Birkett. She earned an MA in Medieval Studies from the University of Galway, and a BA in English from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Her current research deals with attitudes toward the environment expressed in Old English riddles, elegies, and religious texts.

Proposal:

Drawing from cross-cultural critiques of medieval Icelandic sagas and Ragnarök myths and Old English texts such as the Exeter book riddles and elegies, I argue that apocalyptic imaginaries of Old English literature configure nature as an integrally entangled — and yet externally posed threat — to human societies. I build upon Christopher Abram's interpretation of Icelandic myth and saga, that anxieties about deforestation and natural disaster are displaced out of saga and into apocalyptic myth. I aim to apply Abram’s framework to Old English literature to expand understandings of the relationship that the people of early medieval England maintained with the natural world. The importance of my critique lies in my comparison to modern climate change discourse, in which I suggest that the displacement of anxieties into a mythology of apocalypse in Old English and Icelandic literature can serve as a critical model to approach to climate change discourse.

Bio

Born and raised in Ukraine, I completed my high school education in the UK before relocating to the USA, where I obtained a BA in English and Spanish. I also hold an MS in Teaching French, English, and Foreign Literature, as well as an MA in Global Cultures and Languages. My experience includes teaching English in various countries. As a qualified trilingual researcher with a strong background in migration studies and qualitative research, I am confident that I possess the academic skills necessary to contribute meaningfully to research in the field of Applied Linguistics.

Proposal

This longitudinal qualitative study explores the development of language practices among 20 Ukrainian Temporary Protection Holders (UTPHs) in Ireland, focusing on how space impacts their engagement with the English language. The key research questions are: the role of space in UTPH language practices in Cork, barriers and facilitators to accessing English language spaces, the impact on investment in English language learning, and the effect on integration. The study recognizes UTPHs as a unique migrant category, differing from refugees in that they possess certain privileges but with temporary status. This precarious situation influences their spatial language practices, willingness to learn English, and integration efforts. The participants, who arrived within a short timeframe, were largely unprepared for migration, resulting in limited English skills. Using Benson's (2021) spatially-aware narrative approach, the study examines the interplay between language, space, and displacement. Data will be collected through four narrative interviews over a year, where participants map their language engagement in various spaces using physical or digital tools. This spatially-enhanced method aims to produce a web-based map via Google Maps API. Combining Applied Linguistics and Digital Humanities, the research offers new insights into migration, language practices, and integration, addressing a growing demographic concern.

Bio:

Originally from Germany, I graduated in 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work in Dortmund, Germany, on identity change and desistance. In order to obtain my degree, I worked as a social worker in the JVA Werl, one of the biggest prisons in Germany located in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. I then completed my MA in Criminology at UCC on lived experience support workers in the rehabilitation and reintegration after prison sector in Ireland. My interests are located within Critical Criminology and Criminal Justice Systems from a comparative perspective. 

Proposal:

My PhD research project will conduct a comparative ethnographic study of criminal courtrooms in Ireland and Germany with the aim of investigating how material, emotional and communicative structures and processes of the criminal courtroom impact different groups of people. The overall aim of my research is to embed these ethnographic observations of criminal courtroom experiences in a broader contextual analysis of two different legal systems of Germany and Ireland. My methodology will include sensory research methods to offer an in-depth understanding of the meaning that physical and symbolic spaces of punishment and justice hold for persons impacted by the criminal justice system. Interviews with courtroom defendants, legal professionals and others will help to further contextualise the analysis. My research wishes to contribute to critical criminology, which understands the courtroom as a site of performance of dominant ideologies and cultural norms.  I plan to provide a textured and nuanced comparative analysis of political cultures and their impacts on the realities and processes of sentencing, moving beyond limited rights-based analysis of access to justice and more.

Bio

Rebecca L Hall Moran is a PhD student in the Department of Folklore and Ethnology. She holds a BFA in Theatre and an MA in Irish Mythology and Folklore. Working at the intersection of living folklore and story, her research focuses on exhuming and examining the contributions of folklore collector Kathleen Hurley, with the aim of restoring forgotten women’s lore to its origins in oral performance. Rebecca is a Puttnam Scholar, and as a playwright, director, and collaborative theatre practitioner, she received two CREATE Artist in the Community Grants, an Arts Council Bursary, and a BAI Sound and Vision Grant.

Proposal 

More than 3,000 pages of the inimitable Kathleen Hurley’s contributions to the Irish Folklore Commission gathered dust, conspicuously concealed, for nearly a century. This first academic study of a female collector for the Irish Folklore Commission aims to foreground the involvement, inclusion, and relevancy of women to Ireland’s National Folklore Collection. Irish women were not considered in the design, structures, or definitions of Ireland’s prodigious folklore archive, nor in the instructions, topics, or collection methodologies. Women’s voices and experiences were effectively silenced through the exclusion of gynocentric lore. Hurley’s unearthed contributions will be considered through a gendered, intersectional lens from within an interdisciplinary, feminist framework. Furthermore, the impact of gender on informant-collector relationships, gender-specific absences, underappreciated female collectors, and the neglect of women’s lore will be examined through the power imbalances encoded in the archive’s androcentric inception. Applications of feminist principles and methodologies from archival, historical, ethnographic, and folkloric contexts will underpin this examination, in order to amplify the archival remnants of Irish women’s voices entangled in Irish folklore. By applying interdisciplinary methods from theatre and feminist practice, elements of women’s lore will be creatively cultivated in order to reanimate forgotten women’s voices from the archive.

Bio

Daniel Murphy is a PhD student in Geography supervised by Dr. Paul Holloway, Dr. Denis Linehan, and Dr. Maedhbh Nic Lochlainn. He holds a BSc in Ecology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a MSc in Environment and Natural Resources from the University of Iceland, with an Erasmus exchange at the University of Copenhagen. His research examines wellness infrastructure such as gyms, bike paths, and community green and blue spaces through advanced GIS methods, with an emphasis on accessibility, equity, and sustainability. Daniel is also a certified personal trainer with professional experience in fitness and education.

Proposal

This research investigates the geography of wellness infrastructure which refers to facilities and spaces that require repeated active engagement to generate health benefits across diverse urban, peri urban, and rural contexts. The project develops a typology that includes commercial gyms, community wellness centers, skill and strength sports gyms, cycling routes, and accessible green and blue spaces. Using geospatial analysis techniques such as network analysis, geographically weighted regression, and local indicators of spatial association, this study assesses the accessibility, spatial distribution, and socioeconomic patterns of this infrastructure. Comparative case studies will be conducted in Ireland alongside selected international contexts to explore differences in cultural, economic, and policy approaches to wellness infrastructure. The research addresses pressing questions about equity and health geography: Who has access to high quality wellness facilities? How does infrastructure provision intersect with socioeconomic disparities? And what strategies can strengthen communities through improved access to wellness resources? By combining spatial analysis with insights from sustainability studies, this project aims to inform policy and planning initiatives that promote inclusive, resilient, and health supportive environments. The findings will contribute to academic debates in health geography, urban studies, and sustainability while offering practical guidance for policymakers, planners, and community stakeholders.

Bio

Bedina O'Neill is a PhD candidate in Geography specializing in urban and political geographies of migration, with particular focus on ethnographic methodologies examining sanctuary city governance in Central Texas. She holds an M.Phil. in Geography and a  B.A. in Geography and Sociology, bringing interdisciplinary expertise to the spatial analysis of immigration policies and migrant place-making practices. As a bilingual educator, fluent in English and Spanish Bedina has extensive experience working among immigrant communities and brings ethnographic sensibility and community-based knowledge to her research. Bedina is currently based in Austin, Texas, conducting  fieldwork on how migrants navigate spatial inequities while simultaneously challenging urban political territories through daily practices and community organizing efforts. 

Proposal

This mixed-methods study examines the complexities of migration governance and urban spatiality in Austin, Texas, amid conflicting federal, state, and municipal immigration policies. The research examines if and how restrictive migration policies produce contested urban spaces where support and control operate simultaneously. It questions whether multi-scalar bordering processes filter into local institutions and services that ostensibly aid migrants and if they often function as extensions of enforcement. Through ethnographic fieldwork, the study traces how migrants navigate these interstitial spaces, revealing the paradox of infrastructures that both enable survival and deepen regulation. The work will show if resistance and control unfold together, shaping complex urban geographies of governance and contestation.

Employing interdisciplinary methodologies rooted in geography, ethnography, sociology, and political science, this study will combine participatory observation, interviews with people from diverse perspectives such as policymakers, law enforcement and service providers, policy analysis, and archival research spanning 2010-2023. It will reveal key research themes including: (1) policy contradictions between sanctuary initiatives and enforcement mandates; (2) the impact of bordering processes on urban migrant experiences; (3) development of a "borderlands urbanism" framework that links macro-border dynamics to micro-urban experiences.

Bio

My name is Brian Slocum, I am a PhD candidate who specialises in youth justice and empowerment. I am an active volunteer in my local youth project and have previously worked as a family support worker. In this role, I provided one-on-one support to young people ranging from ages 5 to 25. Additionally, I worked closely in Mayfield Community School to provide therapeutic services to students. My goal is to produce a thesis that channels the voices of young people and youth workers across Cork into a single work that can be used to inform and advocate for Irish youth.

Proposal

Antisocial Behaviour (ASB) is a term disproportionately assigned to young people in Ireland. Irish scholarship regarding youth ASB is over-reliant on Garda perspectives. Irish policy and practice aim to target young people identified as ‘risky’ and offer early interventions. Scholars have criticised this approach as often police will excessively monitor disadvantaged areas and create lists of young people who are ‘permanent suspects’ despite them not engaging in ASB. This is not only limited in objectivity but also ignores the harmful effects on young people after they have been labelled. Irish academics must rely on publications where young people’s stories are told for them by Gardai and community activists. This not only disempowers young people but also limits how much scholars and policymakers can understand this topic. Furthermore, youth workers are significantly underrepresented in contemporary research despite playing a prominent role in advocating for young people. This research will involve immersion and integration  into two separate youth projects in Cork to explore with young people and youth workers how the term ’Antisocial Behaviour’ is conceptualised. This will be achieved through an ethnographic approach involving observation, field notes and qualitative focus groups in each youth project.

Bio

Jincai Yang is a PhD candidate in the School of Education.  Her research investigates third language acquisition and metalinguistic awareness among plurilingual adolescents in Irish-medium schools using mobile electroencephalography (EEG) technology. A fluent speaker of English, Korean, Mandarin, and Cantonese, she brings nine years of teaching experience to her work. Jincai’s research focuses on how plurilingualism influences cognitive and neural processes in language learning. Passionate about bridging research and educational practice, she is especially committed to multilingual and inclusive contexts. She holds a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and is deeply interested in real-world neuroeducation.

Proposal

My doctoral research explores the intersection of neuroscience and language learning, with a particular focus on third language (L3) acquisition among adolescent plurilinguals in Irish-medium schools. Using mobile electroencephalography (EEG) in authentic classroom settings, the study investigates the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying metalinguistic awareness and their relationship to the acquisition of additional languages. By capturing real-time neural responses as learners engage with linguistic stimuli in English, Irish, and a third language, this project integrates educational neuroscience with applied linguistics. It aims to advance our understanding of how plurilingual experiences shape neural plasticity and influence the learning of new languages. Beyond its theoretical contributions, the research has practical implications for language education policy and inclusive curriculum design in multilingual contexts. It also addresses key methodological challenges in applying mobile EEG and hyperscanning techniques in naturalistic educational environments. Ultimately, this interdisciplinary study seeks to bridge the gap between cognitive neuroscience and classroom practice. It highlights how real-world neuroeducation can inform and enhance language teaching for diverse learners, offering insights that support more inclusive, evidence-based approaches to language education.

Bio

I have worked in the field of Intellectual Disability for over 15 years; across a range of frontline, Management and Senior Management Roles within Irish Section 38 Disability Providers. Currently, I work in a Senior Management Quality & Development post within the Brothers of Charity Services Ireland- Southern Region.

As an avid believer in lifelong learning and an advocate for quality improvement, I have continued to enhance my education across my career. To date I have achieved a BA in Psychology, a MA by Research, a PG Diploma in Positive Approaches to Challenging Behaviour and a Higher Certificate in Applied Management for Human Services.

Research Topic

The title of my research is: Preserving Quality of Life for Irish Adults with Mild to Moderate Intellectual Disabilities during and Post COVID 19 Using a Participatory Action Research Approach: A Longitudinal Review of Experiences throughout Crisis and Recovery.  

This Employment Based PHD programme enables a unique opportunity to overlap my primary working role and strategic interest with an extremely topical academic focus; which can significantly build my expertise in rights based theory and allow for shared learning across the Intellectual Disability (ID) sector (leading to quality enhancement for those availing of services). The unprecedented phenomenon of Covid 19 has sparked a rich platform to collect data on the experiences of intellectually disabled people; as great momentum prior to the pandemic has been driving a rights based approach marked by normalised community engagement, as is the vision of a social model. All of which has been challenged by public health restrictions aimed at supressing the virus.   As such, my proposed longitudinal research aims to explore the current, medium and longer-term impacts of COVID 19 on the quality of life of mild to moderate adults with ID availing of services from Disability Providers in the Republic of Ireland.

Bio

Maeve holds a BA in Archaeology and History and an MA in Archaeology from UCC. She joined the National Museum of Ireland in 2001 as a curatorial researcher on the Unpublished Burials Project. Since 2004, as Assistant Keeper in the Irish Antiquities Division, she has engaged in a wide range of curatorial tasks including fieldwork and excavation, lecturing and outreach. Maeve was appointed Keeper of Irish Antiquities at the National Museum of Ireland in July 2017, taking responsibility for the Museum’s archaeological collections. Maeve’s interests are in the early medieval and Viking collections and in the archaeology of death and burial in Ireland.

Research Topic

The study for which the Scholarship was awarded will focus on the archaeological evidence for the practices of feasting and dining in early medieval Ireland through an analysis of a range of vessel types. The corpus to be examined includes copper-alloy bowls and basins, decorative wooden pails, ladles, strainers and drinking horns. While there have been studies of individual artefacts within this group, this will be the first time that this body of material has been examined collectively. This thesis will primarily focus on the function and use of these high status vessels in a secular context by the wealthier classes in Ireland. The use of these vessels in a liturgical context will also be examined, given the fact that some have been found on, or close to, ecclesiastical sites, such as Derrynaflan, Co. Tipperary. The third main aspect of the thesis will be a discussion of the occurrence of these vessels in Viking-age graves in both Ireland and Britain and in Scandinavia, principally Norway. This study will result in the first catalogue of an important category of early medieval objects and will provide the first comprehensive account of feasting material culture in early medieval Ireland.