Research Funding and Travel Bursaries | University College Cork

Research Funding Opportunities

Research funding may be sought from the national funding bodies, mainly the Health Research Board (HRB), the Irish Research Council (IRC), Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), the National University of Ireland and the Universities Ireland North/South Scholarship scheme; from international funding bodies, including the European Commission through the Horizon Europe programme, Wellcome, and the US National Institute of Health (NIH) (subject to eligibly of any particular grant), and through charities and societies in a particular disease or research area, such as and The Irish Cancer Society and Breakthrough Cancer Research.

These funding bodies put out calls (grants) for proposals which may be ‘top-down’, where the research idea is predetermined in order to address a particular policy or grand challenge, or ‘bottom-up’, where you are free to propose any research idea. Calls may or may not be aimed at a particular career stage. They may for open to a single applicant or an applicant team (consortium). For example, Fellowships are for single applicants and focus of the individual’s career development as much as the research idea.

Keep an eye on the websites for open and upcoming calls. Also check out Research Professional, a very useful one-stop-shop where you can find all available grants from every funding body or society.

The funding landscape is complicated and difficult to navigate, so don’t hesitate to seek help from Ashleigh, the CoMH RMA (research management/administration) on ashleigh.byrne@ucc.ie.

Relevant current and forthcoming grants

Funder	Call	Info	Deadline
IRC	Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Programme	Provides an annual stipend of €18,500 to research master’s and doctoral candidates pursuing, or intending to pursue, full-time research in any discipline. Applicants may be a new entrant to the postgraduate degree or may have already completed part of the postgraduate degree for which they are seeking funding. The duration of funding to be awarded is dependent on the type of degree being pursued and the date of first registration	Oct 20
IRC	Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme	Provides funding for 1-2 years for a postdoctoral research project. Applicants must have been awarded their doctoral degree within the five-year period before 31 May 2023, or, have been certified as having fulfilled within the five-year period before 31 May 2023 all the requirements for the award of a doctoral degree, including the submission of the hardbound corrected thesis, but have not yet graduated. An applicant’s period of eligibility may be extended as a result of any properly documented eligible career break. It provide a salary of €39,132 in year 1 and €39,686 in year 2.	Oct 20
Horizon Europe MSCA	MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships	Funds excellent researchers with max. 8 years post-PhD research experience to carry out mutlidisciplinary/cross-sectoral postdoctoral resarch porjects, with a focus on advanced training, career developement and international, interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral mobility.	Sept 14

*EOI = expression of interest. An initial short application which, if selected, precedes a full application.

Travel Bursaries

Annual travel bursaries are offered through the Fulbright Irish Awards. Travel bursaries are also offered through professional colleges or specialist societies, available according to the area of study, so it is worth looking into what may be on offer within your field.

Funder	Call	Info	Deadline
Fulbright Ireland-USA	Fulbright Irish Student Awards	Grants for Irish citizens, or E.U. citizens resident in ROI for 3+ years, to complete postgraduate research in the U.S. for a period of 4 months, up to 12 months. Awardees can go to the U.S. to complete a Masters or PhD at a U.S. institution, or conduct research as part of a current postgraduate program in Ireland or the E.U.	OPEN Aug 2022

CoMH Doctoral Bursaries

Each Spring, the Graduate Studies committee in the College of Medicine and Health invites applications for up 10 Travel Bursaries and 20 Registration Bursaries to students registered for a doctoral degree (PhD/MD/Doctorate) in the College of Medicine and Health. The purpose of these awards is twofold:

To facilitate students who wish to present their work at an international conference.
To facilitate the training of students who wish to acquire skills that are essential for their academic development, but which they cannot otherwise receive in UCC.

Student applicants can apply for:

up to €1000 in financial support that may be used towards the cost of travel, accommodation and registration fees for relevant conferences or training courses [Travel Bursary].

OR

2. up to €500 in financial support that may be used towards the registration fees for relevant online participation at conferences or training courses [Registration Bursary].

Programme guidelines, and the Application Form can be found here: Doctoral Student Conference/Course Bursaries

The deadline for 2022 applications has now passed. Infomration on the 2023 round will be posted in due course.