November University of Galway celebrates 2025 Hardiman PhD scholars

University of Galway has welcomed 19 research students to campus as part of the 2025 Hardiman PhD Scholarship.

The new scholars have come from 11 different countries to take part in the scheme and the opportunity to pursue a structured doctorate at the University on topics aligned to our research pillars of Innovation for health; Creativity, culture & society; Sustainable & resilient environments: earth & ocean; and Transformative data & AI.

Applications for the 2026 round of Hardiman PhD Scholarships will open on Monday December 1st, 2025, and will remain open until Friday February 6th, 2026 at 5pm.

For more information or to apply for a Hardiman PhD Scholarship visit: www.universityofgalway.ie/hardiman-scholarships

Professor Dónal Leech, Dean of Graduate Studies at University of Galway, said: “I welcome our excellent Hardiman Research scholar recipients to the University. The 19 scholars were selected from a large pool of applicants seeking to develop their research skills and independence through our renowned structured PhD programmes across our four research pillars, to deliver distinctive research impact. The scholarship is a recognition of excellence for the awardees and provides fee and stipend support over four years for the researchers to generate new knowledge that improves our world.”

The Hardiman PhD Scholarships are open across all four Colleges at University of Galway.

The 2025 Hardiman PhD scholars and their subject areas include:

College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Celtic Studies

• Makalay Sonda, Sierra Leone - Analysing the gendered impacts of online violence against women in politics with case studies of Ireland and Sierra Leone.
• Nicole O'Byrne, America - Embodied New Mythology for Climate Activism: Deep Ecology and Ritual Performance in Contemporary theatre in Ireland. In the field of Drama and Theatre Studies.
• Maitiú Mac Cárthaigh, Ireland - Good Queers? The Sexual Politics of Irish Rural Futures – a research-led creative practice.
• Allison Fairfield Hart, Canada - Research on the acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness of an online course for parents to address food selectivity in their children.
• Daniel Gallen, Ireland - An oral history of Irish LGBTQ+ emigration to New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans.
• Philip Keegan, Ireland - The Interplay of Policy, Media, and Public Opinion on Migrants and Migration in Ireland.
• Cara Coffey, Ireland - Adapting the Preschool Life Skills Programme: Enhancing Inclusion in Early Childhood Education in Ireland.

College of Business, Public Policy and Law

• Pratik Purswani, India - Studying disruptive climate protests under international human rights law.
• Abass Kargbo, Sierra Leone - The Long-Term Effects of Additional Schooling in the Developing World.
• Eden Mulugeta, Ethiopia - Digital memorials and their role in intergenerational memory, transitional justice, and peacebuilding in post-conflict African societies.
• Amil Jafarguliyev, Azerbaijan - Remedying Barriers to Entry Posed by Lock-in Effects in Digital Markets Through Mandated Interoperability and Data Portability under European Union Law.

College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

• Patricia Harte, Ireland - Evaluating the impact of a community-based mental health promotion initiative, Act Belong Commit, on the mental wellbeing of participants.
• Lara Ressin, Germany - The influence of brain architecture on functional connectivity and how this relationship relates to cognition and bipolar disorder.
• Emily Cronin, Ireland - Investigating the role of damp hospital environments as persistent reservoirs for antimicrobial resistant bacteria that can colonise and infect patients.
• Aiden Vassilian, France - Engineering of CAR-T cells to hijack tumour immunosuppression, enhancing persistence, and improving outcomes in colorectal and ovarian cancers.

College of Science and Engineering

• Abdul Mateen Khan, Pakistan - Sustainable construction through digitalization and BIM integration, focusing on energy efficiency, lifecycle optimization, and productivity in modern building practices.
• Brandon Collier, America - Characterising the adaptive traits of globally invasive widow spider species.
• Nikita Gondalia, India - Investigating the novel genes and pathways controlling haploid induction in plants, opening innovative strategies to enhance global crop breeding efficiency.
• George Aryee, Ghana - Predicting Peripheral Artery Disease outcomes using Electrocardiogram, lifestyle and clinical factors. 

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