March 2016 NUI Galway Celebrate Five Years of PhD Scholarship Schemes

NUI Galway recently celebrated five years of the Hardiman and the Dr Tony Ryan Research Scholarships schemes with a special ceremony in the University.

The Hardiman PhD Scholarship scheme was established in 2011 with the objective of attracting the best Irish and international students to NUI Galway. The fully-funded scholarships support students who undertake four-year Structured PhD and are focused on five key areas of research: Applied Social Sciences and Public Policy; Biomedical Science and Engineering; Environment, Marine and Energy; Humanities in Context, including Digital Humanities; and Informatics, Data Analytics, Physical and Computational Sciences.

To date the scheme has provided financial support for over 100 PhD students to undertake research in the University’s priority research themes and has been strongly supported by the Galway University Foundation and its donors, most notably the Broderick and Glynn endowments, Cancer Care West and the Ryan Foundation.

Dr Jim Browne, President of NUI Galway, congratulated the Hardiman scholars on their research achievements. Speaking at the event Dr Browne said: “In Vision 2020, NUI Galway’s Strategic Plan 2015-2020, the goal for research and innovation is to produce research that is recognised as being excellent, transformative, and relevant to societal and economic needs, while we train the next generation of researchers. The Hardiman Scholarship scheme is a key component of the University’s support for PhD students.”

Posters at the event demonstrated the Hardiman and Dr Tony Ryan scholars’ research achievements including: Sally McHugh, 2014 Hardiman scholar, who showcased the CampusCreate project; and Mary McGill, 2015 Hardiman scholar, fresh from her recent Galway TEDx talk, who gave a talk on how to adapt academic ideas and presentation styles for events.

Professor Lucy Byrnes, Dean of Graduate Studies at NUI Galway, said: “The Hardiman PhD scholarship scheme is the most prestigious scholarship scheme at NUI Galway and has a significant international reach, with over half of the scholars coming from other universities across the globe to complete their PhDs. A third of Hardiman scholars’ initial funding came from the Hardiman scholarship scheme but they then competed successfully for national scholarships, such as those from the Irish Research Council, further augmenting the support for PhD students at NUI Galway.”

28 new Hardiman scholars, and one new Dr Tony Ryan scholar, will begin their PhDs in September 2016 and shortly thereafter the 2017 competition will be launched.

For further information on the Hardiman PhD Scholarship scheme visit www.nuigalway.ie/hardiman-scholarships.

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