Child and Youth Research (Structured PhD)

The move to an interdisciplinary Structured PhD in Child and Youth Research is supported by Schools, Disciplines and Research Centres that have an expertise in child and youth related research within University of Galway.

Schools, Disciplines and Research Centres Supporting the Programme

School of Education

The School of Education, with the Discipline of Education and the Discipline of Children’s Studies has a particular expertise in child and adolescent health, health inequalities, child and youth rights, violence and injury preventions, inclusive education, universal design for learning, culture and creativity, and global citizenship education.

Lead Contact: Professor Michal Molcho

School of Psychology

The School has an international reputation in research on child and youth health and wellbeing. Work is underway on a range of contemporary issues relevant to the lives of children, young people and families. These include youth mental health, sexual health, cyberbullying (bullying, cyberbullying and social media use), supporting children and young people during key transitional periods and the development of healthcare services and interventions tailored to the needs of young people.

Lead Contact: Dr. Caroline Heary

School of Political Science and Sociology

The School has a well-established reputation for research on the sociology of children, youth and families. Wider research interests include a focus on power, conflict and ideologies; gender, empowerment and globalisation; and governance and sustainable development. It brings together an international, cross-disciplinary group of leading researchers and specialists in these various fields. 

Lead Contact: Dr. Danielle Kennan

Discipline of Drama and Theatre Studies, School of English and Creative Arts

Staff within this Discipline have an expertise in theatre for young audiences, drama in education, youth and social circus, theatre in education, applied theatre, early years performance. Members of staff contribute to talks and serve on the Board of Directors of Baboró International Arts Festival for Children with many productions and workshops taking place annually at the O’Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance at University of Galway. Members of staff have led international research projects (Erasmus + and Creative Europe funded) and published in the areas named.

Lead Contact: Dr. Ian Walsh

Discipline of Geography, School of Geography and Archaeology

Children and young people’s geographies critically examines the places and spaces of young lives. These spaces and places span a range of socio-spatial environments including home, school, play and consumption - to name a few.  Children and young people’s geographies also considers the linkages between material and affect in the emergence of childhood socio-spatial interactions and identity formation. Within geography at the University of Galway, there is particular expertise in relation to children’s geographies of education, childhood experiences of migrant integration, the experiences of young people with the climate crisis and climate activism, and the development of creative and co-productive research design and methodologies. Taken collectively, such perspectives go beyond traditional conceptualisations of children and young people as passive ‘adults in waiting’ to explore active understandings of what it means to be a child or young person across a variety of scales (global, national, local) and within a myriad of contexts.

Lead Contact: Dr. Kathy Reilly

Health Promotion

The discipline of Health Promotion is aligned to the Health Promotion Research Centre (HPRC), a World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Health Promotion Research.  Colleagues have expertise in health, health behaviours and the social context of childhood and adolescence. Work is underway on a range of topics including nutrition, food environments, sexual health, risk behaviours and health inequalities. Centre colleagues are skilled in participatory research methods with children. The HPRC also leads the WHO Health Behaviour in School Going Children (HBSC) study in Ireland, which is a cross-national study conducted in 51 countries.  

Lead Contact: Professor Colette Kelly

UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre

The UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, within the School of Political Science and Sociology and the Discipline of Applied Social Science, is committed to improving the lives of children, young people and families through research, education and service development.  Our core research focus is the wellbeing and rights of children, young people and their families. We are recognised international leaders in the field of Family Support, incorporating research on prevention and early intervention and parenting support. Framed within the operation of the prestigious UNESCO Chair on Children, Youth and Civic Engagement, our focus on youth incorporates a body of work inclusive of mentoring, empathy and youth participation and civic engagement.

Lead Contact: Professor John Canavan

See http://www.childandfamilyresearch.ie and the staff pages on the School of Psychology website for information on staff research interests.