Community Engaged Scholars Programme

Applications Now Open For 2024!

About the Community Engaged Scholars Programme (CES-P)

The purpose of the Community Engaged Scholars Programme is to increase the capacity of community-academic partnership to conduct research, underpinned by principles of PPI, to improve the health of our communities. 

The main aims of the CES programme are as follows: 

• To advance a PPO co-learning curriculum for community and academic partners. 
• To promote and foster equitable partnerships between public and patients/patient organisations/community groups, researchers and other stakeholders (e.g. health care professionals),  where partners work together to make joint decisions across the full research cycle i.e. from collaborative identification of health research questions and priorities to dissemination of research results. 
• To stimulate subsequent partnership applications for further research funding.

CES Programme Overview

The CES programme provides formal training and pilot study seed funds for partnerships comprised of a Community Partner and an Academic Partner interested in embedding PPI in their collaborative research. 

It is anticipated that participants who successfully complete the CES Programme will have the skills to: 

• Understand the core concepts of and approaches to PPI
• Apply PPI principles in the conduct of research
• Incorporate PPI approaches in research grant proposals
• Conduct a pilot research study to address a shared community health priority
• Build foundations for sustaining the community-academic partnerships and in seeking funding for PPI-centred research

Who Can Apply? 

The call is open to community and academic partnerships, either new or established. A Community Partner is defined as an individual/patient/member of the public who maintains a primary affiliation, whether employed or volunteer, with a community organisation, e.g. community-based organisations, community-based health provider organisations, patient organisations, charitable organisations, schools and/or advocacy groups. An Academic Partner is an individual(s) with a permanent, temporary or honorary appointment with the University of Galway, or one of its partner institutions (e.g. Saolta group). The call is open to all University of Galway researchers, regardless of experience level. 

Applications Now Open For 2024

The is available here: Community Engaged Scholars Programme 2024 Application Form

Please review this document for further details and application requirements here: Community Engaged Scholars Programme 2024 Call Document 

Submission Instructions

Due Date: 12th July 2024 by 5:00 P.M

Submit one consolidated PDF of the full application requirements.

Email PDF applications to ppi@universityofgalway.ie and enter "CES Application" in the subject line.

Information and Q&A Webinar

View programme information and Q&A Webinar here:

Community Engaged Scholars Programme 2019/2020

The CES-P 2024 Call follows the completion of a pilot CES-P programme in 2020. The three funded partnerships were: 

• Irish ME/CFS Association, represented by Orla Ní Chomhraí and Tom Kindlon, partnering with Dr John Cullinan, a health economist. 
• Irish Heart Foundation, represented by Martina Greene and the Ballinasloe Stroke Support group, partnering with Dr Ruth McMenamin, a lecturer in speech and language therapy. 
• Croí, represented by Irene Gibson and Denise Dunne, partnering with a group of health psychologists, led by Dr Oonagh Meade. 

For more information about the CES-P 2019/2020 click here.

Programme Queries

For queries and questions relating to this call, please email CES-P coordinator Dr Brendan Dolan: brendan.dolan@universityofgalway.ie