IRCSET / Embark Postgraduate Research Scholarship Programme 2007: second call is open

Just received this from my head of department (for the next 2 days, at least). Thought it might be of interest to some people.

IRCSET / Embark Postgraduate Research Scholarship Programme 2007 – second call now open – closing date 10 August 2007

(i) IRCSET / Embark Postgraduate Research Scholarship Programme 2007
(ii) TCD Signoff Procedure

(i) The Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering & Technology invites applications for funding from intending postgraduate researchers under the Embark Initiative Postgraduate Research Scholarship Scheme (Second Call) 2007.

Closing Date for Applicants: 5.00 pm, 10 August 2007.
Closing Date for Referees: 5.00 pm, 17 August 2007.

Website: http://www.ircset.ie/grant_schemes/postgrad.html

The Embark Initiative's Postgraduate Research Scholarship Scheme is designed for either Masters or Doctorate level researchers in the sciences, engineering or technology. Approximately 50 awards will be funded in this round, with the expectation that up to ten of these will be within the Enterprise Partnership Scheme which fosters mutually beneficial collaboration between the academic and commercial research sectors.

The scheme is open to candidates worldwide with a small number of the scholarships available to exceptional candidates from non EU member states. The IRCSET Executive has written to all possible host institutions and compiled a list of institutions eligible to host non EU candidates. Only institutions included in this list are eligible to host non EU candidates: http://www.ircset.ie/grant_schemes/postgrad/2007_noneu_students_postgrad_v1.pdf [117Kb PDF file].

Under the Postgraduate Research Scholarship Scheme, funding of €24,003 is provided for each of three years for Doctorate level research (total funding of €72,009) and one year (€24,003) for Masters level research. Of the €24,003 maximum per annum available to Masters and Doctorate students, €16,002 goes directly to the student with the remainder available to fund other forms of support such as fees, appropriate travel and other expenses.

Enterprise Partnership Scheme
Within this call, a number of Enterprise Partnership Awards are also being offered in conjunction with participating industry partners. If you wish to be considered in this regard then you need to click the relevant marker in the online applications system. The Enterprise Partnership Scheme allows scholars to be co-funded by both IRCSET and an Enterprise Partner. The co-funding has enabled IRCSET to support many more young researchers in Irish research bodies and gives applicants to the Embark Scholarship calls a second chance for funding. The researcher receives the same financial support as a postgraduate scholar under the normal Embark Initiative Postgraduate Scholarship Scheme. However, they also receive additional supervision and gain experience of research in an industrial environment. The list of partners and projects is updated periodically: http://www.ircset.ie/eps/eps_scholars.html

SEI Scholarships
As part of its annual research scholarship programme in conjunction with IRCSET, Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) will consider funding for 1-2 Doctoral Scholarships, specifically in the areas of: transport energy efficiency, industrial energy efficiency, or building energy efficiency. The research agendas should help provide a better understanding of fundamental aspects of sectoral energy efficiency. Economic, as well as scientific and engineering proposals are welcome. This scholarship(s) will be funded by SEI and administered by IRCSET. SEI promotes and assists the development of sustainable energy and has a lead role in developing and maintaining comprehensive national and sectoral statistics for energy production transformation and use. The closing date and application form for the SEI scholarship is as for the IRCSET scholarships. If you wish to apply for an SEI scholarship, please select ‘other’ in the Discipline field in step 8 and type SEI in the associated text box.

The Marine Institute will be offering a number of scholarships as part of this call; further details will be available shortly.

INTENDING CANDIDATES SHOULD READ ALL OF THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION PRIOR TO SUBMITTING AN APPLICATION.
Applications will only be received via the Online Grants Applications System: http://postgrad.egrants.edu.ie/eGrantPostGradApp/login.aspx

All candidates should carefully read the terms and conditions below for details on eligibility criteria. Only candidates with academic records at higher honours level are likely to be successful in receiving funding.

2007 Terms & Conditions [48kb PDF]: http://www.ircset.ie/grant_schemes/postgrad/2007_terms_conditions_2ndcall.pdf

2007 Assessment Procedures. [38kb PDF]: http://www.ircset.ie/grant_schemes/postgrad/2007_assessment_procedures_2ncdcall.pdf

Should any users experience technical difficulties with the online system they should contact IRCSET immediately at info@ircset.ie

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE TO CANDIDATES
All applicants require TWO references to support their application, as follows:
(1) A reference from your proposed research supervisor.
(2) A reference from a professor, lecturer, tutor, research advisor or other senior figure in the research domain covered by your application.
The reference process is accessed through the Online Applications System. Reference forms will only become available to the referee once the applicant has submitted their application form. We therefore encourage applicants to submit their completed application forms as early as possible in order to allow their referees the maximum time to complete their references. In addition, the referee must also print out the reference form, sign it and post the signed copy to the Embark Initiative by the closing date for references of 5pm on Friday 17 August, 2007.

It is the applicant’s responsibility, before submission of their application, to contact their proposed referees in order to brief them on the application and request their permission to provide their names to IRCSET as referees. IRCSET will then contact referees through an automated system using the email address for them provided by the applicant on the application form. The applicant must ensure that the contact details they provide for their referees are correct and that the referees are aware that they will be required to complete a reference form and are available to do so by the reference submission closing date. Whilst the closing date for the receipt of electronic application forms is 5pm on Friday 10 August 2007, the closing date for the receipt of electronic reference forms is 5pm on Friday 17 August 2007. Due to the large volume of applications and the timescale for the assessment, late applications or reference forms will not be accepted.

Information for candidates who have completed transfer reports
Those candidates who have completed and submitted to their institution, a transfer report in order to transfer from the masters register to the PhD register, and who wish to apply for funding to support the remainder of their postgraduate research should complete the online application form and include details of their current status in step 5 of the online application form. Applicants within this category are required to post a hard copy of their transfer thesis to the IRCSET offices by the closing date for the call, 5pm on Friday 10 August 2007. Transfer reports should not be attached to the online application form. In the section within step 5 ‘Other details you wish to mention’you should indicate:

when you commenced your postgraduate research(dd/mm/yyyy)
when you submitted your transfer thesis (dd/mm/yyy)
if this transfer has been approved (yes/no, if yes when dd/mm/yyyy)
estimated time to complete PhD research/duration of funding requested (dd/mm/yyyy)

For overall details regarding the applications process, please consult the downloadable Terms and Conditions and Assessment Procedures above.

IRCSET wishes to thank all applicants for their assistance in meeting these requirements.

Applications are subject to equal assessment, strictly on merit, by an independent academic panel.

Online Application System
Operating System and Browser Requirements

This online application system is designed and tested to work with the following operating systems and browser combinations:

Microsoft Windows XP: Microsoft Internet Explorer V.6; Mozilla Firefox V.1.5; Netscape Navigator V.7.2
Mac OS X: Safari 1.3.1
Linux: Mozilla Firefox V.1.5

Note: The online applications system has been tested to work within the above operating systems and cannot be guaranteed to work with other operating environments.


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(ii) TCD SIGN OFF PROCEDURE
ENDORSEMENT OF YOUR APPLICATION

COLLEGE ENDORSEMENT FOR THIS SCHEME WILL BE PROVIDED BY THE HEAD OF THE HOSTING SCHOOL. Once you have submitted your application using IRCSET's on-line system, the Research Office will receive an email from IRCSET. The Research Office will then send the Head of the hosting School a log-in name and password, which will allow him/her to go on-line and endorse your application.

It is up to the applicant to ensure that the Head of School will be available to do this. Please also ensure that the Head of School is aware of the application prior to submission.

For queries relating to the endorsement of these proposals, please contact Maria Treanor, ext. 2870, maria.treanor@tcd.ie


NOTE – EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES: applicants are normally expected to bring a copy of their application (with the signature of the Principal Investigator / Mentor and Head of School) to the Research Office for endorsement at least 48 hours before the sponsor’s deadline. In this case, because endorsement is managed online by the Research Office and the Head of School, applicants do not need to get their applications endorsed by the Research Office.

ApeXaviour

There's only 50 places in this round. Compared to what, 300 in the first call? I didn't apply in the first round cos' well, I'd no idea what I wanted to do. Now it's gotten a whole lot more competitive.

IRCSET is just badly run and badly set up in my opinion, nice to get I imagine, but still.

Another annoying point is how students who receive grants from IRCHSS receive up to €12,700 which is under the limit for grants/scholarships received of €16,000 for maintenance grants while IRCSET is set at €16,002 which means you're ineligible (by two fecking euro!).

/though I might be reading it incorrectly.

Nietzschean

ApeXaviour wrote:

There's only 50 places in this round. Compared to what, 300 in the first call? I didn't apply in the first round cos' well, I'd no idea what I wanted to do. Now it's gotten a whole lot more competitive.

IRCSET is just badly run and badly set up in my opinion, nice to get I imagine, but still.

odd, last year there was more in the 2nd call than the first iirc, i guess it depends how many people in the first call take up their offer/how much funding there is to go around/who-knows....

I'm working for the week in the same building as IRCSET

ApeXaviour

Nietzschean wrote:

odd, last year there was more in the 2nd call than the first iirc, i guess it depends how many people in the first call take up their offer/how much funding there is to go around/who-knows....

In the talk they gave back in january they told us this. So they'd planned out already how they'd divide it, and told us if you have a much better chance if you apply in the first round.

Boston

One benifit to applying in the first round is that you get feedback.

Oh, and thank you myth, I wasn't notified oddly enough

Nietzschean

ApeXaviour wrote:

In the talk they gave back in january they told us this. So they'd planned out already how they'd divide it, and told us if you have a much better chance if you apply in the first round.

second round can also be quite difficult, cause alot of people who didn't know they were going to do so well all do and then apply(but then i guess the pool has thinned with those who knew they would do well applying first time out?)

King.Penguin

Is that where you're getting your funding from Ian and which round did you apply in/get accepted in (if you don't mind my asking)?

Nietzschean

King.Penguin wrote:

Is that where you're getting your funding from Ian and which round did you apply in/get accepted in (if you don't mind my asking)?

Yep i'm an intel embark enterprise scholar or something like that, i'm co funded by intel and ircset, second round i applied in only....

Stargal

Thanks for that Myth - I wasn't notified about it either.

Time Magazine

You'd be doing a science research degree, Stargal?

Stargal

Ibid wrote:

You'd be doing a science research degree, Stargal?

Well no, clearly not. I was pulling your leg. Collective leg. Legs. Legii. Lega.

I thought all us Arts Block folk could start saying 'Wow, IRCSET, great, I'd almost forgotten about that' and 'Yeah I've been working on my application for round 2 for months, really hope I get this' and other such larks and all t'other end folk would slap their foreheads and say 'What's this madness? You're not science/engineering folk like us. This is crazy talk'.

And then we'd all flick our hair and laugh heartily, like they do on tv, having understood the really quite unfunny but somehow humanising joke that I'd made. And this thread would have been all the more lighter and the world would have been a happier place. And I would have had a nice little interlude from my suffocating thesis.

Instead you tread roughly all over my dreams. But that's ok. That's the kind of thing you do. I get that.

ApeXaviour

It's ok Stargal... stress has this effect on people.

Stargal

ApeXaviour wrote:

It's ok Stargal... stress has this effect on people.

Thanks for getting it Apex. I think my brain cells have formed some kind of elite kamikaze team and are demonstrating their crack abilities by er, dying on me. Which is great for them but it means that I'm pretty sure that the more work I do on my thesis, the less intelligent I become.

I'll stop now. Back to IRCSET.