PhD programme
The School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice offers research degrees in social work, social policy and social justice (PhD programmes). Undertaken full-time over three years, or part-time over six years, a PhD is a research degree in which you will make an original contribution to knowledge by pursuing an extended and focused piece of research on a topic of your interest.
We offer a lively intellectual environment in which to undertake postgraduate research with a range of thematic research groups and research centres and an active seminar programme. You will benefit from our excellent links to other social policy/social work/social justice scholars, policymakers and practitioners across the world.
The structured programme enables you to acquire a broader set of transferable skills during your time with us. Postgraduate research students can access a range of research training courses tailored to the needs of their project.
Funding opportunities
Provisional Timeframe**
- Expected date for Research Ireland call to open: 11th September 2025
- School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice Application Deadline: 6th September 2025
* Research Ireland is Ireland’s new competitive research and innovation funding agency, established following an amalgamation of Science Foundation Ireland and the(opens in a new window)Irish Research Council. The new Research Ireland website is under development and so the links to the Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Programme provided here are to the previous IRC site
** This will depend on (opens in a new window)Research Ireland’s application dates and may be adjusted when the call for 2026 goes live.
Overview
The Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Programme is an established national initiative, funded by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, and managed by Research Ireland.
The Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Programme is unique in the Irish research landscape and complements other channels for funded postgraduate education in the Irish ecosystem. Among its features are:
- individual, prestigious awards for excellent research in the name of the applicant;
- an objective selection process using international, independent expert peer review;
- funding across all disciplines, from archaeology to zoology; and
- awards for bottom-up, non-directed research, with the exception of those funded by our strategic funding partners.
Pioneering proposals addressing new and emerging fields of research or those introducing creative, innovative approaches are welcomed. Proposals of an interdisciplinary nature are also encouraged as it is recognised that advancing fundamental understanding is achieved by integrating information, techniques, tools and perspectives from two or more disciplines.
The Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Programme is highly competitive, with an average success rate of 18% over the past five years. Successful awardees under the programme are recognised as demonstrating world-class potential as future research leaders.
A number of government departments and agencies partner with Research Ireland to support the programme as a mechanism to deliver on shared national objectives. Research Ireland’s strategic funding partners for 2026 are:
- (opens in a new window)Environmental Protection Agency
- (opens in a new window)Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
- (opens in a new window)Department of Foreign Affairs
- (opens in a new window)Met Éireann
Eligibility Changes (effective from 2026 call)
The programme will now be open to new entrants to a Master’s or PhD programmeorto registered students in the first year of the degree for which they are seeking funding, aligning with a full-degree funding model.
Academic Supervisors may act asPrimary Supervisor for no more than one applicant to the programme. There is no restriction on the number of applications where a supervisor may serve as secondary or co-supervisor.
What it Covers
The value of the scholarship will be up to a maximum of €34,000 per annum in any approved year and will consist of the following:
- a stipend of €25,000 per annum
- a contribution to fees, including non-EU fees, up to a maximum of €5,750 per annum [In cases where the grant recipient is a non-EU national, they may request an additional €4,000 per annum over-and-above the standard fee contribution. Any remaining differential in fees must be paid by the grant recipient and/or the Research Body.]
- eligible direct costs of €3,250 per annum
SoSPSWSJ Application Procedure for External IRC Applicants
All PhD applicants who are interested in an IRC scholarship and wish to study at UCD School of Policy, Social Work and Social Justice (SoSPSWSJ) should have consulted with an academic member of SoSPSWSJ staff prior to submitting an application,who should provide agreement to supervise and to support a GOI application. The full list of faculty and their research interests can be found here.
Before an applicant can formally have an agreed SoSPSWSJ supervisor for their IRC application, they must submit an application to the School, within the above timelines.
Interested applicants should follow the application procedure of the programme in which they are interested.
Applications for the IRC scholarship are not accepted outside of the application timeframe above.
- For the PhD application procedure and advice on research proposals, clickhere
As part of the application process, applicants will be asked to note the academic(s) with whom they have been working. Please do not apply to the unless you have already been working informally with a SoSPSWSJ colleague.
Application Procedure for Current SoSPSWSJ PhD Students
Current students should contact(opens in a new window)Dominic.Shellard@ucd.ie
There is information available on the UCD intranet for internal candidates. A UCD Connect login is required. For more information, email(opens in a new window)Dominic.Shellard@ucd.ie
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Important: Regardless of whether you are a prospective or current student, it is very important that you note your 'enrolment' date on the IRC application form as 1st September. Noting an earlier date may result in your application being deemed ineligible.