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Call for PI-Based Applications for a Trinity Research Doctorate Award 2025-26

Introduction

Applications are now sought for 12 new Trinity Research Doctorate awards, intended to support staff to recruit doctoral students in the academic year 2025-26 (September or March registrants). The call is open to all disciplines throughout the university (see below for details on thematic focus).
[Note: staff applicants must be eligible to take on the role of principal supervisor for a research doctorate student under current Calendar regulations].

Awards will be made in two categories:

Category 1 - PI-Led: Proposals related to a particular research project which the PI is undertaking or proposes to undertake.  In this category specifically, applications are invited only from early career researchers who were appointed since 2019/20.

Category 2 - Joint Student-PI: Joint proposals by the applicant doctoral student with the PI (open to all academic staff grades).

Up to six awards wwill be allocated in each category and each award will cover tuition fees (either EU or non-EU) for the recruited student for four years (full-time), as well as providing an annual stipend of €25,000. The allocation of the awards across the two categories is subject to the final decision of the Evaluation Panel. No additional funding is available to cover research or travel costs and students are liable for non-tuition fee-related charges (e.g., SLC charge, IRP costs). Each application will be expected to identify how the research will enhance our local and global social and sustainability ambitions (often referred to in Trinity as our social foundations and our ecological ceiling) e.g., through the research focus, the research process, those involved in the research.

In each category of award, the staff member will act as the Principal Supervisor for the doctoral student in question. Co-supervision is encouraged, and in line with College regulations, a Thesis Committeewill be required to be put in place for all students. Awards will be made on a competitive basis and continuation of funding is contingent on satisfactory student progress, which must be reviewed and reported annually. Those in receipt of the award (student + supervisor) will be required to participate in the pilot Supervisor-Student Agreement protocol, and supervisors will be expected to engage with supervision enhancement opportunities over the course of the four years.

Making an Application

Applications will be considered under one of the two categories described above. The information required for each category differs and applicants are advised to ensure that they understand the category under which they seek to apply and that they complete the relevant online application form; there are separate online application forms for each award category. Applicants may make submissions to both categories of award, but if successful, will be awarded under one category only.

Priority will be given to supervisors who are not currently in receipt of a PI-based or School-based TRDA. If a student is in receipt of other additional funding (internal or external), the total stipend received by the student cannot exceed a total stipend ceiling of €25,000 per annum.

a) Applying for an Award in Category 1: PI-led application

Applications are welcomed from staff in all disciplines who:

i. under Calendar regulations, are entitled to be a Principal Supervisor of a PhD student;
ii. have been appointed since the academic year 2019/20.

Only one application (as principal supervisor) may be submitted per staff member within this category.

Application Form for an Award in Category 1: PI-led application

b) Applying for an Award in Category 2: Joint Student+PI application

Joint applications are welcomed on the basis of research proposals submitted by applicants (students) who have applied for admission to the full-time PhD research register in 2025-26, together with a principal supervisor who has been identified from a member of University staff and where that member of staff is entitled to be a Principal Supervisor of a PhD student under current Calendar regulations.

Application Form for an Award in Category 2: Joint Student+PI application

Evaluation Scheme for Applications

The purpose of the scheme is fourfold. First, it is aimed at rewarding and encouraging excellence of research; second, it seeks to galvanise and enhance the research trajectories and career development of early-career academics and, ideally, to be a ‘game-changer’ for them; third it is aimed at ensuring that Trinity can attract the very best PhD students; and fourth, it seeks to enhance our local and global social and sustainability ambitions (often referred to in Trinity as our social foundations and our ecological ceiling). The evaluation scheme for applications, detailed below, reflects these broad policy concerns.

a) As will be outlined in the application form, applicants to the Category 1 award scheme (PI-led) are asked to submit the following:

i. A detailed statement of the proposal in question (max 1,500 words). In this section, applicants should outline their proposal in more detail in the style appropriate to their discipline. The evaluation panels are particularly concerned with (a) the innovative nature of the proposal and its overall significance, and (b) the potential for research outputs and impact arising from the proposal. Note: It will be a requirement to evidence consideration has been given to the project’s contribution towards enhancing our local and global social and sustainability ambitions. This element will not be separately weighted but is a mandatory requirement in each application. Due to character restrictions in MS Forms, please upload your proposal in a .pdf format not exceeding 1,500 words.

ii. A lay abstract of the proposal in question (max 400 words). Applicants should be conscious that it is entirely possible that their proposal will be reviewed at all stages by someone who is not located in their discipline or familiar with their field of research. The lay abstract should ensure that the proposal is comprehensible and accessible to people who have no knowledge of the relevant field and evidence consideration has been given to the project’s contribution towards enhancing our local and global social and sustainability ambitions.

iii. The role of and impact for the student (max 200 words). In this section, applicants should focus on the way a student funded under such an award will be involved in the project and the extent to which such involvement will be of benefit to them beyond merely funding to support their PhD study.

iv. A brief CV (100 words) and a statement of the impact that an award would have on the applicant’s research trajectory (max 200 words). One of the policy imperatives behind this award scheme is to enhance research careers of applicants who are at the early stage of building their research team and profile. The ideal is that these awards can act as game-changers for the research trajectories of successful PIs. Thus, applicants are asked to outline in this section the reasons why they, personally, would be appropriate recipients of an award given this policy imperative.

v. A statement of current and future (over the next five years) research funding of which the applicant is or will be in receipt (max 200 words). This information is sought for two reasons. First, reviewers may consider it as one of the many relevant factors in assessing the degree of impact that one of these awards may have on an applicant’s career. Second, some projects will involve significant infrastructural or consumable costs that cannot be covered under the scheme, and it is important, in deciding on such an application, that the evaluation panel is confident that this additional funding is in place.

b) Applicants to the Category 2 award scheme (student-led, with PI- support) are asked to submit the following:

i. A detailed research proposal, submitted by the student (max 1,500 words). This research proposal can be either (i) the proposal as originally submitted by the student when applying for admission to the university, drawn down from the application itself, (ii) a revised version of that original application, or (iii) an entirely new proposal that has not yet been formally reviewed as part of a student application. The evaluation panels are particularly concerned with (a) the innovative nature of the proposal and its overall significance, and (b) the potential for research outputs and impact arising from the proposal. Note: It will be a requirement to evidence consideration has been given to the project’s contribution towards enhancing our local and global social and sustainability ambitions. This element will not be separately weighted but is a mandatory requirement in each application. Due to character restrictions in MS Forms, please upload your proposal in a .pdf format not exceeding 1,500 words.

ii. A lay abstract of the proposal in question (max 400 words). Applicants should be conscious that it is entirely possible that their proposal will be reviewed by someone outside their discipline or familiar with their field of research. The lay abstract should ensure that the proposal is comprehensible and accessible to people who have no knowledge of the relevant field and evidence consideration has been given to the project’s contribution towards enhancing our local and global social and sustainability ambitions. The lay abstract can be provided either by the member of staff proposed as supervisor, or by the student, or jointly.

iii. The role of and impact for the student (max 200 words). In this section, applicants should focus on the way a student funded under such an award will benefit through the collaboration and supervision of the specific academic member of staff, beyond merely funding to support the PhD study.

iv. A supervisor application, comprising a brief CV (100 words), an outline (800 words) of the alignment of their research and their future research plans with that proposed by the student, and an explicit statement of the impact that an award would have on the supervisor’s research trajectory (max 200 words).. Applicants are asked to outline in this section the reasons why they, personally, would be appropriate recipients of an award. Due to character restrictions in MS Forms, please upload your response in a .pdf format not exceeding 800 words.

v. A statement of current and future (over the next five years) research funding of which the supervisor applicant is or will be in receipt (max 200 words). This information is sought for two reasons. First, reviewers may consider it as one of the many relevant factors in assessing the degree of impact that this award may have on an applicant’s career. Second, some projects involve significant infrastructural or consumable costs that cannot be covered under the scheme, and it is important, in deciding on such an application, that the evaluation panel is confident that this additional funding is in place.

Evaluation Criteria

The applications will be scored out of a total of 100 marks and allocated across four categories as follows:

i. 25 marks for the quality of research design and methodology.

ii. 35 marks for research impact including overall significance and degree of innovation of the project. Note: It will be a requirement to evidence consideration has been given to the project’s contribution towards enhancing our local and global social and sustainability ambitions. This element will not be separately weighted but is a mandatory requirement in each application.

iii. 20 marks for evidence related to the impact of an award on the PI/Supervisor’s research trajectory.

iv. 20 marks for evidence related to the impact of an award on the student’s research trajectory.

Evaluation Process

The evaluation process will be conducted at Faculty level.

1. All applications will be reviewed by separate faculty panels comprising three representatives (at either Professor in or Professor of level) per Faculty as well as the Dean of Research (or nominee) and chaired by the Dean of Graduate Studies.

2. Each panel will review research proposals and agree on an aggregated mark for each application from within their faculty, scoring the applications based on the marking scheme set out in the evaluation criteria above.

3. All applicants will be contacted by the Dean of Graduate Studies at the end of the evaluation process and will receive written feedback in relation to their application.

Timelines

Applications will open on Friday, November 1, 2024 with the final date for receipt of completed applications on Friday, January 24, 2025. Late applications will not be considered. It is expected that the results of the application process will be known by end of March 2025. Applicants will be contacted thereafter, and the list of successful applicants will be published on the Graduate Studies Office website.

Process following a Successful Application

Successful applicants may, immediately after being notified of this fact, start to look for a PhD student to be funded under this award. PIs are encouraged to advertise as widely as possible.

An award may only be used to fund a new entrant on the PhD register (in other words, it may not be used to fund the duration of the studies of an existing PhD student), eligible to register in September 2025 or March 2026.

For Category 1 awards (PI-led), the responsibility for the recruitment of the PhD student to a particular project lies with the PI on the project (subject to the fact that discretion as to whether to admit any student to the PhD register rests with the relevant discipline/school and ultimately with the Dean of Graduate Studies). Where a student who has been recruited to the project is, for whatever reason, unable to continue to be in receipt of such funding (for example because they discontinue on the PhD register/obtains alternative external funding) then the PI may recruit another PhD student (including an existing new entrant whom they are supervising) for the remaining duration of the four-year award. If the PI is unable to continue to work with the student (for example if the PI leaves the university), then the funding will remain with the student and the School may transfer them to a new supervisor.

In the highly unlikely event that a successful PI is unable to recruit a PhD student to the project in question then the PI may apply to the Dean of Graduate Studies to defer the award for one year. The decision as to whether or not to do so rests with the Dean.

For the avoidance of doubt, the operation of the Trinity Research Doctorate Award scheme is distinct from and does not affect any other funding schemes within the university (for example Gratton, Hamilton, Kinsella Challenge-based Awards etc).

Obligations of Successful Applicants

Successful applicants will be expected to report annually outlining the progress of the research project and work with TDA and Trinity Communications to support interested alumni and support research student developments within the University.

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Please contact us at pgrenewal@tcd.ie if you have any queries.

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