Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 July 2022
20. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the status of the work of the established sub-group of the national advisory forum for Ireland’s framework for doctoral education specifically in relation to PhD students and the issues of precarity and low pay that they face. [36765/22]
View answerMy Department has been undertaking an examination of the issues in relation to the long-standing institutional requirement for PhD students to undertake a range of academic support activities, as part of their postgraduate research studies. This has been done in collaboration with the Irish Universities Association and Technological Higher Education Association and the National Advisory Forum for Ireland’s Framework for Doctoral Education.
In February 2022, I wrote to the Presidents of Higher Education Institutions requesting that they undertake a sectoral exercise to agree a set of high-level principles to which all institutions can work towards. I asked that they undertake a feasibility study to determine the next steps in progressing towards greater consistency and transparency in arrangements for postgraduate researchers. This work is progressing and it is envisaged that this exercise will be completed in Autumn 2022.
More generally, the Government is committed to meeting the ambition set out in Impact 2030, Ireland’s national research and innovation strategy, that researchers and innovators working in Ireland should have the best possible experience and to make the biggest possible difference.
On 1 July, the Taoiseach and I announced a new partnership between industry and the Government to recruit and retain research talent.
Innovate for Ireland is an important collaboration between industry and the Government and will make a significant contribution to the aims of our research and innovation strategy.
The initial phase of the Innovate for Ireland initiative will seek to attract up to 400 PhD high calibre students to undertake research in Ireland that tackles national and global grand challenges such as climate change and climate adaptation; global health and pandemics; water poverty; digital society; and cyber-security.
An attractive package, including a stipend of €28,000, will be awarded through the programme to the PhD students. This has been benchmarked against similar scholarship programmes internationally. The programme will embrace all relevant disciplines from Science, Technology and Engineering to Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
