Ireland Announces €20 million fund for Marine Research

The Irish government has launched a major new strategy to maximise the scientific, economic and social potential of Ireland’s significant marine resources.

Sea Change: A Marine Knowledge, Research and Innovation Strategy for Ireland 2007-2013 will support a range of capability and capacity enhancements designed to exploit core scientific strengths and deliver new commercial opportunities and policy options.

As part of this strategy the recently announced Beaufort Marine Research Awards will deliver €20 million in research funds to establish world class marine research groups in five areas. The Beaufort Awards target research leaders of international standing and mobile early stage researchers from Ireland and abroad to fill the following posts:

• 4 Principal Investigators (7 year Contracts)
• 15 Researcher Posts (7 year Contracts)
• 28 PhD Studentships (4 year Stipend)
The Minister for Communications, Energy & Natural Resources and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries & Food recently announced the 10 Research Groups/Centres that were successful in their bid for the Awards, following evaluation by international experts.

The research groups/centres are located in five Institutions on the Island of Ireland (32 counties) and have demonstrated capacity to conduct innovative research and provide research training.

The following are the research groups/centres supported:

ECOSYSTEM APPROACH TO FISHERIES MANAGEMENT

• Ecology & Evolution Research Cluster, School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast
Contact: Dr. Keith Farnsworth Email: k.farnsworth@qub.ac.uk Tel: + 44 28 9097 2352
http://www.qub.ac.uk/bb/research-clusters/ecology-evolutionary.html
Research Group requires – 1 Researcher ; 2 PhD Students
• Marine Institute
Contact: Dr. Paul ConnollyEmail: paul.connolly@marine.ieTel: + 353 91 387200 http://www.marine.ie

Research Group requires – 1 Principal Investigator

• Aquaculture & Fisheries Development Centre, University College Cork
Contact: Prof. Gavin BurnellEmail: g.burnell@ucc.ie Tel: + 353 21 4904650
http://www.ucc.ie/en/DepartmentsCentresandUnits/AquacultureFisheriesDevelopmentCentre/

Research Group requires – 2 Researchers; 2 PhD Students.

MARINE BIODISCOVERY

• Environmental Research Institute & Microbiology Department, University College Cork
Contact: Prof. Alan DobsonEmail: a.dobson@ucc.ie Tel: + 353 21 4901946 http://www.ucc.ie/en/ERI/

Research Group requires – 2 Researchers; 4 PhD Students.

• Martin Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway
Contact: Prof. Michael GuiryEmail: mike.guiry@nuigalway.ie Tel: + 353 91 492339 http://mri.nuigalway.ie

Research Group requires – 1 Principal Investigator; 2 Researchers, 4 PhD Students.

• Marine Biodiscovery Consortium, School Of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast
Contact: Dr Mark JohnsonEmail: m.johnson@qub.ac.ukTel: + 44 28 9097 2297 http://www.qub.ac.uk/bb/

Research Group requires – 2 Researchers; 4 PhD Students.

MARINE SENSORS & COMMUNICATIONS

• National Centre for Sensor Research, Dublin City University
Contact: Prof. Dermot Diamond Email: dermot.diamond@dcu.ie Tel: + 353 1 7005404 http://www.ncsr.ie

Research Group requires – 1 Principal Investigator; 1 Researcher; 5 PhD Students.

FISH POPULATION GENETICS

• Department of Zoology, Ecology & Plant Science, University College Cork
Contact: Prof. Tom CrossEmail: t.cross@ucc.ie Tel: + 353 21 4904652 http://www.ucc.ie/academic/zeps/

Research Group requires – 1 Principal Investigator; 2 Researchers; 1 PhD Student.

• Fisheries Genetics & Molecular Ecology Research Group & Fisheries & Aquatic Ecosystems Branch, Queen's University Belfast

Contact: Dr Paulo ProdohlEmail: p.prodohl@qub.ac.uk Tel: +44 2890972267 http://www.qub.ac.uk/bb/

Research Group requires – 1 Researcher; 2 PhD Students.

MARINE ECONOMIC & SOCIAL RESEARCH
• Irish Centre for Rural Transformation & Sustainability (ICERTS), National University of Ireland, Galway
Contact: Prof. Michael Cuddy Email: michael.cuddy@nuigalway.ie
Tel: + 353 91 750324 http://www.nuigalway.ie/icerts/
Research Group requires – 2 Researchers; 4 PhD Students.
The research groups/centres above will be advertising shortly for the following positions:

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS – Up to seven years funding on salary scale €80,177 pa to €110,000 pa. PhD and a minimum of seven years post-doctoral research experience required.

RESEARCHERS – Up to seven years funding on salary scale €55,000 pa to €80,500 pa for researchers who have obtained a PhD and have minimum of 3 years postdoctoral research experience.

PhD STUDENTSHIP – 4 year stipend. €18,000 pa plus tuition fees. As part of the PhD studentship funding is available for stays in international centres of excellence.

Interested candidates should contact individual research groups/centres directly for further information on the application process.

Media enquiries only please to;

Dr. John Joyce – Communications Manager
+353 87 2250871 e-mail: john.joyce@marine.ie