IRCSET Postdoctoral Fellowship Schemes 2009/2010
INSPIRE and EMPOWER Postdoctoral Fellowships
2nd March 2010

The Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology is pleased to announce that the International Review Panel has completed its assessment process for the Call for Postdoctoral Fellowships in 2010. A total of 431 applications were evaluated by the Panel against the criteria published for the call, and based on these criteria, 58 applicants will receive formal funding offers by the end of March.

26 applicants have been offered one of the new INSPIRE: IRCSET-Marie Curie International Mobility Fellowships, a prestigious addition to IRCSET’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Schemes, which were offered for the first time in the 2008/2009 Call. The INSPIRE awards are co-funded by the “People” Marie Curie Actions of the European Union Framework Seven Programme (FP7). A total of 91 eligible applications were received for INSPIRE. 

32 applicants have been offered an EMPOWER Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship. This scheme was open to researchers from all nations who are at an early stage of their postdoctoral research career and who wished to further their research in the sciences, engineering or technology, at an Irish research institution. A total of 340 eligible applications were received. 

Postdoctoral Fellowship applications under the Enterprise Partnership Scheme for 2010 are still under consideration.  In cases where applications were supported by a specific enterprise partner, successful applicants will be notified by the end of March 2010. All other applications will remain active in IRCSET's database until the 2010/2011 IRCSET postdoctoral call opens (in autumn 2010). Relevant details from these applications will be available to eligible enterprise partners interested in co-funding a postdoctoral fellowship through this scheme. Applicants will be contacted if potential for a co-funded award arises. Information regarding additional opportunities to apply for Enterprise Partnership Scheme funding with the support of an enterprise partner in 2010 can be found here.

The Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology wishes to thank all candidates for their interest in these schemes.  All applicants who have not been offered funding will receive detailed feedback via email no later than the end of May 2010.